#rage.pdf

Rage was very specifically made with the Makaras in mind, especially Gamzee, and the symbol is just Juggalo paint. Gamzee's religious obsession to Insane Clown Posse is a racist stereotype against Black men- specifically about their alleged "religious devotion to Hip-Hop/Rap", which was a much more popular myth back during his conception. Rage being fitted for Gamzee specifically is an excuse for Hussie to perpetuate the "Angry, Violent, Unstable, Drug-Addled Black Man" stereotypes as well, alongside several other things. It's all packaged nicely under the label of "Ragebound" to make people not think about that too hard.

Yeah... That's an instance of things lining up by accident, I think. I don't know if I'd go as far to say that dichotomy is on purpose, but it's still... Unfortunate, all things considered.

I say that I wouldn't count that as intentional because Hussie did not write Eridan or Jake to be superior. If anything, Eridan's own feeling of superiority over Landdwellers is made out to be an objectively bad thing. Like, he's the asshole in that situation. Jake, meanwhile, is treated by the cast- his own friends!- as a bumbling idiot and a sexy lamp. The narrative treats him as useless without the meddling of other people. They're both literally Hopeless individuals.

And then there's Cronus. I don't have to elaborate on that one. He's consciously written to be "The worst character in Homestuck", and Hussie damn did succeed.

[Re: This post.]

Okay, that's an incredibly complex, multi-tiered question. I'll try my best to summarize it as briefly as possible, though!!

FOR THE CLASSES:

The fact that Bards are the Wildcard Class is true, and I'm not going to dispute that... But I think the way that some people go about interpreting Bards is a bit weak. Oftentimes, they're made out to be forces of pure, unpredictable chaos, when... That's not the case at all. That has, in my opinion, never been the case. From my observation, the role of a Bard in the greater context of a Session isn't that they create Pure Unpredictability within the field of that Aspect, but rather that they're representative of Instability within the field of their Aspect. Those are two entirely different things. Bards do, in fact, have some greater purpose and reasoning behind their actions- it's just that those reasons might not make sense to someone who is particularly mentally stable- or, "hinged", as some might like to put it. Their status of being rather Unhinged and/or Unstable individuals is why they're known to Make or Break Sessions- especially since I'd argue that their existence may hint towards a general feeling of instability within that Aspect throughout the entire session... They are Passive Classes, after all.

Pages are not "Baby Knights", because that would fundamentally defeat the entire purpose of their journey and existence as a Class. Pages represent Lacking, and their journey revolves around Deficit- both in themselves, and in those around them. When their Deficit in their Aspect is healed or resolved somehow, they are stated to be one of the most powerful Classes from the viewpoint of baseline power. If a Page evolved into a Knight upon their full realization, that's not a victory. That's the start of an entirely new journey as a character with a power level that many, many people were able to start with. That's just a cruel joke, at that point. I have so many choice words for the whole "Pages evolve into Knights" theory that if I enable myself any more space to talk about it here, that's what the entire post will turn into, so I'll forcibly stop myself there.

FOR THE ASPECTS:

Doom is a very complicated Aspect, and it hurts my heart to see people boil it down to Misfortune and Death. That is... Nowhere near the full picture, and it's so saddening that no one ever seems to truly take the effort to dig deeper. It's also about Control, Self-Sacrifice, Restriction, Necessity, and so many other things. It's fascinating!! There's pros to being a Doom player- it's not all bad!! Also... The Doombound do not bring bad luck. Think of them like an Absol, from Pokemon- if one of them starts hanging around you a lot, their presence isn't going to kill you. It can, however, serve as an omen- the Doombound are attracted to those that are already Doomed. Come on.

Hope is not inherently good, nor is it inherently positive. In fact, we have yet to see a single example of a Hope player who is a happy person... Lol. Hope is about Belief, and that's an entirely neutral concept. My personal pet theory as to why Hope was elevated to be this paragon of good in the eyes of the fandom is that it has to do with the western world's relationship with Religion- especially the USA and its relationship with Christianity. That's a topic for another day, though... But anyways, Hope can very much so lead to toxic idealism, an inability to accept reality, and suffering... And quite easily, too! I'd argue it's actually a key part of the Aspect! It's not an inherently wholesome or fun Aspect. No Aspects are. That is how they work.

Rage is not "The Hope Aspect, but Evil", it is representative of Disbelief... Which is, you know, the actual opposite of Belief? I'm not sure why Rage gets so commonly misinterpreted as "The Evil Aspect", nor do I understand why they're so heavily related to Demons. Demons are a construct of Hope, actually, and so are Cults. Sorry! It's also not an inherently bad or negative Aspect- it's just Skepticism, Anger, and Pessimism... Which would sound bad, if you forget the fact that those are necessary parts of life in order to have an even moderately healthy experience with being alive.

Honestly, I have a lot more thoughts on Knight of Rage, so I’ll take you up on the “or” part of your statement. Hope you don’t mind!

Knights wield their Aspect, both as a Weapon and as a Shield. They feel Innately Insecure about a self-perceived flaw in their Expression and Management of their own Aspect, and because of this, tend to hugely Overcompensate and put on a Mask. They are often simultaneously Defensive over Themselves, and Protective of their Team. They are Warriors, oftentimes against their own best interest, and I would personally call them the Compensation Class.

If you have a Knight of Rage, your Session lacks Rage- the Aspect of Skepticism, Disbelief, Defiance, and Negativity. More often than not, Rage is perceived as a bad thing, and an inherently Evil force- But Rage, like all Aspects, is a Neutral Concept, and is at the heart of Rebellion itself. Without Healthy amounts of Rage, there is Destructive Pacifism, Toxic Positivity, and Acceptance of the Unacceptable.