#dyingtunas

EXPRESSIONS

The first Facet of Mind that jumps out to me when I think of how it could be Stolen, Taken, and Given helpfully is “Mindfulness”. A Rogue of Mind could be really good at taking people’s Minds off of subjects, or taking such subjects off people’s Minds. Such a talent has obvious beneficial uses(helping people let go of obsessions or stressful, annoying crap) and also obvious drawbacks(distracting folks from things they really do need to take care of). This wouldn’t really take the form of “pay attention to MEEEEEEEE” in Rogues, I think(I mean, it COULD if you wanted), even though Attention is a pretty central idea to their Class; it’d more likely be something like shifting their attention off one thing to something else. Another way to think about it would be a talent for “Giving Peace of Mind, through Taking something off the Mind” :]

The Rogue might take this further and apply it to specific Facets of the mental Mind, such as Memory or Behavior. A Rogue of Mind might be that Friend people talk to when they’re sad over a remembered loss or tragedy, or who always seems able to help a Friend with OCD break out of behavior loops they’re stuck in. Or perhaps they could do the same with Pain. Without really realizing what they’re doing, the Rogue of Mind might start off able to, metaphysically, take on the nerve or migraine pain of others, relieving it for a time. As they grow into their Abilities they may become able to block or redirect Pain Sensation all together, becoming something of a “Healer” expression of the Title. And this wouldn’t need to be restricted to the mental either; the Brain is the physical manifestation and seat of Mind, so perhaps Rogues of Mind would be able to “Steal” away injuries to the brain as well.

But Mind’s much more than that. Both of the Mind Players we’ve seen have had(or in Latula’s case at least claimed) Sensory difficulties, and difficulties with Perception(my which I mean both Pyropes are very likely depressives, and this makes it hard for them to see the world as it is). So a Rogue of Mind might support their Team by helping them to be sneaky -“Taking” the Senses of their Foes to “Give” stealth to their Team- or by Stupefying their enemies; “Stealing” their Perception to make countering and outmaneuvering them easier. In a potentially weirder expression of their abilities, they could “Steal through” the Senses and Perception of their Foes; they might be able to snatch information and memories out of the Minds of those they make eye-contact with or even, Medusa-like, “Steal Mobility”(or Life >:]) from those that See, Hear, Smell, ect, them(though I’d say this is more likely for a Thief of Mind). This could also be more mundane; the Rogue of Mind might excel at “Giving” False Perceptions to others so that they can then “Take” what they’re after.

And Mind gets even more abstract than this, moving on to the Facets we see most directly in the Pyropes. Mind touches on Causation, Justice, Right-Order, Artifice, Karma, Dharma, and Fate. And also Dragons, but I won’t touch on that one here :p A Rogue of Mind could “Take on” the Justice of others -either taking up their Causes or taking away the Repercussions of their actions- to protect and aid their Friends. Of course that “help” would be as they see it; Rogues aren’t guaranteed to be right (:T Rogue’s might “Steal” the “Right-Order” that decrees a Friend inhabit a specific social situation, “Giving” them freedom, respect, and greater agency by helping that Friend to be Perceived as higher-caste. In this way, a Rogue of Mind could very easily play “Fairy Godmother” to their Friends :] :] A harsher expression could be a Rogue of Mind who “Gives Justice” by “Taking Mind”; ripping the Personality or Senses out of someone else as righteous punishment or, more in-keeping with Roguish “passive” subtlety, setting in motion a chain of events that leads to such an outcome seemingly of its own accord.

ARC

A Rogue of Mind would grow up subtly and pervasively influenced by Mind. It wouldn’t be something that dominates or overshadows their life; rather it would “color” their life in thousands of low-level ways. They would struggle with Attention, and not necessarily a lack of it, in ways touched on by Aspect[1]. Perhaps they feel people don’t “Mind” them enough, or are too solicitous of them to the point of trampling their agency, or they may struggle with the social place re: their Friends the Order of their society places them in. The Rogue would need to look for a balance of Mind in their life and in their actions. In the beginning they would often upset this balance[2] seeking the things they want(like Roxy’s “Voiding” of Jane’s computer, or her drinking), and the Rogue of Mind would learn about their Title, without really realizing it, through negotiating these imbalances they cause. They would need to learn judgement -how their choices and actions can impact themselves and others, what they feel they owe to others and what they feel they owe to themselves- and gain the confidence to enact it openly rather than hide out-of-sight.

[1]For Roxy and Nepeta this was an issue of not getting attention(Roxy felt she didn’t get enough; Nepeta was often misunderstood and underestimated, and didn’t get the sort of “Hearty” attention she desired from the people she wanted it from). Rufioh struggles with too much of one  attention(sexual/romantic interest) from others, and too little of another; with how their selfish focus on the romantic/sexual fulfillment they want form him, leads others to ignore and “ride roughshod” over his wants, his needs, his anxieties, and just him in general.

Your hobbies are very artistic, creative, and… expansive? I don’t think that’s a word in this sense, but your hobbies allow you to relax, escape, and stretch your mind and abilities.

You like helping your friends, so you’re definitely in a supporting role. Even more so that you want to inspire future generations without receiving any rewards or recognition in return. (That rules Light out.)

I’m very interested by the skills you want to develop; these are very Breath (freedom) or Mind (choices) related skills. The other character we see employing misdirection is John Egbert the Heir of Breath. But deceit also falls under the Mind aspect.

I see a theme of emotional and informational connections through your responses. Emotional distance, lack of confidence in speech, and being an open book, but also talking a lot, fixing misinformation, inspiring others, and making sure everyone else is fine. You seem to focus on giving or fixing connections while lacking them yourself. Can you say ROOOGUE (or Page or Mage, I guess. Why are the classes so similar?).

The Page, I think, is a class that revolves around aspect-based potential. Both Tavros and Jake are accidentally the source of huge drama in their groups, just because of the way their teammates perceive of their aspect in them. Tavros certainly did not mean for his unusual FLARPing style to annoy Vriska, but her launching him off a cliff set off the whole [S] Make Her Pay chain that resulted in Aradia’s death, Terezi’s blindness, Vriska’s missing arm and eye, Vriska’s eventual god tier (when Aradiabot beat her up in revenge), Vriska hating Tavros again when he failed to kill her, resulting in her killing Tavros during Murderstuck, which led Terezi to kill Vriska. Jake and Horuss’s drama is much smaller in comparison but both brought their own sessions to a near standstill.

But you don’t have that much drama in your life (hopefully) so let’s move on.

The Mage is intuitively apeshit bananas at his aspect, unlike the Seer, who has to learn her aspect before she can Know it.  I tend to think of them sort of as a prophet, where they’re gifted with incredible power but have to use that power to serve their aspect and bring it forward.  Eventually the Mage is rewarded/punished with the loss of their aspect, but they are able to accept and adapt to their loss and get off far better than perhaps someone else in the same situation.  (Meulin is unique among all the Homestuck characters’ drama-filled love lives by continuing to maintain a very strong friendship with her ex-matesprit.  What other teenager could say the same?)  Based on your responses, I think your relationship with your aspect doesn’t have quite the same pattern as a Mage’s does - yours seems much less turbulent with not having a very good grip on your aspect at first and then steadily improving over time.

This leaves me with Rogue of Breath or Rogue of Mind as your most likely titles. Information, deceit, truth, and decisions all fall underneath the Mind aspect, while freedom, movement, inspiration, and self-independence fall under Breath.

I’m really feeling Rogue of Breath for you. Running fast is basically reality’s version of flying, right?  Stealing the air in front of you by pushing yourself into that space?  And incapacitating people is literally taking away their freedom of movement. You steal the separation and miscommunication between people to provide understanding, and as a fully developed Rogue of Breath, you’ll give inspiration to others and help push them through a tough day.  

And Breath players are overall... not great at communicating, basically.  Who else but a Breath player would fail to have 5 computers on them at all times, like a sensible person? 

Alternately, the Rogue of Mind would steal decisions, choices, and logic. But you seem to be pretty on top of that definition cuz i am a goddamn stalker i’m so sorry.

The Rogue of Mind can take ideas and whatnot for the good of others

My only concern about Rogue of Mind is that you give out truth or choices but you don’t really steal them, afaik.  I know the idea of the Rogue “providing” is popular, but I think a Rogue needs to steal their aspect as well in order to be a Rogue (otherwise they’re just the passive creation class, whichever that happens to be in your personal class definition system).

So um.  Yeah!  You seem to have your own classpect down pretty closely already, which is perfectly reasonable for someone who actually co-runs a classpect blog!  But hey I had help on finding my title too.  It’s always nice to get some external assistance in figuring these things out.