by @ohthewhomanity

The first “which God Tier are you” quiz I ever took (several months before I actually started reading Homestuck and had any idea what was going on) declared me a Muse. I’ve yet to find another quiz with the master classes as an option, which makes sense given that when these quizzes were made Hussie had provided very little information about them. There are only one Muse and only one Lord in Homestuck canon, so it’s impossible to look for trends across all heroes of those titles, as we’ve done with other classes on this blog. But we’ve gotten more information about Caliborn and Calliope since the Gigapause, enough for me to at least make some hypotheses about the class that that first quiz assigned me and its active counterpart–and to conclude that I like the idea of being a Muse.

According to Calliope, Lord and Muse are the master classes, the most extremely active and passive classes. They are “master” classes, like a “master” copy, an original that all other types are derivative of. From this I extrapolate that Lord and Muse are templates, the two extremes that demonstrate the simple difference between active and passive classes. And the worldbuilding geek in me rejoices at the opportunity to learn about the core of the class game mechanic.

Caliborn and Calliope have personalities and tendencies that line up with their respective positions on the active-passive spectrum. Caliborn is self-focused, succeeding because he uses his skills to pull himself up to the top. Calliope is selfless, succeeding because she uses her skills to encourage her friends to pull themselves up. @marathemara observes that they’re like yang and yin, one masculine and active and the other feminine and passive. It wouldn’t surprise me if Hussie took inspiration from Taoism while creating the master classes.

Despite their differences, both cherubs are instrumental to the plot of Homestuck. Though if you asked Caliborn, he’d probably insist that the only truly instrumental character in all of Homestuck is himself.



Later in that conversation, Caliborn tells Jake that he is “meant to serve” Caliborn. And, later on in the now-retJohned-away timeline, Jade says the following to Dave:

I think these quotes provide an explanation of just what the master classes do with their aspect. We know that Thieves and Rogues steal, and Princes and Bards destroy. I suggest that Lords and Muses influence. Their methods of influence, of course, are diametrically opposed: a Lord–Caliborn–commands, and a Muse–Calliope–inspires.

There’s no saying no to Caliborn. He gets what he wants. He flips off his limitations and beats an unbeatable game session. When confronted with Yaldabaoth’s choice, he chooses to conquer everything and everyone. The only character to outright defy Caliborn to his face and get away with it so far is John, the literal embodiment of independence, who is naturally free from any constraint or command.

Calliope, on the other hand, often advises, but never dictates. She is unable to enact change on her own; her life in the alpha timeline consists of being stuck in a room with her brother, and then dying. The story of her life, however, inspired “hUndreds of soUls” to seek her out to help defeat Lord English (John, notably, moves in and out of the quest to find Calliope and the ultimate weapon. He’s no more bound to do things for her than he is Caliborn). The choice of Calliope’s doomed timeline self, to die rather than conquer, in turn inspired alpha Calliope to seek her alternate self out–and alpha Calliope’s arrival in doomed Calliope’s part of the Furthest Ring in turn served as the signal for doomed Calliope to venture out and do…whatever else it is she promised Echidna she’d do.

Now let’s focus on how Caliborn and Calliope specifically influence their aspects.

Caliborn, as Jade said, has command over his aspect, Time. Doomed Calliope says that only a Lord of Time could beat a dead session, in which “the planets detonate sooner and sooner”, presumably by literally commanding time to work in his favor. Other Time players struggle with causality, working through doomed timelines to maintain the alpha; Caliborn, though, says that all causality answers to him. He doesn’t need to struggle. He is always already here, and therefore has already mastered it. Really, for all we know, doomed timelines are only doomed at all because the specific one he exists in is the one he’s declared to be the alpha timeline.

Calliope’s aspect is Space, which deals with creation. As such, she inspires creation. She encouraged the Alpha Kids long before their session began, telling them that they could and would become great heroes, including inspiring Dirk to stop sneaking around and assert himself on Derse and coaching Jake through making the warrior bunny. Much later on, Roxy realizes that Calliope’s presence will help her summon a new Matriorb, because the Matriorb is so closely linked with creation and space, and Calliope, with her “closer connection to the nature of space” is like “an antenna to boost the signal of that idea”. Ironically, Calliope has inspired not only creation, but also destruction. Lord English’s rampage through the dreambubbles is allegedly motivated by his desire to destroy her.

The master classes illustrate that there are two ways to enact change upon the world, and that both work. One is a lot “nicer” than the other (and I’m happy to think of that one as my method of impacting the world, as an aspiring writer and a proud supporter of my friends), but neither can–or should–be discounted. In Taoism, each of yang and yin must contain aspects of the other in order to be truly mature. Calliope’s journey appears to be heading in an active direction; her doomed self is en route to action, and her alpha self has been given a second chance to take charge of her own life. Caliborn, along the way to becoming Lord English, has gained artistic skill and a desire to be appreciated. Perhaps his sister has rubbed off on him more than he’d like to admit.

