Haha, no, I'm pretty sure AH is not actually UU.  He's cosplaying, like when he cosplayed Lord English during Act Five or some kind of hope robot during A6I1.  But it sure does look more and more likely that UU is related to Roxy's mom's Calmasis character, doesn't it?

Uhhh. Karkat? You're RED

I love you so much. I'm proud of you!

7scimitarroll wrote:

Trivial—but potentially enlightening—discussion topic: if the characters of Utena were players of Sburb, what do you think their Titles/Aspects would be?

Last night I took a stab at this question, just to say hello, but I didn't get very far because I immediately ran into an unacceptable compromise.  Given the themes of the show, Utena must perforce be a PRINCE, but mechanically she is obviously a KNIGHT.  She can't be both, so I gave up there.

Anthy thematically has to be a WITCH, and that seems acceptable to me mechanically as well.  Perhaps a WITCH of HOPE.

Juri's defining denial of miracles makes her aspect LIGHT.  Is she a PRINCE of LIGHT?  Or an HEIR?

It seems to me that Mikage could go a number of ways depending on how you frame him.  He's able to conduct a complicated orchestra of betrayals by playing on people's insecurities and emptinesses -- does that make him a SEER of VOID?  On the other hand, he subverts their souls to his own purposes -- perhaps he's a THIEF of HEART?  Yet still, he has an uncanny knack for hearing and exploiting a person's anger -- is he a MAGE of RAGE?  And he manages to outlive himself, cutting out a swath for his own era at the expense of ours -- like a PRINCE of TIME?

I hope we get more exposition on the classes soon.

I suppose Utena did "smash the world's shell," didn't she?  (If by "the world" we mean Anthy.)  I guess that could make her a prince.  I just have trouble getting my head around the idea that Utena is fundamentally a destroyer, and not, for example, a protector.  If she is a prince, she is most certainly a Prince of Heart; she literally uses her soul sword to destroy things.

And I do think there is some resonance between Utena and young Dirk Strider, though I don't know how much!

Last edited by satyreyes (03-13-2012 08:24:16 PM)

I ship Dave/Terezi so hard and I also ship Karkat/Terezi. It would make an awesome OT3. :3

It has been pointed out to me that Hussie's avatar has always had blank white eyes, just like his ghosts and other dead people. His avatar may be, among other things, a"Death of the Author" gag.
I did not notice that aspect of the "irons in the fire" line. I'm… a little dubious, but it works.

What's even better, if Jake follows the same pattern the rest of the cast has, Abraxas will also turn out to be the name of his Denizen. 

Well, Jake is a Page.  Pages have great potential.  Sinclair, in Demian, is definitely a Page.  I don't think the choice of Abraxas was coincidental   (Though I think the thinking right now is that Denizens are tied to aspect, not class.)

Double-post.

Just saw today's update... and this tumblr post... I wonder... I was pretty convinced that what happened recently between UU and uu proves that they're two different people, until I saw this post: http://elasticitymudflap.tumblr.com/pos … ing-update

Argh. UU why did you write off uu's ooc play style as uu slightly improving at chess instead of maybe asking if uu actually switched pieces? You just can't assume stuff like that when playing a clearly allegorical chess game with a homicidal troll.

satyreyes wrote:

But while we've been paying attention to uu and UU, we have been given a fascinating riddle: the king and the queen switched places.  This has got to have something to do with Skaia's very own chessman kings and queens.

And the most fascinating part is that they didn't switch. So I suppose that means there's a king disguised as a queen and a queen disguised as a king out somewhere. (Lord English and The Condesce perhaps?)

I went ahead and set up and played out the chess game just for fun.  Phase 1 really is pretty funny.  UU accidentally checks the disguised Black King twice (thinking she is attacking the queen); uu correctly removes the check both times, once by moving the disguised King out of check (which in turn propels UU into a completely unnecessary defensive move, since she thinks it's a queen) and once by capturing the attacking piece.  I didn't catch any major blunders on UU's side during Phase 1.

During Phase 2, UU falls apart.  After

UU    uu
      Qc2+
Ke3   Rc3+

the correct move for UU is king to d4.  uu has to keep giving check, because the first time uu doesn't give check, UU will play Qe7 checkmate.  But there are only so many ways for uu to give check, and all of the sane ones let UU's king escape to e5 and beyond, where uu won't be able to get to him.  I am pretty sure this was a winnable game for UU.

Instead, UU continued with

UU    uu
QxR?  QxQ+
Ke2   e5

and the attack on the real Black King is neutered.  But at least uu does not immediately threaten checkmate either.  UU's one vulnerable square, f3, is guarded by a rook.  uu's pawn to e5 is supposed to dislodge the rook, but UU can move the rook safely as long as it stays on the f file.  I think UU should play Rf5, protecting her vulnerability.  Instead, she plays

UU    uu
Rc4   Qf3+

and the wolves are in the manger.  I don't think that Rc4 is the "idiotic blunder" uu calls it in chat.  Perhaps UU is thinking that she can later play Rc8+ and pick up uu's remaining rook -- which in fact is exactly what will happen.  But then UU should respond to the check with Ke1.  After Ke1, uu cannot continue the attack and Rc8+ will be a real threat -- possibly even a mating threat.  Instead, inexplicably, UU continues with

UU    uu
Kd2?? Qd5+
Kc2   QxB

where uu has happily accepted UU's engraved invitation to pick up a free bishop.  UU makes good on her threat but doesn't think it through:

UU    uu
Rc8+  Kd7
RxR??

No, no, NO!!!  This is where UU really betrays her lack of concentration.  The correct continuation was:

UU    uu
Rc8+  Kd7
Rg7+! Ke6
Rg6+  Kf7
RxQ   RxR+

where UU skewers uu's queen, giving up only a rook as compensation.  This would neutralize losing the bishop while keeping UU's other rook somewhere useful, giving UU a fighting chance.  Instead, UU picks up the "free" rook -- free in quotes because UU is effectively trading rooks by putting hers in such a useless position.  Predictably, uu continues with ...Qc5+ and UU obligingly gets shoved around the board for the rest of the game.  I'm not a great chess player, but I think UU is pretty strong; she seemed to play Phase 1 of the game well, with no errors that I could spot.  But after the crowns come off she just loses it entirely. 

Last edited by satyreyes (06-08-2012 09:51:00 PM)

You know, I had stopped the analysis there originally, because that's where the game became unsalvageable.  But UU's play after that point is also really bad.  UU twice makes unforced bad moves that invite uu to fork her king and another piece, just as uu did with the bishop.  The most incredible is a point where UU can use her rook to take a free pawn and give check, but instead chooses to twiddle her king in a way that serves no purpose at all except to allow uu to fork the king and rook.  This is beyond bad chess; you have to try to play that badly.  You can actually watch the stages of UU's furious meltdown, from "still trying to win but badly rattled" to "just playing the first dumb move that comes to mind" to "actively sabotaging myself."

I have never seen a chessboard used so effectively as a storytelling medium. 

Anthiena wrote:

WQ, you are epic win. EDIT: ...but why are you holding the king's scepter?

...SUDDENLY RELEVANT AGAIN.