BORN TO BE A STAR — JOEY CLAIRE, MAID OF LIGHT – optimisticDuelist – Medium
Here’s a post on Joey’s Hero Title–The MAID of LIGHT!–and how understanding it strengthens our reading of Joey’s struggles with neglect and loneliness, her STRIFES, her skills and abilities, and more! We even look at some interesting foreshadowing for where her arc may be going in the next Acts!
(Credit to @thricequeen and @dahniwitchoflight for providing key details that feed into my own speculation, btw! Thanks a ton, peeps)
Classpecting has so far been a hugely underappreciated part of Hiveswap’s narrative, and I’d like to change that. This post is also a focused introduction on Classpects in general, and should ideally be perfectly easy to follow if you’re a new Hiveswap fan with no exposure to the system from Homestuck!
I do have to warn, however, that there will be Homestuck Spoilers in this essay. So heads up about that! Now, on to some bad news. I have similar Classpect essays brainstormed for Xefros Tritoh and Jude Harley.
But alas, it may be a while before I can write those.As excited as I am to post this, it comes with an announcement I wish I wasn’t making. If you enjoy this essay and want to know more about future content from me, please read on.
This essay is a perfect example of everything that’s so excellent about revolutionaryduelist‘s Homestuck and Hiveswap work: in-depth research built on evidence taken directly from canon, new insights that catch me completely by surprise but make perfect, delightful sense, the best damn understanding of the classpect system I’ve ever seen, and the constant awareness that a huge part of what makes Homestuck great is its deep respect for its characters in their struggles with trauma, identity, and oppression. Highly, highly recommended, alongside all of RD’s other work.
RD is having a tough time right now, and could really use your support. If you, like me, appreciate the insights they’ve brought to our understanding of Homestuck and the positive, enthusiastic Homestuck fan community they’ve been working incredibly hard to build, please consider supporting them on Patreon, if you’re financially able: https://www.patreon.com/optimisticDuelist#_=_ Even just a few dollars will help immensely.
As fans and friends, our strength lies in the ways we work together and help each other. This is especially true for those of us who are queer or otherwise marginalized by society–an idea that, as RD has helped to make clear, is deeply embedded in the narrative of Homestuck. If you’re interested in supporting queer writers and creators, and in exploring queer stories of transcendence and triumph in modern media, I highly suggest supporting revolutionaryduelist. You’ll be supporting a great person, a creator, an excellent scholar of media, and a great friend–all of which would mean a lot to me personally.
In any case, enjoy this excellent examination of why Joey Claire is most likely a Maid of Light. And…
Keep rising.