Watching all the James Roach interviews available to me and hearing him aggressively point at the Aradia and Dave convo, wondering out loud why people haven't dug into that one when "it's all there". Figured I'd take a crack at it to see what we might be able to get out of it, especially in regards to Active and Passive classes.
So, an important thing to establish before we get started. Both Aradia and Dave are time players, which means we can rule out a difference in Aspect as responsible for the differing perspectives they both have in their first convo in Beyond Canon. That gives a great foundation to work off of, since Roach has stated that this conversation is meant to present information about Classpect. Therefore, since Aspect isn't responsible for a difference in perspectives, we're looking at some solid Class info. Nice.
I'm mainly going to be looking at page 520 here, since that is where the bulk of information is presented to us. The fact that Dave and Aradia's perspectives are presented as opposed to each other is something to note, as it seems that we are being shown two sides of a certain approach to both yourself, as well as your place in the world. I believe that we can identify this to be the approach of the Active Class and the approach of the Passive Class, which Dave and Aradia represent respectively.
There's two key parts of the conversation that I would isolate as relevant.
ARADIA: but wouldnt you say that some timelines have to be doomed?
DAVEBOT: i know a couple dead daves who would disagree
ARADIA: but you wouldnt be here without those dead daves
ARADIA: just like i wouldnt be here without all the doomed aradiabots from way back when
Here, we see both Dave and Aradia reflect on their time exploits and the use of multiple instances of themselves. When asked whether some timelines have to be doomed, Dave heavily opposes the idea. The idea that those dead Daves could not be evidence of failure but rather evidence of the timeline progressing as it should is unthinkable, and he brings up the opinions and experiences of those individual dead Daves as evidence of this. Meanwhile, Aradia understands the world through a wider lens. As she says later,
ARADIA: things that seem unimportant or even "wrong" can end up being essential components of whats meant to happen
Even the language they both use for their other selves paints an interesting picture - dead versus doomed. Dead implies a perceived failure of some sort, that the Dave in the moment failed to enact the correct course of actions and suffered the consequences. Doomed, meanwhile, implies a sort of inevitability. The Aradiabots were always meant to suffer this fate as part of the course of things.
DAVEBOT: a butterfly flaps its wings the wrong way and shit spirals FAST and before you know it im gay and ashton kutcher is getting fucking euthanized
DAVEBOT: and i cant let that happen
ARADIA: whats the right way for a butterfly to flap its wings?
DAVEBOT: the way that doesnt make me gay
DAVEBOT: period
This is the second part I want to hone in on. If the previous dispute was about whether things are meant to go a certain way or not, then this one is about who decides what is "the correct way" for things to go. Aradia argues along the same lines as before, decentralizing any individual perspective and instead questioning whether a definition of right and wrong is applicable at all. Meanwhile, Dave staunchly advocates that no, there is a right or wrong way for things to go, and it is up to him as an individual to ensure that the right things happen.
Taking my belief from before, we can identify that the perspective of Dave's Active Class heavily centers around the individual and their personal beliefs and actions. Active Classes determine what they think is the right or wrong course of action and act according to those beliefs. On the other hand, the perspective of Aradia's Passive Class is more focused on the greater scope of things and the role one plays in it. Passive Classes gain a greater understanding of how things fit together and use that understanding to know when, where, and what action is necessary.
Is there anything related to Homestuck that I can use that supports this? I could analyze the actions of a bunch of characters, but that's a lot of work, so I found something a bit simpler. The analysis below is a bit more speculative but I think it is a bit interesting. In summary, I believe we could use the Time and Space aspect descriptions as support for the above.
It's interesting that Caliborn and Alt Calliope are presented to us as the platonic ideal of Activeness and Passiveness in Homestuck. Both of their classes are tied to this textually. However, there is also a good argument to be made that their aspects factor into this as well. We know that The Choice given to Caliborn and Calliope serves to differentiate between activity, with the Path of the Conqueror being associated with an Active approach and the Path of the Martyr being associated with a Passive approach. However, Alt Calliope also states,
CALLIOPE: a muse of space could never solve it. but a lord of time could, with relentless perseverence.
CALLIOPE: it could only be him.
CALLIOPE: my brother?
CALLIOPE: yes.
CALLIOPE: i was never meant to rise to the place he holds because the game was rigged.
CALLIOPE: tilted in favor of his aspect.
The Active approach is one suited best for one who will refuse to yield in the face of the impossible, a Lord and a Time player, just like the Passive approach is one suited best for someone who has the greatest understanding and concern for the big picture, a Muse and a Space player.
Despite it being a bit contentious, I'm going to use the Aspect page of the Extended Zodiac to supplement my points here - after all, they are still official descriptions.
“Those bound to the aspect of Time are fighters, full stop. Their lives are often marked by struggle, not so much because fate has it in for them, but because they are fundamentally incapable of just accepting things as they come. They value action over passive acceptance, even if that may not be the wisest or safest choice.”
“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', and are inclined to take things as they come. That isn't to say that they're pushovers or willing to let injustice lie-they just choose their battles wisely, understanding that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before.”
Fits pretty closely with what Dave and Aradia articulated in their conversation about their approaches to things.
