Hiveswap Friendsim Classpects (Part 2) (Patreon)

This is part two! For part one, check over here! 

No time to waste, let's just get into this next batch of Trolls!

Zebede Tongva - The Page of Light

Zebede lives way too far away from anyone. Isolated, despondent- Hahaha, no he's just a small drive away, but it's a cumbersome amount of time nontheless. Truth is, Zebed's just kind of a little bit of an attention whore, starved of interaction with others, and way too clingy for his own good. This need for attention ties into his nature as a Lightbound, with Light as relevance and importance, if he doesn't get his way things will start to get sour between him and the Reader. He's also got quite the passion for important celebrities, wanting to become their friends, which once more ties into this need for validation and attention.

He's most definitely a Page, he presents himself as eager and friendly, a bit in a sad, lonely situation, and uses this cutesy attitude to try and get potential friends to hang out with him. Making them Serve him attention through, honestly, a bit of a manipulative attitude. He also uses rare bee-communion Psionic abilities, making them Serve his whims in the Good Ending. And in a way, he serves others 'attention' online by making Fanfiction of a dubious nature about Alternian celebrities. Ultimately though, he's just a lonely kid with not exactly the best coping mechanisms, that genuinely wants to get some friends and be popular. Can you really blame him, living on Alternia?

Tegiri Kalbur - The Knight of Void

With Light as the World of Ideas, Void often presents itself as an Aspect of Physicality, of Societal Norms. Tegiri abides by the law, and supports the empire, shunning rebels and illegal activity, but he himself is stuck in a moral quandary, of being friends with someone he should be justified to kill, but being unable to go through with it. This easily shows his nature as a Voidbound, from his blind service to the Empire, to his doubts and confusion when it comes to dividing what's legal and what's moral.

As for his Class, Knight seems to suit him nicely enough. He seems eager to show you some of Alternia's finest animes, and is quick to take action to return a subpar copy once he notices its flaws. Blindly serving the system, and in turn, thinking of himself as an ally of justice, and actually showing his kinder nature when he saved and befriended Polypa instead of killing her there and then. Additionally, a Knight of Void may be one who Serves Nothing, and while his blade is definitely sharp and flailing a weapon will eventually hurt someone, he's been shown to be rather bad at wielding it properly. You could even say that turning a blind eye to infractions like Polypa's continued existence, or the Shopkeeper's illegal contraband, is Serving them through his inaction, for not abiding to the law.

Mallek Adalov - The Rogue of Time

Similarly to Skylla, Mallek shares a sense if impending finality to the life he's been enjoying on Alternia for the past sweeps. He's going to be drafted soon, and his skills will be unappreciated and misused as the Empire casts him for a role without considering his real strengths and weaknesses. Aside from this, Mallek has been shown to be driven and take action, even against the Empire, to keep honing his hacking skills, deviating Drone Delivery Routes, shunning the norms of the Hemospectrum, and treating those who are supposedly beneath him with kindness. Struggle, action, these seem to fit the nature of the Timebound easily enough.

His Class was a little bit of a puzzle to me at first, perhaps because Ceruleans are Thieves by nature, I didn't want to just settle on another Stealing Class, as it could easily be his Caste influence. Seer and Heir were considered at various points, but the archetype of the Outlaw truly suits him well. As mentioned before, he doesn't seem to really care about the Hemospectrum, and certainly harbors resentment towards the Empire, even wishing he were good enough of a Hacker to take control of the entire Drone Army and make a real change. He's not a rebel, though, and he's not driven to fight out in the open for lowblood rights, knowing what little difference that'd make, and not wanting to risk himself. Still, he uses his skills for the benefit of those around him, paying people he's hired for grunt work, and offering Diemen a place to stay if he needs to. His self-preservation instinct is high, but he truly seems to want to do good for others. Ultimately, Alternia is a world where you can't even help yourself most of the time, and that definitely hinders him.

Lynera Skalbi - The Mage of Rage

There's no doubt at all Lynera is a Rage Player. From her unhealthy, obsessive, Yandere-style affection towards Bronya, to her internal struggle with her feelings that leads her to doubt and confusion, she evokes Rage from the very moment you see her card in Friendsim and notice the extremely worrying Knife Meter at the top. She's very aware of how unhealthy her attitude is, however, and her main struggle comes from being unable to overcome it. Putting on a front, trying to stick by Bronya, knowing she should just tell her how she feels, but unable to bring herself to.

I think the Mage is a fitting Class for her. That internal struggle and her self-awareness of what she's doing paints a picture much different than what one'd imagine from the typical 'Yandere' stereotype. She knows what she's doing is wrong, but she doesn't know how else to express those emotions, how to bring herself to say what she thinks. The dichotomy between her idealized future and what she's willing to do to protect Bronya, and the immutable world around her, difficult to interact with. She also works as a teacher in the Caverns, a Guide of sorts for the young Auxiliatrices like Wanshi, lessons which apparently include a lot of shouting, and are quite boring.

Galekh Xigisi - The Mage of Blood

Galekh is a smart cookie, and a bit of a scholar. The many books he keeps around and his own novels and notes, as well as his attempt to understand more about the Player, and make his own motives understood, point, in my eyes, to his nature as a Mage. How hard he tries to make the Player know he doesn't think they're a Rainbowdrinker, as if to not make a fool of himself, shows the Mage's aversion to mistakes, his very Quirk is an attempt at adding nuance and details to what he's talking about in order to be more clear about his intentions, and while eager to learn and share knowledge, he's still quite closed up about notes and texts of a more personal nature, not open enough to show others he doesn't know that well.

A Bloodbound, his main fascination is about the Player's species, as well as their apparent ease with Friendship, both tying into Blood in the context of one's bodily form, as well as the bonds one makes with others. Curiously, while Galekh doesn't seem to lack acquaintances, it seems most people are drawn to him for his intellect, making him interested in finding other ways to bond with people, which again points to him wanting to Know Blood.

Tirona Kasund - The Witch of Heart

Tirona is quite interested in herself, as expected of a Heartbound. Making herself look good to her superiors even through subterfuge, and looking forward to the day she can ascend up the ranks and assist His Honorable Tyranny. Even her Meme Propaganda is all about swaying the Hearts of the population, trying to make the Empire look good in a casual way online. While young and innocent, she seems to have already embraced this part of herself, and be striving to make her dreams a reality.

As a Witch, she's a Manipulator by nature, making her Memeaganda all that more interesting as a part of her character. Quick to come up with plans to escalate up the ranks and make herself seem better, but quickly becoming frustrated when she can't find dirt to throw on others, she definitely fits the bill. Worryingly enough, however, if she truly is a Witch, she may just have the worst possible Familiar. The talk about her contact praising her for her intellect, her clothes, and further, vague mentions in Nihkee's Bad Ending and the Epilogue to the game, Doc Scratch himself may be manipulating her. Because of course that creep needed to harass yet another young girl.

Boldir Lamati - The Seer of Heart

Boldir is one of the most interesting characters in Friendsim, hands-down. A mysterious aura surrounds her, with imagery directly relating to the Cherubs, and her work opposing Doc Scratch himself. As a Heartbound, she seems to be extremely knowledgeable about her, and people's place in the Universe, as if she had seen the tapestry of the reality she inhabits. Some of her actions, such as being at ease with her dying in a Doomed, non-canonical Timeline, even evoke those of other Heartbounds like Dirk Strider himself. More recently, too, she appeared as a figment of the Reader's Imagination, as a Splinter of herself.

Through her entire route, Boldir seems focused almost exclusively on teaching the Reader. Making them see their place in the narrative, and how it revolves around them, giving them a broader look of what they are supposed to be doing, and similarly, in Pesterquest, her splinter directly encourages them to take control with their new powers, and help everyone however they want. Alongside her ability to perceive the Timeline they're following to be non-canon, and how her encouragement to teach pick-pocketing to the Reader ends up leading to him having the antidote to save her life completely by chance, she seems like a Seer through and through. As the Friendsims were coming out, this intense awareness she seemed to have about everything, and the Spirals, made a lot of people, me included, think she may be a Muse, but I believe Aysha herself ended up referring to her as a Seer, and in retrospect, it fits her immensely.

Stelsa Sezyat - The Sylph of Blood

Stelsa is a hard-working businesswoman who always tries to keep her schedule busy. She's always trying to get connections in her work, which could allude to her nature as a Bloodbound. Additionally, she takes her fitness seriously, which, too, could tie into Blood as her physical state. A friendly demeanor for a busy gal, in Nihkee's Bad End, she even agrees to help the Reader work out to prepare themselves to face Nihkee again, accomodating with her schedule and leading the way for them to work out.

While I considered her a Heir and even a Knight at various points, the Sylph struck me as a good choice for her in the end. With how she always keeps busy with her work, one could peg her as meddlesome, and she puts her trust in the Hemospectrum as a way to keep the population in check- Which, albeit very likely in order to comply with the law and not risk being culled, also points to the strong bond between a Sylph and their Aspect. With so much work, she's often Making connections, and the whole fitness shtick fits the Healing of the Sylph as well as it does Blood. In the end however, one of her most interesting facets, is her concern for Tyzias and her rebellious ideas. With Tyzias intentionally leaving her notes behind, the meddlesome nature of Stelsa made her unable to not keep track of what Zizi is thinking about, and she's caught up in the struggle, between wanting to support her Matesprit, and not wanting to see her putting herself in danger due to her rebellious ideas. She wants their relationship to work, and she wants the best for her Zizi, even if currently she's telling herself the 'best' for her is different than what Tyzias wants. And so, Sylph really seemed to hit all the right spots for her.

Karako Pierot - The Page of Mind

Karako is a little kid that can't even speak Alternian just yet, or if he does, he chooses not to. Despite this, the Reader can still completely understand him- Whether this is for comedic effect, or a side-effect of him being a Mindbound, though, it's hard to tell. Beyond that, he's shown to have extremely potent Chucklevoodoos, which as latent psychic powers, could certainly tie into his Aspect. Overall though, the stripped motif of his horns aside from the face paint, and the fact he doesn't speak gives him a specific flavor of clown- The imagery of a Mime, and this specific presentation amongst other clown-like purples certainly fits a Mindbound.

As for him being a Page, he's still a little kid, a runt with big horns. He's got a long way ahead of him, and seems to have begun already with a disadvantage when it comes to his size. However, his latent Chucklevoodoos are potent enough to manifest as a sonic boom, harsh enough to send the Player and a group of seadwellers flying. On top of that, the Dark Carnival itself manifests for him- Whether as an illusion because of his belief and potent Chucklevoodoos, or for real for his innate good and potential, it still has a flavor of that Immense Page Potential in it. Of course, as a little kid, the Reader's first instinct is to protect him from danger and try to hold him back from the teasing seadwellers- Choices the Reader makes for him, actions they take for the poor little clown, putting them at his Service.

Marsti Houtek - The Maid of Void

Marsti is a Rustblood, the lowest of the low in Alternian Society. She has absolutely no hopes of doing anything other than janitorial work for the rest of her life. Pretty much a nobody by Alternian standards, her actions and desires don't matter. She's also a closed-off person, not sharing or even wanting to interact that much with the Reader, not necessarily secretive, but certainly not open. All in all, she fits the bill as a Voidbound for sure.

Being a Maid in her case has multiple layers, too. First of all, the literal janitorial work that could be associated to a maid. Made of Nothing, could also tie into her awareness of her situation at the bottom of the Hemospectrum, no options, no future. Ultimately, though, her abrasive personality speaks to someone who knows what's in store for her and can't change it. Irascible, stubborn, haunted by her lack of choices, she's a Maid stuck in her position, and lashing out at her surroundings, doing her work however she wants, wherever she wants, almost out of spite. On top of that, she seems to have some medical knowledge, and would likely enjoy becoming a medic, but she knows she cannot hope for that once she's off-world. One who Heals Nothing, and one who gave advice to Folykl about how to treat an illness that literally has 'Void' in the name.

Charun Krojib - The Maid of Rage

Charun is... Um... Uh... Charun. Yeah let's go with that. Jokes aside, Charun is an artist that gathers garbage and dicks around making sculptures and pieces that feel right to them. They're soothing, calm and extremely laid-back for what one'd expect from a Ragebound, seemingly more concerned with its meaning as confusion and anarchy- Specifically in the work they create. Art without rules, not meant to be 'interesting', but weird for the sake of expressing a feeling or an emotion. While calm, they can be volatile and not quite think about others- Ditching you if they consider your comments about their art to not be genuine, and outright leaving you behind after stealing from Azdaja and Konyyl while they argue with each other.

While not particularly Made of Rage themselves, they create these confusing pieces of work, and create rage on the aforementioned relationship- Or rather, incite you to intervene and leave Rage in their wake while they make of with the couple's device. Alienated from the norm and with a distaste to traditional artistic conventions, a bit selfish and solitary, them being a Maid just seems to suit well enough.

Wanshi Adyata - The Seer of Doom

Wanshi is a precious Doombound that must be protected at all costs. I relate to her and her personality extremely closely, so my judgement of her Classpect may be tainted by my perception of myself. Still, she's a Doombound in the way I've always felt I was a Doombound myself. She sees the limitations she has for being a Jadeblood, the duties she's supposed to take. She sees the death and bad stuff and dangers of Alternia, she knows people lie to her for being too young. She knows all of this, and it sucks, but she keeps smiling and stays positive regardless, trying to make do for herself and have fun.

Wanshi is smart and perceptive. Even though she's young, she hates when people lie to her for her own good, making those choices for her. She's way more aware of what happens around than others may believe, and is not afraid to speak her mind when pressed. From helping the Reader get into roleplaying, and sharing with them one of her favorite books, to being made to encounter a dead body, and watching helplessly as the Player defends her from an enraged Cholerbear, she seems like a Seer to me for certain. Empathetic and apologetic when she oversteps her boundaries, commiserating with the Reader about their situation, while I considered Mage for her as well, the fact the more 'selfish' part of her personality could be attributed to her age and frustration, as I mentioned, I am extremely biased when it comes to her, and sharing a Classpect with her.

Fozzer Velyes -  The Bard of Heart

Fozzer puts a lot of personal attachment and value into his ideals. His Classpect seems a bit difficult to explore at first, given that his personality is re-written mid-route thanks to Scratch's influence, but he shines through as a Heartbound. Whether it's his communist ideals or his pro-empire views, he will defend them and take affront as if he'd been insulted personally when they're questioned, but he's quick to trust the Reader if they show themselves to be like-minded. Beyond a deep attachment to his personal philosophy, Fozzer insists ghosts don't exist, while showing himself to be rather scared of the idea of encountering one, and with his work as a gravedigger, and rusts being known to commune with the dead, this may tie into the idea of Heart as the Soul.

As for his Class, I'm leaning towards Bard for him. As Bards are known to have intensely strong ideals and faiths they take extremely personally, Fozzer becomes is quite volatile regarding his beliefs, quickly shunning and pushing the Reader away if their ideals differ, but quick to welcome him and state what he believes is the best for the world at large if they coincide. This stubbornness to cling to an ideal to the point of having a crisis of faith if proven otherwise, also ties into his nervous refusal to acknowledge ghosts as an existing force, not wanting to question his view on the world as anything other than true and absolute. Finally, this Bard-ness of his could certainly fit even the Scratch that shakes up his personality, allowing his Self to be destroyed, replaced with a version with entirely opposite views, but an identical attitude towards them.

Marvus Xoloto - The Heir of Time

Marvus is extremely difficult to analyze. For the longest time, we didn't even know his true Aspect, and even now there's still the lingering doubt of whether he's fucking with us or not because Clowns are mischievous bastards. Furthermore, V wrote him, and V has stated before that they don't quite believe in the whole Classpect thing, so where Aysha, for example, seems to stick much more to her view on how Classes and Aspects influence the characters, V didn't necessarily write any personal clues in their route. Still, Time makes sense, its tie to Music and Rhythm makes sense for Marvus, its ties to Strife And Death also connect to the violent way his audience reacts to his shows, and general Temporal Shenanigans are a-plenty in his Bad Route.

His class is where the issue lies, but I am thinking a Heir makes sense. First of all, he's a Passive Class. He's very friendly and accommodating of the Player, and while he allows his audience to maul each other, he doesn't exactly do it for selfish reasons, he just puts on a good show for them. He's also shown to selflessly protect the Reader even as the Timeline collapses around them, and even while wounded, engages in a deep and meaningful philosophical conversation with them regarding the nature of Friendsim and their existence, to help put them at ease. From there, Heir seemed like it made some amount of sense. As one of the Change Classes, his music and stage presence making people go wild could be made akin to a sort of Change or Manipulation- Some people even believe his unnatural charisma to be a sort of power of his, which could fit this Class. He talks about Purples and the Hemospectrum, finding the idea of Changing the order of society interesting, but not being quite rebellious himself. And while a Knight could've been a possibility, having pegged Skylla as one earlier, and having shown a degree of control and manipulation of a collapsing Timeline to allow the Reader to keep processing what is going on, makes the balance tilt more towards 'Heir' right now.

An influential figure, changing others, showing them exactly what they want to see, coming across almost like a manipulator, but showing in his kindness and interest that he doesn't really seem to be a selfish person. I cannot tell what, if anything, would be their familiar, nor their Inheritance, and as mentioned early, V doesn't really consider these kinds of things. Perhaps his very audience- Fleeting, violently fighting every time and demanding more of a show, could be it, as well as the shitshow itself, perhaps fated to grow out of control one day and consume even him. We can only wait and see.

Daraya Jonjet - The Maid of Hope

Daraya, for all intents and purposes, is rather Hopeless. Sure, she fits the bill as being hot and charismatic as a Hopebound, but a deeply pessimistic, hopeless point of view has taken over her life. Her rebellious outfit and attitude reflect this outlook on her future as a rather bleak place she'd rather abstract herself from. And yet, this lack of Hope is also, intrinsically, Hope. Many think that a lack of Hope would mean Rage, and while there's definitely anger harboring within her, it's her belief that there's no Hope or way to change the system that drives this attitude.

As for her Class, I thought of one of the Stealing Classes at first- Her appearance as a rebellious girl and distaste for how Alternia works could work for her being a Rogue or a Thief, but I already gave Diemen and Elwurd those titles respectively. And if they really, really fit her, I wouldn't mind having a double. However, a hopeless Maid of Hope? Feeling alienated, an outcast, beaten down by the world around her for long enough that she represses the idea that there may be something good in store for her, and lashes back. Just like Chixie, Daraya could very well be an extremely repressed Maid of Hope. Bottled up, about to break, and using this rebelliousness as the only outlet she has in an unfair, almost predestined life. Hopefully meeting Tyzias gives her a bit more of a hope for the future.

Nihkee Moolah - The Sylph of Rage

Nihkee's nature as a Ragebound is rather obvious. Beyond the violent sport she partakes in, and her intense thirst for revenge in her Bad Ending, wrestling- Or, Muscular Theatre, as its name implies, is practically a form of stageplay. Between Rage as anger, and Rage as theatre and acting, someone as dedicated to the craft as she is could only be a Rage Player.

Her being a Sylph is a little bit less obvious, but it still makes total sense for her. While bragging about highblood superiority and generally bad hemospectrum talk in general, Nihkee's particularly focused on the glory of the sport itself, rather than her own. She truly respects it as an art form, and gives her all to give a good, proper show to the audience. She's intensely passionate about it, and will quickly shun the Player if they don't treat it with the same respect. On top of that though, and beyond the idea of Making a spectacle of Muscular Theatre, she shows herself particularly invested in honing the Reader's potential and improving them, Making them better through a series of extremely dangerous and often crazy tests of physical endurance. To top it off, in the what-if of her Bad Ending, she's shown surviving and recovering from wounds that shouldn't be humanly possible, and going to impossible extents to track the Reader down and kill them, evoking both the Healing of the Sylph, and the Confusion and Contrivance of Rage.

Lanque Bombyx - The Prince of Life

Lanque is a curious Lifebound. As a Jadeblood, there's duties he's supposed to be doing, but like many other jades, he seems to enjoy neglecting them to try and feel alive before the time comes where he has to be exiled to a cloister. A struggle with his lack of agency in the world, and taking said agency for himself to do whatever he pleases, both ways could relate to him. If we take his SFW route, too, he manages to encourage Lynera to open up, showing that healing potential within Lifebounds.

Lanque shows himself to be blunt, forward, and to take what he wants. Imposing his agency over that of those around him. While he never quite forces you to do anything, he will call you out on chickening out of taking drugs, and can be quite pushy. Pushy, but not forceful, that's an important distinction to be made. His Class was a coin flip to me- A Maid of Life could've suit him as well actually. As the only male jade we know of, it puts him in an interesting position, and him lashing out at his duties by partying hard and taking what he wants, making agency for himself, selfishly, certainly works. But honestly, there's a lot of Maids already, and the regal air with which he carries himself, his ego, and how he's not afraid to tear into people, verbally, also fits him quite well. So, Prince it is.

Barzum and Baizli - The Heir and Sylph of Breath and Doom

And for the Grand Finale, a double trouble. Unlike with Folykl and Kuprum, please note, rather than the Heir of Breath and Sylph of Doom, I'm labelling them as the Heir and Sylph of Breath and Doom. Individually, due to their individually assigned Aspects, I believe Barzum is a Heir of Breath and Baizli a Sylph of Doom- However, the two of them often swap their personalities. Rather than two separate beings, they act as two halves of the same being. Barzum appears to be the quieter of the two by default, with Baizli being the loud one, which fits their given Aspects, Breath being the more quiet and passive, flowing, with Doom being the more prominent and intense. Of course both are prominent in their route as well, Breath as the detachment they have from the consequences of what they do, not knowing the harm they are bringing on the Reader since they are highbloods that don't know any better, and using their Chucklevoodoos for illusions, allowing them to keep messing with them constantly, and Doom as the harm and pain they bring with their very... SAW-esque, creepy deadly twin attitude.

The Classes were difficult to parse given that they are two characters that act as one. But I decided to go for the Heir- For the manipulation of the scenarios they create and how they mess with the Reader, while also showing the potential to change their ways after realizing they were hurting them and they could become friends instead. And Sylph, for their meddlesome nature, weird internal world, their penchant for Making Doom, and their healing factor, which made them think inflicting wounds wasn't a big deal for an alien like the Reader. While they appear a bit selfish, I feel that the way they start to share and have genuine fun with the Reader once they come out and bluntly tell them what they're doing is wrong, shows they may be more selfless in nature.

And that's it! That's my current take on the Friendsim Trolls, but feel free to comment if you disagree! I may actually end up rethinking some of these and updating them eventually. But for now...

Hope you enjoyed it!