If you are reading this post before my other aspect chart post, I suggest you look here first or you will be in danger of even more confusion than I'm about to instill in you anyway.
Ready? Let's put on our meta hats and do this thing.
Here's the lovely chart again for reference.
The black lines in the middle are clearly the chart's axes. But what about the other ones?
All the black lines, including the axes themselves, connect what I call complementary or 'sister' aspects. Now, you may be familiar with the aspect inversion theory. I guess this is sort of similar, but it also has some significant differences.
I see each aspect pair as interrelated, two different ways to approach the same central idea. It's kind of like the class pairs. Ex: Prince and Bard both deal with destruction, but in different ways. They are complementary; they complete one another. Notice I'm not saying they oppose or work against one another.
Like I said in part 1, anyone can manifest traits from any aspect. They're just divisions for different parts of reality. But these 'sisters' act like a sort of sliding scale. Players with one aspect may sidle over a little toward the other sister when the situation demands it. I don't think this is a bad thing! (Consult zenosanalytic's posts on inversion theory for a longer assessment of this.) The player is exploring the central tenet of their aspect from a different direction because that's what they need to do to accomplish a goal. They're not losing themselves or not being true to their mission. They're being flexible.
Example time! Rose gets quite Voidy for a while in act 5, but this is a result of her looking and asking for information - a very Light thing to do. Despite her grimdark state, the plan she comes up with accomplishes what it needs to (even if it's not what she was expecting).
Jade shows impressive mastery of timing while organizing deliveries in the early comic, but she is still managing the placement of objects through space. She simply leaned over and snagged a bit of her sister aspect to get the job done.
John now has the power to bestow Life, but he got that power through Breath. What's more, reviving a ghost will likely be an inciting and energizing act for the whole comic.
But I may be getting ahead of myself. Here's a quick rundown of the pairs (or at least as quick as I can get).
Breath and Life: these both represent growth, with Breath going outward among people and Life inward within yourself. Detailed discussion here and here
Hope and Doom: both concern possibilities. While Doom is things that are going to happen (fate), Hope rejects this. Anything impossible can be true if you believe in it hard enough! (Further discussion here.)
Blood and Rage: These cover emotions, whether binding or divisive. You know the drill: here's a link to more. I promised to keep THIS post short. I never promised not to add to the reading list.
Heart and Mind: I don't actually have a combo post on this! But before you breathe a sigh of relief, here's a discussion between me and a metafriend on the topic. Basically, Heart and Mind are like Will and Emotion, Brain and Soul. You can't choose one. Both comprise your identity. However, people lean. Some people prefer to let emotion or personal identity tint their view of the world, while others like logic and mental fortitude. However, it's a little more complicated (all aspects are) as that linked chat on Dirk and Terezi illustrates.
Space and Time: the two building blocks of reality. Good/bad cherubs, grow/shrink, live/die, create/destroy.
Light and Void: This is probably the most widely accepted pair after Space and Time. Both concern information. Light reveals; Void conceals.
Are you still here? Really? I'm impressed. Give yourself a hand!
Now, the obligatory disclaimer:
I do not claim this to be canon, fanon, or anything beyond my interpretation and method of organization. Feel free to cherrypick what you like of all this rambling. Or you can not like anything. That's great too! Compose your own chart and send it to face mine in battle as we compose metanalyses til dawn. Or 10, which is when I go to bed.
I've frequently seen lovely, painstakingly designed and executed aspect wheels, flowcharts, tables, etc, and they're all really cool but don't quite line up to my interpretation.
So I wasted a bunch of time and made my own.
Here is my lovely chart - made in MS word, can't you tell? - and under the cut I will tell you alllll about it.
Basic Setup
Originally I was going to have a single axis between the 'master aspects' of Space and Time (creation and destruction), placing all other aspects along this line. I was going to have Light on the Space side and Void on the Time side. But Light and Void aren't really creative/destructive (well, not inherently. They can be, depending on what class they're paired with. But Class complications is beyond the scope of this post.) so I set them as a second axis measuring illumination/obscurement. Aspects leaning toward Light tend to reveal; Aspects leaning toward Void tend to conceal or at least complicate. I will get to that more thoroughly in my next subsection.
I also think these four being the axis points is nice because it mirrors the Incipisphere. Space/creation can stand for Prospit; Time/destruction Derse. Light for Skaia; Void for the Furthest Ring.
Solo Aspects
Why did I place these where I did?
First off, let me explain: I've been noticing weird connections between aspects for a while now. I'd come up with the notion of 'sister aspects', which I'll get too later, but that didn't cover it. There were connections everywhere! I mean, any player can manifest pretty much any aspect depending on their classpect, situation, and personality, but there were some connections coming out clearer than others. So I started grouping, and they fell into two distinct groups. I'll go through the aspects one by one to explain further. To avoid talking your ear off more than I already will, I'll be brief. If you have any questions or want clarification, feel free to ask!
(It's also fun to note that the Prospitian family all falls one one side. The Derse kids are a little more spread out, but lean to the right.)
Breath: Breath was placed close to creation because it gets things started. It initiates, inspires, gives a driving force behind actions, etc. It also can help raise issues that have been hidden and purify both oily planets and glitchy sessions, pulling it to the Light side of the spectrum.
Life: Obviously Life = growth. Life and Space are closely connected, just as Time is linked heavily to death. Space breeds a universe by creating DNA. It also has a transformative impact on its players, much as Life players are heiresses who must 'come into their own'. Life veers toward Void, both because of Feferi's communion with the Horrorterrors and because of players' tendency toward corruption.
Hope: Hope is seriously creative; it can bring something out of nothing, as Jake shows us. I placed it by Light because it gives invisible or fleeting things (Dirk's fragment, the What pumpkin) form and substance. Ironically, Roxy's Rogue of Void powers give her similar capabilities. Aspects are malleable. That's why I was hesitant to even attempt a chart.
Blood: I see Blood as binding, positive emotions. This is creative - when they go right, at least. However, the natural murkiness of relationships pushes it toward Void. Blood and Space are heavily connected. Kanaya heals herself as the Sylph of Space, and the Space player Maryams are rainbow (blood) drinkers. Blood and Breath are also similar - while Blood is intimate connection (and yes I mean this in both romantic and platonic ways), Breath is the looser connections of networking and large groups.
Time to embrace the dark side destruction half of the chart.
Rage: Like Blood, I see this dealing with emotions. However, these are divisive hostile emotions. (Again, a caveat: a Rage player of a certain Classpect can also destroy these. Gamzee did it, inviting the destruction of his underlings' hostility. But as the pure Aspect...) As with anything emotional, it veers toward Void.
Doom: I read Doom as laws, systems, strictures. Something that is going to happen and everyone has to deal. Typically we've been shown Doom in a negative light: Sollux's voices of the dead, Mituna's sacrifice. It's also on the Time side because Time - with its 'rules' and serious consequences, is a fairly Doom-laden aspect. Although Time players attempt to resist bad consequences, their fate (which doom is actually another word for) is predetermined by the Alpha timeline. At least until a certain Breath player showed up... This foreknowledge of things to come places it under Light's dominion.
Heart: Heart can easily become self-destructive, placing it nicely on the Time side of the spectrum. Also, Time players experience some splintering of self to various extents. Heart can easily be mysterious. One Heart player is taciturn and reserved; one was moirails with a Void player; one is under obstructive control. Thus, I sent it toward Void. Roxy would be pleased.
Mind: Mind isn't *exactly* destructive, but Terezi's ability to see various potential timelines convinced me to place it on this side of the chart. As I mentioned earlier, Time and Mind players both seem to be more aware and sometimes uncomfortable with their identity, and both Terezi and Dave are currently battling with Heart-related issues.
This is a rather terrifying wall of text, isn't it? To avoid crashing your browser, I will end it here. For an explanation of 'sister' or complementary aspects (AKA what are those other black lines for?) continue to my other aspect chart post here.
