Reviews and Media

Written 250817, will continue to be updated.

One of only a handful of characters to not get a POV chapter, Petyr Baelish is one of the more controversial and reviled characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's not surprising given his backstabbing and greed, his grooming of Sansa Stark simply because she looks like her mother and selling out the Starks for political gain. George R. R. Martin has stated he was inspired by Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', a character whose intense and unrequited love lead to his and his paramour's deaths. Fans have even found parallels between Baelish and the unreliable narrator of 'Lolita', Humbert Humbert. His traits and story line have lead to a split with fans; is he a villainous mastermind, or simply insanely lucky? Both interpretations can be mixed to say this: he's a gambler with fantastic instincts, but this does not fully explain his motivations or what he desires.

Before one gets to his motivations, one should look at the characters that Martin took inspiration from when writing Petyr Baelish, as that influence will inform his character. While not a one-to-one, Petyr Baelish is a medieval image of Jay Gatsby: both are 'self-made' men in their societies, rising from self-described poverty to wealth and still considered outcasts, Gatsby because he's new money, Baelish because he comes from a lowly house with a minuscule amount of land. Both men are obsessed with the objects of their desire, which is what drove them to accumulate wealth. Where they split is how they deal with obstacles that prevent them from winning over their loves, with Gatsby managing due to Daisy's tumultuous marriage but later both being killed by Daisy’s husband Tom, while Baelish realizes he cannot marry Catelyn both due to her love of Eddard and later her death, so he pivots to Sansa, a younger and more malleable 'copy' of Catelyn. It can be extrapolated that Baelish never truly loved Catelyn, but merely lusted for her and is willing to take her daughter simply because she looks like her, much like Humbert Humbert in 'Lolita'.

In a roundabout way, love for Catelyn Stark is a motivation for Petyr, as the reason Hoster Tully did not allow him to marry Catelyn was due to his relatively low standing in Westerosi society. This rejection powered him to make something of himself besides a minor lord in a small castle, going as far as to become master of coin under Robert Baratheon, and his gambling and backstabbing allowing him to become both Lord of Harrenhal and Lord of the Vale, amassing more power than Hoster Tully could ever imagine. There is some speculation that Baelish could be a Westerosi proto-capitalist, with intent to undue the feudalism that has remained in Westeros for the last 300 years, but again, this is speculation. He could just be gaming the system to gain power in a bid to prove higher nobles wrong, that blood alone is not a prerequisite to access wealth. If this is true, this action would serve Martin's love of subverting traditional story lines (a popular subversion of his is 'the Beauty and the Beast' with Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth) in a genre that often relies on blood quantum to create a hero or one deserving of wealth and power.

Within the narrative, Baelish functions as a catalyst in getting the Starks and Lannisters to move against one another, choosing to support Eddard's investigation into Robert's bastards and concluding the Baratheon inheritors are actually the children of Jaime and Cersei while selling him out later during Eddard's confrontation leading to his arrest. He manipulated Lysa Arryn into his plot (though this is less proof of him being a mastermind and more of her love for him) to play two houses against one another, and in AsoS and ADwD, he is attempting to do manipulate both Sansa and Robert Arryn in his plots. Baelish's character is one of change, both good and bad, as it forces the many POV characters into their respective plotlines in Westeros, such as Sansa/Alayne losing her childhood innocence and idyllic view of Westerosi feudal society and beginning to grasp at the nuances and reality around her. (TBC)

Out of the classes, pages are often the ones overlooked and stereotyped in meta analyses and fandom, with characterizations of pages either falling into perceptions of Tavros (whose character is overshadowed by Vriska) or Jake English (overshadowed by Dirk and Aranea). Whatever has been said about pages, especially by Aranea and Vriska, must be taken with a grain of salt, as by virtue of who they are, will not provide a clear and concise view of pages without their biases.

James Roach, a member of Andrew Hussie's writing team, said, "The exact wording [of the page class] is 'one who fights to preserve.'" Dirk described the class as, "...[having] a lot of untapped potential." and Aranea, "...for a page, the journey to reach his full potential is longer than it is for any other class[...] 8ut once that journey is over, how fearsome he 8ecomes!" With this all in mind, the image of the page is one akin to a game that requires a player to level up a certain amount before being able to access cooler powers and items, one that takes a considerable amount of time. It is a class of "limitless potential", with the challenge being that of unlocking that potential.

The three pages of Homestuck are Tavros Nitram, page of breath; Jake English, page of hope; and Horuss Zahak, page of void. While Horuss gets little attention, the focus of the page characters turns to Tavros and Jake. Both characters suffer from insecurity, from low self esteem, with Tavros' being related to his disability at the hands of Vriska, and Jake's inability to read other people's emotions which leads to quarrels in his friend group. This insecurity leads to conflicts on both parts but in different ways; Tavros, in an attempt to overcome his "block", fights Vriska and loses; Jake instead manages to slowly overcome his through crafting a version of Dirk in his mind that, all things considered, is able to be closer to the real Dirk than the AI of his brain Dirk himself crafted. Aranea, too, helps Jake by directly removing his insecurities via her sylph powers and allowing him to access his full potential (though for her selfish gains).

Due to his death, both on Prospit and in the 'real' world, Tavros was never able to complete his quest and access his potential, but as a breath player, would likely have developed similar powers to June Egbert such as flying (his ultimate wish), control over the wind and even possibly some retcon abilities, though not in the intuitive sense that June had. However, in death Tavros did eventually overcome the block preventing him from accessing the power of flight, thus furthering his player quest in a round about way, even if unable to be completed!

On the other hand, Jake was not able to overcome his block completely by himself, instead having the process expedited by Aranea in a gambit to steal the ring of life from June. During this, his version of Ghost Dirk behaves as a block in an attempt to prevent him from accessing his potential, though Aranea had removed it without Jake's consent. His access to unbridled Hope does buy Roxy and June time to attempt to retcon the doomed timeline with Vriska and Terezi's help, thus fulfilling his role as a Hope player by providing Hope to the new players in his initially doomed session.

It's debated whether or not the Page class is one of activity or passivity, with the MSPA fandom wikia calling it an active class, though that's taken with a grain of salt. It's gender too is assigned a masculine one. Both pages depicted call or attempt to be "men of action", but their roles are that of supporters, Tavros as a Rufio-like character to Vriska and Jake behaving as a distraction to by his team's leader and a more active heroine time to turn the tides against Lord English. Thus, it can be extrapolated that pages are a more passive class. The 'gender' of the class appears more concrete, with all three pages depicted in Homestuck being masculine figures or having a masculine gender. Again though, this information can be innacurate, as Calliope called Heirs a masculine class while failing to consider June Egbert as a woman, and Knights themselves not being committed to one gender.

Pages are the underdogs of SBURB/SGRUB, being relegated to passive and supportive roles in game, acting as the Robin Hood to another class' Batman. This position is forcing the player to confront the blocks that actually relegate them to that role, often being insecurity, whether due to a disability or crippling self-doubt in relationships. The page class attempts to make the player confront and overcome these insecurities, rewarding the player with more access to their aspects. Basically:

I've been holding off on a small review of Homestuck for the last month, instead preferring to relax and take time for myself while I gathered my thoughts. All in all, there was so much I had forgetten since I first read it as a 12 year old over a decade ago, so I was definitely overwhelmed with how much there was to the story. I can say with certainty; I loved it. The themes resonated with me now as they did then, though now I'm able to see it for what it is rather than imposing what the fandom assumed ten years ago; it's a story about growing up.

Despite being a fan of older media (I'm a huge fan of Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion), I'm not prone to nostalgia very often. My desire to reread was inspired by a handful of meta essays covering classpect, which is what I focused on during this read, but towards the end my read was more for pleasure and interest in how each character grew over actually analyzing it.

My gripes before my praises, I will say, Homestuck is a product of its time. There are slurs, though nowhere near as bad as made out to be, but still there. It mirrors the political culture of the late 2000s, one of "old school" racism, homophobia and transphobia. The narrative pacing itself, while slow from acts 1-4, rapidly picks up pace at a sickening rate in act 5, and act 6 tends to meander with action packed bits littered throughout in an attempt to keep interest. In act 6 especially, there were pages I felt like I was slogging through just waiting for something to get interesting. There were pesterlogs that made me roll my eyes at various slurs used where I felt they had no place other than used as shock factor when a more crafty insult would've fit the character (Karkat and Meenah in particular). Some characters were not fleshed out but rather racial charicatures, such as Meenah, Gamzee and Damara, and their roles in the story made it hard to ignore. My issues with the racism is not new, this was being discussed and condemned while Homestuck was being actively written.

Now, with all of that said, it does remain a fairly strong story, especially in the beginning. I personally am a huge fan of a slow build to climactic action (Hello A Song of Ice and Fire!), and the intrigue Hussie was able to craft through the long pesterlogs, the switching perspectives and late introductions and foreshadowing kept me interested. I recall my first time reading I hated it, but now I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

The switching perspectives allowed both for a wonderful build in the story and an opportunity to expand the worldbuilding from four kids stuck in their rooms with various degrees of antagonistic parents to a cast of characters ranging from the humane to the inhumane, space and time. The various storylines occurring on different planets, at different times or the same places at the same time, concurrently, allows for a grander tale that was not just a group of kids playing a game.

Overall, Homestuck's strengths lie in Andrew Hussie's abilities not as just an artist, but an author as well. It's weaknesses are a culmination of a couple of things: One - Hussie's worldview and culture leading to the more unsavory bits of racism, homophobia and transphobia; and two - Hussie's continuous output that led to daily updates, but later years-long hiatuses that often lost fans while it was continuously updating. Another thing of note is, despite being on the internet and "lasting forever", Homestuck is now only truly maintained on an unofficial collection made into an app, preventing potential readers from accessing the work if they lack a computer. Despite these, Homestuck has made a fantastic mark on both fandom and culture at large, especially when it comes to cosplay. Had it not been for this multi-media bildungsroman, cosplaying would probably not be as mainstream as it is now, or not in the way we perceive it.

This is a repost from roughly a year ago.

A major theme of A Song of Ice and Fire is familial trauma; whether generational, cocsa, verbal or physical abuse. Throughout the story, trauma sustained in childhood is shown to affect and change the characters. Through comparisons of various families can the theme shine through. One great example is the parenting styles of Tywin Lannister compared to Ned Stark. Both patriarchs grew up in harsh conditions, born out of a feudal, patriarchal society. Yet how they treat their kids is vastly different, due to their complementary views of what children are.

Tywin Lannister views his children as extensions of himself, akin to trophies that bring him honor, bargaining chips to win him prestigious positions. Cersei he sees as a bargaining chip, using her to marry into families in an attempt to keep the peace, such as the Baratheon's after Robert's Rebellion. Her arranged match with Robert was done both - in order to keep the crown from punishing him for not taking a side in the rebellion and the citizens of King's Landing for staging their own rebellion against him, for the brutalities his bannermen committed while storming the city - as well as a gamble to get closer to the iron throne. By having one child of royalty, Tywin gains more prestige and power. Jaime behaves as a trophy child: he appears to be the ideal knight, handsome, charming, a fantastic fighter. Despite Jaime betraying his oath to protect the king and his vow of chastity, Tywin sees him as the perfect son; while a former heir to the Lord of Casterly Rock, is now a knight of the King's guard. If Cersei is a broodmare to continue the Lannister line, Jaime is the trophy Tywin can look at and point to should anyone ask what he's accomplished.

Tyrion breaks the illusion of the perfect family for Tywin. He's not conventionally attractive, disabled due to his dwarfism (thus cannot be a knight, or even a proper lord in Tywin's mind) and prefers wit to physical violence (not to say he wouldn't fight if pushed, as he is shown to do). His disability is stated to be a curse, Oberyn Martell citing rumors that while Hand of the King, Tywin "saw himself as above the king", making Tyrion a punishment bestowed upon the lord for arrogance. Thus, Tyrion is a reminder that Tywin is human, mortal, capable of mistakes. He resents his son for the reminder, for not being a useful pawn in his bid to gain power and the throne.

The Starks are different: Ned and Catelyn are aware of the differences in each child and nurture it. Ned brings his first son and heir to his meetings and councils, preparing him as a Lord of Winterfell, which serve him wonderfully in his short tenure as King in the North. Catelyn and Ned point out and encourage Sansa to enjoy the arts, needlework and other lady deeds (though there is also something to be said of the misogyny of a society where all women are expected to do these things, as Arya is often socially ostracized for not adhering to the role as a Stark Lady like Sansa.), and, with some understanding of his other daughter, Ned allows Arya to pursue Braavosi water dancing and learning to wield a sword (also encouraged by Jon). We don't get much of a glimpse into the Stark familial relationships as much as the Lannisters due to three of the eight dying, but what little is shown displays that Ned and Catelyn see their children as people exploring the world and society they were born into, with desires and preferences they encourage, as how else are they to learn expect through experience?

Catelyn, while furious with Robb for marrying Jeyne Westerling out of love and breaking his oath, saying "you are a king who broke his promise, one of the worst sins a king can commit", admires how graceful and understanding her son has become when he confesses his sin and intends to make amends with a slighted Walder Frey. Ned too, while upset that Arya is having difficulty adjusting in the Red Keep, allows her to instead pursue her interests as he knows forcing her into doing things she despises will just breed resentment between them. Both parents, while naive to the political machinations going on around them, understand how to be good parents, or at least as good as they can be in a feudalist society.

Thus, the War of the Five Kings is, at some length, a battle of the parenting of Tywin Lannister versus Eddard Stark. The Lannisters manage to win, but only through the slaughtering of the Starks and violating Guest Right, through Stannis kinslaying his brother Renly to be the only "true" Baratheon to win the crown, through a notion of "the ends justify the means." While the abusive parenting style of Tywin Lannister won the war, it has broken the bonds in their family, with Tyrion killing his father, Cersei growing more paranoid, and Jaime sinking into a depression.