Bloggin’ thru new Homestuck^2 bonus, The Influencers part 2.  Kinda got my gears ground d

Bloggin’ thru new Homestuck^2 bonus, The Influencers part 2.  Kinda got my gears ground during part 1, but that largely wasn’t this sideplot’s fault, so I should still be able to enjoy it.Reminder, bonus update blogging is always light on detail because I don’t wanna spoil all the paid content, but I’ll give the gist of my reactions and go into anything plot or character related that helps understand the main story, as well as giving you a real top-down view of “what happens” so you know what it’s about and whether or not to invest in looking yourself.  (And I don’t necessarily have to give you anything that isn’t main-plot-relevant.)So where are they going to follow the main party?  They shouldn’t need to record the funeral I’d assume, because that already would have been televised (and awful for Jane’s PR)…  *click*9/28/2020 - The Influencers, Part 2TEACHER: Time’s a-ticking.TEACHER: The next plot point is yours to change, if you want it. Don’t you feel it calling to you?Yeah, just hanging a lampshade on this whole parallel sideplot I guess.> (==>)Whatever it is, Imode feels it. A tiny string of relevance spooling out from their belly. They want to follow it.That’s pretty Lighty and/or Seery.  I’ve used that terminology to describe the pull of Light and its “relevance” connotations even since the only fanfic I’ve ever written, back in 2011 during Homestuck’s run, and it’s obvious enough terminology that I think Rose later mentioned it somewhere like in the Epilogues.  Are these three kids perhaps going to get a fourth, and become their own session by the end of this like Harry, Vrissy, Tavros and Yiffy might?They can’t stop picturing their friend, Harry Anderson, arrested or tortured or worse. They’re not sure what there is to be done to stop this chain of events, but they’re sure as shit gonna find out.(”They” is almost certainly referring to Imode here, not all three, since Imode uses they/them.)Alright, self-aggrandizing used for good.  Show off the sort of thing that Vriska could have accomplished if she actually used her talents for her team for once.  (Besides, like, the similar thing she did just recently by making a scene.)> (==>)Imode is the first to choose pursuing this path over bootlicking, and the others are sure to follow.> (==>)Yup, Avril and Silas follow.  (Had to be reminded of ALL of their names, it’s been months since their single named appearance.)> (==>)Crockercopters overhead but none taking note yet, just ominous setdressing> (==>)IMODE: lemme take a ⏱️ to ‍ before we figure out where to go next.AVRIL: wait don’t you know?IMODE: Huh?AVRIL: we were following YOU this whole time.Oh, that answers the first question I asked.  They have NO clue where they’re going.  Let’s see if they luck out and find the clock tower.IMODE: You what he said about the next step to us, same as i did. Don’t you feel it pulling at you?Literal pull? Powers? Future player?  –All baseless speculation of course.SILAS: Woah are you seein’ this.Vriska’s probably putting on her very public display now.  (This is a bonus so I’m skipping lots of banter and arguing.)> (==>)Oh, they just saw John flying up to the clock tower in his outfit.  And catching sight of him fly is rare celebrity gossip stuff so of course it’d stand out to them, apparently.  (Only one of them is athletic apparently, the other two are groaning at the prospect of more running.)> (==>)Avril always enjoys running, but there’s something else thumping along to the rhythm of the thuds of his feet and beat of his heart. He’d thought Imode was nuts for feeling it just a minute prior, but now he’s realized he isn’t deadweight, that he hasn’t fucked up someone’s life irrevocably, and it pushes him faster and faster as he tears ass toward the belltower.(Did we know Avril was he/him before this?  Probably but if so I forgot.)Okay, since we’re getting glimpses into each of their headspaces narratively that BOTH have had some oblique aspect references, I have to at least OPERATE on a guessy assumption that there’s a sort of classpect-for-each-of-them thing going here.I’ve quoted both those whole paragraphs here… so what do I see?  This is going to be a bit tougher because I don’t care as much to remember these characters…Imode had some Lighty-or-Seery language, and then could not stop picturing bad things happening to Harry, wanting to avert that chain of events.  So something of a Seer or Mage would make sense.  But given how easily Lighty stuff and the Understanding classes (or at least what we think those are) can be conflated, Mage of Light seems a bit of a premature jump.  Heck, I’m only saying Mage because a Seer of Light already occupies a starring role, and because her first act on that feeling was to jump after it herself and tell the others:IMODE: Stay here and your way into fame if that’s what you really want.IMODE: I’m ✈️. Follow me if you’re not .–leading by example rather than directing the others into battle.  Only half-caring if they followed, willing to pursue it herself if necessary.  So, potentially more “Active”.As for Avril… the word “heart” is mentioned there, sure, but the full context is “there’s something else thumping along to the rhythm of the thuds of his feet and beat of his heart”.  I’m inclined to think that the rhythm/beat references, especially the even footsteps and heartbeats hitting like a metronome, might be more tied to Time?  But if so, I don’t see anything class-related.  (Could also be Blood, and him thinking of what he owes in the last sentences could be reinforcing that?  Big question marks for now.)> (==>)Door to the belltower’s locked.  The kids figure John’s forgotten that his son can’t fly.AVRIL: this is it, this is the thing we can help with! #feelinit #vibesIMODE: OK I’m excited that you believe me now, but what are you gonna even do?IMODE: use your big all-star to break down the ?–so they think they can “resolve a missing plot point” by getting the way into the clock tower open?  Is this going to be a theme or running joke of the Influencers sideplot, showing plotholes resolved in bonus content like how we finally saw how Gamzee’s body was relocated last time?  When I was explicitly mad about that?  (This seems like a much smaller one though.)Apparently in HS^2 proper they remarked that the door SHOULD be locked, but Vriska just opened it anyway and wasn’t surprised it was unlocked, which she would’ve ascribed to her luck – how the universe just makes way for her.  (And we’re literally seeing HOW the “universe” “made way” for her this way, through these Influencer kids.  Even though Vriska could have broken down the door in a second and it’s practically meaningless.)> (==>)Avril just has the key!AVRIL: so like my photoshoots are like, #modernfashion #myworkout #urbexpIMODE: Yea, your are why we’re all in this mess. We know. Get to it.AVRIL: fair. ok well this is the urban exploration part.AVRIL: a lot of the public infrastructure buildings in the kingdom have the same weird, shitty deadbolts on them.AVRIL: its like they were mass-produced for ease of access or something.AVRIL: none of the deep crockergov stuff, but a lot of the kingdom maintenance buildings.AVRIL: so once you swipe one key, you got access to it all.AVRIL: that’s how i get a lot of my hard-to-get shots #tradesecrets #tellnooneHhhmmmmm.  So what does this tell us about his potential role?  Getting places you’re not supposed to is associated with the Thief, Rogue, Bard, and sometimes Knight classes… as well as the Time/Space aspects, or the Void and Breath aspects.  A Thief or Rogue of Time could do the trick, and fit with the rhythm paragraph earlier… whereas Space doesn’t have the same rhythm associations even if it is “places” he’s getting into for these shots.  And photography, snapshots still in time, is something Dave was also explicitly into.  Plus, this exploit he’s showcasing is specifically for older buildings, playing into history/archaeology from an urban perspective.So, Time is looking like a safer and safer bet for him.> (==>)lock click> (==>)long-hair swoop, cheerSILAS: Yeah, I’m tickled a near-disproportionate amount by the unlockin’ of a door, so I’m inclined to believe you were onto somethin’.Still no real hints about Silas, yet.AVRIL: ok so. we did it, right? #missioncompleteAVRIL: feels a little anticlimactic #tbhIMODE: idk, I think so? whatever I was feeling doesn’t seem so immediate anymore.IMODE: I wonder if-Okay, that’s some near-confirmation that Imode was LITERALLY FEELING the plot or some such.  We’ll probably end the Influencers sidestory eventually with at least solid GUESSES blatantly obvious for their potential Hero Roles or the like.> (==>)Ah, Vriska and the kids are coming– and we get the Silas paragraph(s)!  Silas is green-themed with green text, and a session with a Time player has a good chance of having a Space player too, so let’s see if…Silas doesn’t know what being spotted by the other kids might mean, metaphysically or logistically or legally. She’s not particularly pressed by that sort of thing. But this is a day that’s come with more introspecting than she’s used to having to endure in a year, so she’s ready to get moving before it becomes an issue.As Harry Anderson, Vrissy, Vriska, and Tavros proceed to have this conversation, Silas pushes to catch up with Avril’s pace. She’s not sure where they’re headed, and has no clue what all this means for her. She knows the step she’s taken isn’t one she’ll be able to backtrack from, but she’ll figure that out tomorrow. For now, one foot in front of the other.That…I mean there’s a lot of talk of time-FRAMES, from a lazy perspective, but just-pushing-forward-in-the-here-and-now is reasonably Spacey? …hm.  I was excited for the Silas paragraph(s) but I don’t see any immediately-apparent pattern meant for us to discern classpect info here.  Maybe a female Page example (since we could use one), propelled along by events without knowing what’s going on at first, too early in her journey to have taken more than her first step up the gradual incline of her long-term potential?I really don’t know I guess.Anyway, that’s the end of the bonus upd8!  See ya in a while. -- source link

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