aspect geometry (and how it makes me go insane)

alright lets get to the continuation

*tiers of inversions

you might have noticed that i used "tertiary inverse" in the post above
this is the start of my aspect geometry, but mainly the scaffolding first

again: we take the aspect wheel

im going to use Light as example here

i assume we are all aware of opposites aspects being the opposite sides of the same coin, and that all aspects in the end are parts of a whole and thus the same
(they are called aspects, bluh)

if we again look at the quartering of the wheel from before (almost) every aspect will have three opposites, depending on which axis of symmetry we are looking at
we have the mirror symmetry for the primary inverse
> Light to Void

in this case followed by the vertical symmetry axis for the secondary inverse
> Light to Mind
and then by the horizontal symmetry axis for the tertiary inverse
> Light to Heart

whether horizontal or vertical takes the secondary or tertiary depends on where you start on the wheel

Space and Time and Breath and Blood are special bc they only have a primary inverse
(tho keep in mind that these statements are dependant on Space and Time being in the positions of "most important aspects" without which a session cannot work; if we are rotating the wheel to look at it from a different vantage point this will of course change)

these inversions have a special relationship with the aspect we are looking at
since they carry the same values in one of their variables

each of them is a coin with the pairs on the opposing sides
and thus each of them is incredibly similar to each other, while still being very different

we can see this in the relations in the comic as well

roxy and rose are in that way the same in opposite directions
as are terezi and rose or vriska
and so are rose and dirk

i am of the opinion that that is a big reason of ult!dirk taking both rose and terezi with him
and also why i believe that he fears them

another part we will follow up in the third part, where we will finally get into the actual shapes

Act 1 Act 3 if you will

the shapes

we shall again take the wheel and this time start drawing shapes between the aspects

here we have an example of aspects in a non-inversion relation forming a stable shape

we can extrapolate many things from these to have fun with and i am rotating them at high speed in my mind since a long time

in the drawn in example we see Heart and Light forming a stable shape, weighted in opposition to Space

this is a plotpoint in the epilogues as it can be seen as ult!Dirk (Heart) attaining Rose's Light to gain the advantage over alt!Callie (Space)
i believe that this was an integral part of his plan to escape from the black hole
and the same was when Dirk used Rose to outplay Kanaya

another example from the main comic could be drawing between Mind, Breath, and Rage:
Terezi and John teaming up to thwart Gamzee (the GAME OVER timeline)
Roxy was also involved and would with Terezi make a stable shape against Time (LE)

another one from the epilogues is
Karkats inevitable defeat in the election
he did not get the support of Roxy
and Life (Jane) used Hope (Jake) to topple Blood entirely
(of course Dirk helped with that a bunch with his stringpulling but point still stands)

Authority without Unwavering Belief cannot beat Bonds
Life and Blood without support are lopsided

(i will also say that i get feels when i look at the perfect stability square of Karkat Jade John and Dave
Rose would tilt the shape again and we also see Rose having the least relation with Karkat)

this also feeds into Dirks need to destroy Jake, bc he had to prevent him teaming up with Space bc it would cause him to be at a disadvantage

its all a game of balancing things out, and avoiding too lopsided shapes bc that'll throw off your plans/choices/agency/results

i honestly dont think any of that was intentional, and im sure it doesnt fit everything, especially with hsbc, i doubt the current (new) team plans to stick with all of the established rules, in part bc of course more possibilities are always interesting and fun

but i think its a lot of fun to lay shapes on the aspects and draw meaning from them

anyway i hope people will join me in this sandbox and build castles with me!
please tell me your thoughts and interpretations

I wholeheartedly agree on practically every point. I particularly like the shapes part of your theory, I have considered this but I have not delved too deeply into it. What I would like to add is another geometry relationship, that you have not mentioned: the aspect wheel is, of course, a circle. it will look the same from the outside no matter the orientation. the EZ gives us what I like to call the spacetime axes, which center around principles that are central to both the game itself, which is the most important for understanding relating to the classes of players, and to the physical world, which is the state that beings must exist in. this is not the complete picture, however, as it only explains the midrange of a character’s understanding of the world. Ironically, it also cripples our understanding of the aspects it places as most important, namely time, space, breath, and blood. Because they have no horizontal or vertical pairs, their only relationship is to their opposite, and so we can only learn a little about them. What I propose is that the wheel be turned 30 or 60 degrees to the left, placing either life or light at the top. Let's start with the first one, the mindheart axes. mind is placed in the left, becoming the reason side of the spectrum, while heart becomes the emotion side at the right. Life occupies the 'positive' position and doom the 'negative'. these do not change, only what they are measuring, in this case, mindset. these axes, rather than measure a player in relation to the world or game (exterior), measure the self (interior) life and doom roughly equate to motivation/goal/mindset and heart and mind are the methods used to achieve this, if that makes any sense (space and time are the 'methods' in the other model(the horizontal axis is generally the base of each model)) this is a completely new frame of refrence, complete with new horizontal and vertical pairs, though notably the same opposites. (i can describe the signifigance of each individual pair if you're interested, but that is beyond the scope of this post.) And We're just getting started. my personal favorite orientation is the hoperage axes, with light and void on the vertical. now positive and negative represent sheer narrative force, relevance, information. the methods are full of potential either way, pure creativity or pure destruction. this is the narrative axes, the long range relationship that a character will never perceive (some exceptions include Vriska, light, and gamzee, rage) that nevertheless defines their entire existence and controls how we perceive them. light/void relationship is the most important resource for a character, while hope and rage have the power to define the plot like no other(I have a whole theory about how they are the most important aspects and their influence can be seen absolutely everywhere both inside and outside of hussie's work) I could go on for pages about the signifigance of this orientation, which of course has its own V/H pairs (which, again, ive devoted substantial time to examining), but for now I merely want to introduce the idea of rotation so ill keep it concise. the closest relationship is within the character's self, best viewed through heartmind, moving outward we come to the world or the game, best viewed through spacetime, and at the outer limits of a characters experience we have the narrative, in which their contribution is best viewed through hoperage. I would just like to add, I'm glad there are others interested in aspect geometry, and I sincerely hope that my theory interests you.

@deliriousbiznasty
thanks for your addition!

i did mention rotation of the wheel will change the relations but i didnt get into it and i really like your explansion on it

i have two parts i think are slightly misaligned
> 1st
if we are turning Mind and Heart into the primary (x) axis i dont think i would call that Reason/Emotion
if only bc imo Light is not very emotive, and Hope instead is not bound to reason
what i propose instead is a scale from Inauthenticity or Denial vs Authenticity or Acceptance


Mind does include reason in its core but i think here the false front could for the scale better
it deals with disguises and judgement, and while a judge is to be impartial, morals never are

Mind denies itself the most, it denies the Self

Heart is open about its wants bc its about the "true self" and what is "in character"
per definition Heart must wear itself on its sleeve and be its authentic self

Heart accepts the Self

Hope's inauthenticity revolves about the Realness/Fakeness attribute
its Placebo, it sees what is not but attempts an overlay, and projects an idealised version
Hope denies Doubt
or maybe Hope denies whats Real

Time would now be its secondary inverse and i think that does fit
bc resignation is a form of acceptance, even if not the healthiest one
Time accepts whats Real

im trying to coagulate more sense in this axis and i think im forming the opinion on that the Life/Doom (y) axis' plus/minus is one or Partiality
in the way that Life is convinced it knows what is Right, and Doom is convinced it knows what is Wrong
Mind and Heart both do not see themselves are right or wrong, but as impartial, Mind in the way that it wants Objectivity (plural) and cares for unbiased Justice, and Heart that its about Subjectivity (singular) and is aware that its biased worldview is not inherently right or wrong

Breath in a way is selfish bc it cannot for attachments, and so it has a hard time considering others, and it also gives up easily
Breath denies its Impact, and sees itself as Right in its Freedom
one can also add that it denies Effort

Void denies the most, but not itself the most, it does not acknowledge anything and hides in its obscurity
Void denies Absolutes, Everything is Unconfirmed

Space is a little harder here for me again, but i think its fitting to say that its Denial lies in Focus
yaknow i could maybe joke that the SpaceTime axis is also an axis from ADHD to Autism
Space has the hardest time sticking with something, while Time cannot get away from its "hyperfocus"
Space will not commit - in an opposite way to Hope - Everything is Equal

Rage here its secondary inversion; Rage will not stand for hiding its discontent and it devotes itself to this negativity for better or worse
i am fully convinced that Rage is one of the most important aspects for building a society, bc complaining is a noble art, at least when it doesnt lose itself in its throes
pruning corruption keeps community healthy
it is also no coincidence it is a neighbour to Blood there since of course the community needs to Be for tending to it
Rage accepts Change and Doubt
it opposes Space's Stagnation; and Time's Inevitability

Blood is fully aware of its Impact
it cares about the chain of effect and how actions send ripples through all its personal connections; Blood is not afraid to invest Sweat and Tears
and it will stand its ground
Blood accepts its Connection, and the Constraints it brings

Light believes in the Right again, as neighbour to Life, and it brings things in the open
its a bit closer the Subjectivity site, but it outsources this to a rather utilitaristic philosophy
Light here mirrors Hope in that it is convinced of Ideal, but subverts it by accepting the singular "most auspicious fate" exclusively
Light accepts the Means to an End (Vriska of course being the most poignant example here) and considers that the only possible choice
it opposes Blood in that, bc Blood is staunch against justifying the means

i think i touched on all of them now? please let me know what you think of this interpretation of your theory

this has been a bit bigger than i intended now *cough* something something Light chatters endlessly *cough*

my 2nd now truly minor gripe is that i dont think its quite right to call Light and Void in the y-axis "pure narrative power"
bc that is first and foremost Time's domain
it is the plotline
Light oversees just what we get to directly witness
Void is what is left implied, or what is open to interpretation
i dont think id say that they really have narrative power itself

just bc you can move the spotlight it doesnt mean you get to decide whats going on on stage
this ties again in the meta shenanigans in the epilogues (and per extension hsbc)
ult!Dirk manages to Destroy the "in-characterness" and thus first subtly and as soon as the ball gets rolling more overtly bend the narrative to where he wants to
together with Rose's Light he balances to an approximation of Time (as well as having the LE influence of a wild mix of Time Heart Light Rage and Void, even if i believe that to be mostly an experience thing)

the way that Light can direct the narrative is by shining at a spot that previously was never seen and insert something into it to define it
but i feel thats more of a workaround than straight up narrative power
this is how (in my theory) Rose created Yiffy
by filling a Plothole with now defined (and canon) Information

i hope im not coming across as disparaging, i greatly enjoyed your thoughts
it is just in my nature to offer different points of view
i am not claiming them to be The One True Take

Thank you for your input. It’s always good to have someone else look at something to confirm I’m not crazy.

I’ll address the second point first because it’s simpler: “pure narrative power” is indeed a dispersing on my part, I was tired when I wrote that and I would probably have said expressed it differently had I thought about it more. what I was attempting to refer to is the power that the spotlight holds. as viewers, this is all we can see and so what it illuminates is a kind of power, it controls how we see the story. and I do believe it is powerful; as Vriska uses light power to force herself back into the story, and to put herself in a major role in the first place, in my opinion.

As for the other issue, I have not spent nearly as much time on the heart mind axes, so my analysis of them is somewhat lacking. Reason and emotion are perhaps not the best words, though denial is also not a word I’d choose. I would add that mind and heart both put on masks; heart to express itself and mind to disguise itself.

I don’t think what shouldn’t be is the best phrasing for doom either. I believe what must be is a better fit, as doom sees inevitability, not right or wrong. It may not like what it sees, but doom is about accepting it anyway in my opinion.

Also, while rage is extremely important to society, hope is just as important. You can’t accomplish anything just by tearing down the bad; you need someone to Make something better as well.

the "shouldnt be" i think does not disagree with that, tho id also say that inevitability specifically is not Doom but Time
the "shouldnt be" is more a wish, it sees the suffering but it will still accept it
but it will never be happy with it
without shaping through the class my interpretation is that just like Hope, Doom will rarely act
just like the classes the aspects too have varying levels of passivity and activity

i choose to phrase it in the auxiliaries (can, must, need, will, shall) to have a uniformity

i agree on the spotlight part tho, even if i will stand by it being a less direct power than, well, the actual Plot (Time)
my only gripe was the phrasing suggesting that Light and Void are exeptional in it
bc every aspect has the potential to exert force on the narrative (all aspects are ultimately the same; roughly defined areas in a gradient colour wheel)

i do agree that the Denial/Acceptance is not the best denominator for the mindheart axis tho
but i havent thought as much about the rotations yet either so i kinda just have some sketches in my mind on it

Woah holy shit. Replying with this now after skimming the first part of it because I wanna come back to it. You'll know when I've finished looking at this topic in depth cause I really wanna actually draw the wheel out in my sketchbook with some colored pencils and stuff to keep as a reference and I'll send it here.

The biggest issue that I have with understanding aspects personally is how they interact with and how to compare them to other aspects and aspect inverse pairs, some I understand and some I don't. I also really enjoy Void being described as schrodingers aspect, I'm surprised I haven't seen that before and almost disappointed I didn't come up with it myself lol. The like, philosophical look on aspects (I think that's the right word but I may be dumb) is really fucking awesome OvO

@cutecorecion
thanks for your reply already either way!
im very much looking forward to your take on my thoughts

i am obessed with my tiered inversion theory in part bc they do match up so well in their subaspects

and its probably something one could draw which things are the most important core parts of the aspect and which parts are in slightly more supportive function

like
Light <-> Void
whats known/defined whats unknown/undefined

Light <-> Mind
luck (fortune) choice (consequences)
choice doesnt matter luck doesnt matter

Light <-> Heart
for all for me

and still each of them can have the same results
(ie both vriska and dirk have enormous conviction on whats best for people)
just the place of origin differs

i really wanna get more into what parts the respective inverses for each aspect oppose
Hope opposes Rage's Doubt
and Doom's pessimism
and hmmmm id say Life's inconsideration maybe

Life is a very ruthless aspect imo, just as its neighbour Light, in slightly different ways
and Breath could be interpreted as such as well but its a mirror to Light

Rage and Doom agree with each other a lot, but Rage is not holed up in inertia like Doom tends to be
Rage and Life are preoccupied with whats wrong and whats right respectively
and Rage and Hope again will be at odds about direct action and dreams of an ideal future
to Rage Hope seems cowardly, while Hope finds Rage overzealous

Mind thinks even about choices that werent made
Void and Light agree that that is kinda pointless bc Light only saw one choice from the beginning and doesnt care about what didnt hapen
and Void is of the opinion that you dont know what you dont know and trying to define it when it cannot be defined is an excercise in futility
Heart thinks more about the "why" of choice rather than "where (it goes)"