can i get your take on the hope aspect? your thoughts about rage got some gears turning, and like you said in your post about life, it helps to understand the opposite aspect in relation :)
Absolutely! It's my opinion that the Hope Aspect, like a few other aspects and what they're named after, is fairly misunderstood because of the connotations the word "hope" has. The Hope Aspect is also one I gained a better understanding of by comparing it alongside its inverse.
The word "hope" has some pretty positive connotations to it. Dreams, longing, yearning for something better, holding on, so on and so forth. These aren't wrong when thinking of the Hopebound, but they're certainly not the full picture of what the Hope Aspect has to offer. And, like the other 11 aspects, the Hope Aspect isn't necessarily good or bad; it is inherently neutral, with the potential to be either good or bad.
From The Extended Zodiac, I pulled these keywords from the Hope Aspect description. These would be the "canon" traits; they are what I adhere to when analyzing, but it should also be understood that this concept encompasses much more to do with than these keywords. Its "vibe", if you will, is much more than what is written.
TEZ Hope Keywords: Conviction, justice, aid, black and white thinking, imagination, dreams, better future, positive, caring, warm, (narrow-minded, selfish)
What really caught my attention in the canon description for the Hope Aspect was the descriptor "narrow-minded". It painted an interesting picture; that someone can be narrow-minded at their worst when their drive is towards that of a better future.
My chosen words for the Hope Aspect are "Conviction, Ideology, Commitment, Justice". I felt that the drive for many Hopebound is their sense of justice; they believe the things they do because they have a sense of justice. However, it's also important to keep in mind that one person's idea of justice is not always another person's idea of justice. (The Death Penalty debate is a good example of what I mean, but there are a lot of other good examples out there too).
The other word I chose for the Hope Aspect that didn't come from the TEZ was "ideology", which I felt encompassed many of the words on the list and off the list. Ideology is what a person believes; this can be religion, one's moral compass, true (or false) education, government systems, propaganda, so on and so forth. Ideology focuses on the system of beliefs a person has, and so the Hope Aspect also focuses on both personal beliefs, and systems in general (the government system, the education system, etc). This is perhaps why Ragebound tend to be anarchists and punks. Since the Hope Aspect is about beliefs, these beliefs can be anything. There's a lot of room in the Hope Aspect to look like other aspects if someone's ideology happens to match up with, say, the Life Aspect, or the Light Aspect, or any of the other aspects. There's a lot of wiggle room, but ultimately, the Hopebound do what they do because they hold fast to their beliefs and adhere to the systems that are in place which support their beliefs.
Like with Gamzee and Kurloz, the Hope Aspect doesn't get a full spotlight with Eridan (Prince of Hope) and Cronus (Bard of Hope) representing it, as the destroyer classes tend to skew the understanding of an aspect. However, for what Eridan's classpect was, he certainly was written up to it; the Prince uses hope to destroy hope, because he cannot grasp it or control it despite its abundance around him. His connection to the Hope aspect is fairly apparent in his Pesterquest route, actually, with how he talks about gender roles and his desire to be gender non-conforming and supportive of it, but he just can't grasp that for himself despite believing in it (ironically, because he's a shitty person via actively destroying the Hope of others). He also, in the next breath, proceeds to spout some pro-hemospectrum system bullshit, which I feel really does represent how narrow-minded he can be on certain subjects. Cronus is written flatly, but as a Bard of Hope, he has too much control over Hope, and that actually scares him. He allows Hope to deteriorate by actively enhancing Rage in others; this might be why he comes off as a playboy and a coward, and why so many people don't like being around him.
Meanwhile, I don't recall if Jake (Page of Hope) ever fully realizes his classpect within canon (and I am not counting being forced by Aranea), but Jake's arc has a lot to do with going out and forging his own ideology and set of beliefs; his attachment to adventures really shines through for his Page class. He has commitment problems with Dirk, which is a fault of the Page class and something he has to learn to work through to master Hope. He's got a fledgling sense of justice, and has to work through his meekness and shyness to hold fast to his convictions.