The Extended Zodiac Sign Quiz and the Aspects
I eventually want to make a longer post on this but I just wanted to quickly celebrate the canon definitions of the aspects released on the hiveswap website, and talk about how they affect interpretations and change how we think of the aspects. <this ended up being a lot longer than I intended, putting a cut here just in case>
TIME “They value action over passive acceptance, even if that may not be the wisest or safest choice. Don’t try to tell a Time-bound to sit still and look pretty.” This is an interesting part of the description, contradicting a popular analysis of Time leaning towards the passive end, the lead up to eventual destruction. In general the paragraph on Time addresses the physical effect of Time on spacetime, and the universe itself much less than most descriptions out on tumblr.
SPACE “To this effect, they tend to be innovators, concerned with creation and redemption. Catch them recycling the old to make the new, the fresh, and the beautiful.“ “Those bound to the aspect of Space are, as the name suggests, concerned with the big picture. They are patient, masters of the art of wait-and-see” These two also fill in holes that some, including my, analyses miss, the recycling and reusing quality of Space along with the passive awaiting. They don’t have all the Time in the world so to speak
HEART “Forging an identity is extremely important to the Heart-bound, and every decision and action goes toward building a coherent narrative of their own story.” “They are excellent at putting on and taking off masks as the situation calls for them.“ Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. In any other place this would look like a description of our perception of a Mind player, the masks, the narrative, decision making… Time to reevaluate.
MIND “They are very concerned with remaining rational, and they have such a firm hold on the constant conjunction of their thinking that it’s easy for them to see the multitudes of the choices laid out” This small chunk of Mind’s longer paragraph is the closest to fanon. However, it doesn’t show Mind and Heart as diametric opposites, overlapping the two and containing them within the field of decision making and self’s effects on others.
HOPE “Those bound to the aspect of Hope are driven first and foremost by their convictions. They do right for right’s sake, and are quick to come to the aid of anyone they deem to be experiencing injustice.“ “They put great value in the power of the imagination, the ability to dream up a better and more beautiful future. If anyone could dream a better world into existence, it would be one of the Hope-bound.“ Again, super close to the fanon description, adding more on the topic of Hope’s determination factor, the raw willing that comes with that level of imagination.
RAGE “Those bound to the aspect of Rage are bringers of chaos. They posses great contempt for lies or false ideas, including the stability that false ideas can impart. To them, the true is far more important than the good” Also similar, the Rage description highlights other key features of Rage including their equally-as-convicted-as-Hope among others, although it focuses more on the destruction and extremely negative portions of Rage’s analyzed definition, leaving out the harnessing of these strong emotions, even their part in the aspect itself.
LIGHT “They are, above all, driven to learn and understand. They are great alchemists, able to take multiple sources of information and synthesize them into something useful.” “The Light-bound will go after knowledge with a fierce intensity that others may find distasteful. They aren’t overly concerned with laws or norms, either. They often take rules as simple suggestions“ This definition serves the purpose of breaking Light from its box of knowledge through simply knowledge, painting the Light players as more of an active partaker in the search for everything, regardless of any systems in place.
VOID “The unknown doesn’t scare them-where others might see emptiness, they see potential. A blank page, an empty canvas, that’s what the Void-bound live for. They value mystery and the unexplained, and are not particularly bothered by not having all the answers.“ Highlights parts of Void people have missed. Void isn’t nothing. It is the raw potential for something, anything to be there, without negative connotations or biases.
BREATH “Flexible and driven, they leave an impact wherever they go. Like the breeze itself, they are able to sweep others up to carry along in their wake, but also like the breeze, they can be difficult to catch hold of or tie down.” Nothing particularly worth mentioning in the Breath definition, except that its role in heroism is interesting.
BLOOD “Blood-bound are absolutely leaders, but they inhabit more of an inspirational role than a commanding one. They are prophets, rather than generals, giving others the strength and motivation to keep fighting.” Again nothing particular here. Highlights leadership and role in groups more than the actual bonds between people themselves.
LIFE “Deeply empathetic, they have an intuitive understanding of other’s suffering and the best way of righting those wrongs. If you’re poisoned, chances are the Life-bound have something for what ails ya. This applies to both physical and mental suffering, though it might not be a cure you’ll like.“ Mm. Ok. This Life definition defines Life as healing potential, whether volunatry or not. Does not even mention the definition of Life as a force against systematic anything, instead attributing that to Rage.
DOOM “The Doom-bound understand that misery loves company, and they are ready and willing to provide said company. The Doom-bound won’t fix you; they aren’t healers. They are commiserators, aware that sometimes the only thing you can do for a person is let them know that they are not alone in their suffering.” In general it appears that Doom and Life are presiding over the domain of reactions to events that might not be favorable, instead of their roles in systems and the breaking of those- most likely influenced by Sollux and Meenah’s presence respectively. In conclusion, while many of these definitions are different from the ones people have grown to see as fact, these canon descriptions provide a supposedly accurate and interesting approach to parts of an Aspect that have been neglected.