every class will manifest with a particular binary, creating two variants of each. the names "prospit" and "derse" are lifted from homestuck's lexicon (as you probably expect and know); "sun and moon" or "order and chaos" are entirely suitable replacements with a more traditional vocabularly. "extrovert" and "introvert" might sound applicable, but feel far more out of place next to certain classes too quiet or loud to serve as examples. "dog person" and "cat person" are equally inconsistant, but may still help in ballparking the general trends.
to summarize these two attributes very briefly...
prospits (or prospitians, but that's a mouthful) have a very clear idea of "good", and little tolerance for the alternative. they may not think of themselves as virtuous, but even those with self loathing will rarely pretend to be anything else - what would the point be? they live in the moment, express (or withhold) their emotions straightforwardly, and are often slow to change their mind. the world might not be black or white, but prospits would certainly prefer to deal in those terms; they can be stubbornly idealistic, even if that's not actually solving any problems, or matches the "ideals" of anyone else in the room. again, none of this is precisely optimism or pessimism, but contemplating the greater nuance or potential of prospits is ultimately a very un-prospit thing to do. if prospits do wrong, or if their close friends do (even to the prospitian in question), they may be genuinely surprised to have it all pointed out... but as said, they are still rather slow to change their mind.
dersites have a very clear idea of "evil" - or at least, the web of different perspectives and contexts that would rush to define what ultimately can't. while they are certainly more likely to engage in malice than prospits, this is more from their own particular resignations, permanently predisposed to assume the worst of themselves, strangers, and often society as a whole. this can result in self-deprication, gloating, and masquerades, often oscillating between all of them in their own fuzzy fog of irony, sarcasm, and sadism; misdirection as armor, misrepresented as misdirection for the sake of itself. chronic neurotic self-examination leaves permanent cracks on whatever classpect defines them, in an affect full of asterisks; if they don't believe anything for sure, why should you believe them? these are not healed scars, but bleeding wounds, as dersites frequently find themselves with a familiar gnawing that they are unfinished people. sure, they could look for greater truths and potentials of their soul, but it's scary to imagine there aren't any - so better to settle as the devil you know yourself as.
the delicious contrasting flavours of "what the world is all about", 12 in total.
on it's own, this will likely seem harder to assume legitimate than the rest, but it makes more sense to address this first before one tackles classes. aspects are the elements (figuratively speaking; this is simply brain chemistry) classes engage with, with so much philosophy built from their cultivation and combination. while everyone is capable of conceptualizing, appreciating, and believing in any aspect, one is "bound" to you, and this unsolicited favourite is likely already the backbone of how you justify your place in the world, or the world itself.
the wave returns to the ocean key words:creation, choice, creative expression, will of the universe, surrender, art, ambiance, meditation, candy, detachment, abstraction, dreams, cold, acceptance
defining the extreme points on the axis of "is" and "isn't", space and time are aspects that overthink the essentials of existence; space is a masturbatory belief about beliefs, where time is a paradoxical belief against beliefs. the space aspect is less "vanilla", and more "ice-cream flavoured ice-cream", venerating the rainbow tapestry of the human imagination, promoting a free-flowing creativity with no stakes, ownership, or pain. its aesthetic signature defaults to gardens, withdrawal, and meditation - which basically either hits buddhism directly, or by accident. they regard our ability to dream, to create, and to choose, as the most noble ability of a living being. a nurtured imagination helps them easily find new perspectives to uproot whatever's at face value... if, perhaps, too easily convinced what they came up with is the new "correct" interpretation. all this flowery mumbo-jumbo (possibly involving actual flowers) makes the spacebound innately amicable, with the snag that they often don't seem to understand why everyone else isn't. there is often an expectation that the strife of others is to be totally and cleanly solved by catching up to their wavelength; it's certainly easier to advocate letting go of earthly attachments when you're not the one attached, or aren't defaultly inclined to make attachments, or just won't admit the attachments you take for granted. barring some real introspection (or, maybe more importantly, extrospection), the spacebound are inventing the greater tranquility everyone should "surrender" to, which is far more likely to reflect their class rather than genuine wisdom. pride and cruelty are never gone from the spacebound, only coated in an aesthetic of the opposite, chasing purity when harmony looks like too much work.
no one lives forever key words: destruction, volition, retaliation, spite, hunger, death, mechanisms, material reality, inevitability, endings, conflict, chaos, profanity, heat, meat, gasoline, cruelty
returning to the earlier analogy, one could call the time aspect "cone-flavoured ice-cream" - which is to say, an ideological fixation on the material world, excluding the messy opinions that distract from survival in the present moment. the snag is, time is still ice-cream a belief, deifying nihilism to the point that dog-eat-dog becomes dogma. this catalytic, cataclysmic node of thought venerates the immortal spite of the human infestation, in a profane mockery of beauty itself; fire and lightning, flesh and machinery, combustion and cannibalism, and all the rest of that rock 'n' roll imagery. now, all of this isn't to say the timebound themselves are inherently feral; rather, just predisposed to believe it'll always come down to grit on anything that matters. this viewpoint and its expectations leaves them in a state of permanent unease: the world is cruel, people are fragile, art is meaningless, and all things are temporary. far from space's belonging, the timebound fear the world is out to get them, and rationalising what hurts you and yours is wasting effort you could spend doing something about it. still, while the good intentions of "righteous and necessary violence" can manifest through this primordially blunt worldview, "death and destruction" is seductive in the naked admission of its own vapid ignorance; that so much in life does die is harder to live with than should. pragmatism or thrill-seeking are possible permutations of the aspect, and unfortunately equally valid as "the weak will serve the strong" horseshit, waiting to freefall into omnicidal wrath with the right shove. even reasonable timebounds will burn more bridges in life than they'll build - or at least, be convinced that they and humanity are capable of nothing more, no matter how empty that makes them feel. ultimately, neither space nor time can rid itself of the other, in individuals or in life; they are two halves of the human spirit, and without compromise, they are both broken.
love conquers all key words: subjectivity, soul, singular perspectives, persona(lity), passion, identity, charisma, romance, intimacy, empathy, theatre, obsession, relationship dynamics
regardless of whether there is any actual interplay between the literal right or left brain, the heart and mind aspects create an intuitive dichotomy between obtrusive emotion and elegant ascendance - and indeed, the emotions the heart aspect fixates on are always obtrusive. heart mythologises the wildest, loudest, and hottest passions into a representation of someone's pure soul, where self-sabotage proves it's genuine and contradiction proves complexity. it is a fixation on identity, along with which identities compliment each other and how; while it's not always romantic (even though it usually is) or implying that they're all flirts (even though they usually are), nobody romanticises romance like a heartbound - and rarely anything subtle compared to the wild, destructive obsessions of "i'd choose you even if the world burns". even alone, the heartbound are distinctive in how their sense of identity is never tidy, with the explorations on their "deep soul" looping in on itself. there's an intrinsic fascination with inventing new masks and affects and roles, often as much for charismatic improv as the contemplations that these constructs all reflect parts of themselves - noble, true, antagonistic, buried, etc. one of the more curious habits is treating these personas as capable of a dialogue and thoughts of their own, which is not to say being heartbound is synonymous with did, only that they are very susceptible to becoming lost in their own reflection. stemming from this, many heartbounds will pride themselves on empathetic intuition, but it's a coinflip if any of that lands - really, wrong guesses call into question if the heartbounds are even investigating anyone's psyche or just making shit up. ultimately, "the heart wants what it wants" and "i must be true to myself" are the only justifications given, the only justifications needed, all from individuals bound to a dogma that is - and let's call a spade a spade here - anti-logic.
the needs of the many key words: objectivity, logic, multiple perspectives, clarity, research, utility, allocation, systems, puzzles, strategy, prediction, decisions, outcomes, chess, guiding laws
the mind aspect, meanwhile, wants none of this: emotions are to be outmanuevered, appeased, waited out, or flat out ignored, all in the name of pursuing a fair (though not always happy) system of justice. mind is a notch away from space, and shares priorities with patience, detachment, and collectivism. among this overlap, and more important than a subtle affinity for low temperatures ("cooler heads prevail" and what have you), is the fixation on choice; rather than our ability to choose, it is the outcome of those choices. the most poetic picture the mind aspect can provide is that the world is a grand procession of cause/effect, and all our decisions should be weighed carefully if we want to come out better for it. course, only the truly zealous classes will preach that, leaving mind with the least identifiable aesthetic of any aspect - "smart?" and "math?" is not enough to go on. for the most part, if you want to identify a mindbound, then you gotta look for someone trying to stuff down anything heart-adjacent. now sure, very few people have straightforward love lives, but it's the mindbound who would prefer it all so clinical, trying to cleanly navigate what can't. assuming they don't weigh their career or other goals above relationships entirely, then the ones they have are chosen tactically, trying to engineer the most collective good, or guiltily regarded as failing that. (hopefully) unrelated to this, mind even shares some of heart's mask-making, but more for the pragmatism of tangible results in different social contexts...and if emotions need to be forced, or outright invented, it is mind's ideology that can best justify those acts. this isn't to say they're sociopaths (even if they might want to be) or philistines (which is more a time thing), but the philosophical clarity the mindbound chase requires that all the messy stuff is repressed regulated.
clap your hands if you believe key words: fantasy, utopia, exceptions, innocence, heroism, reinvention, perfection, impossibility, suspension of disbelief, sugarcoating, silver linings, denial, lying
the hope aspect veers further from space than mind did, where "ideal risks" sharpen into "million-to-one shots that fix everything"; it's a pretty distinctive niche of the human psyche and our myths, already dissected and discussed, and all we're clarifying are those with their self-identity tied to it. the hopebound possess an ever-present lurch of optimistic imagination - that friends (or strangers) can be trusted and everything will come up aces eventually, no matter the odds (or precedent) of that not coming to pass. there's just this deep-rooted indignity to it all, either feeling their circumstances are worth exemption from rules, or that said rules are loose enough they shouldn't be enforced, or that the rules are plain wrong and deserve rewriting. there is a charisma to their wild ideas, but not often strategy, and limits to their ability to sell these ideas to themselves as much as others. hope is an unwieldly aspect, with those on a winning streak still worried of how long they can keep it up (or pretend to be keeping it up), and those in dire straits incapable of practical solutions; the deeper the pit, the higher they're convinced they'll need to jump. it's not (all) delusion: it's defiance, most days, from someone personally insulted at the cards they were dealt, retaliating by either throwing it back in the dealer's face or betting the damn farm. hope is an aspect of never-say-die saviours, bold innovations that cut through what was once set in stone, sincere faith in a future that cannot come about without faith...or the aspect of broken promises and blind denial, blowing their money on scratch tickets while they try to aggressively pretend everything's fine - sometimes, fairly convincingly. no matter the intent, the hope aspect is very dangerous in its ability to appear as anything but.
moving in a moodier direction than heart, rage gets its eponymous name from centering on the most obtrusive emotion of all, and all worldly obtrusions that (should) evoke it. more than contrast, rage is almost some kind of natural predator to hope, with a fetishization of disappointment and wake-up-calls. this bitterness is not exactly compassionate, but is seen as a justice: hatred is honest, memory defines us, failure teaches us, apologies are worthless, and the world's cruelties exist for a reason...right? rage is, despite itself, a dogma, adhering to the belief that the truth hurts, what hurts is probably true, and it is noble to exemplify both those things. now, they're not (inherently) bullies or anything, and more timid classes will only demonstrate this situationally against carefully decided targets, but ragebounds tend to believe that insulting someone's hairstyle or choice of music is equally important as any actual point they're making - humility through humiliation, so to say. still, this destructive streak can fester into a contempt for any happiness besides schadenfraude, zealously eager to break apart someone's "lesser" comprehension of reality...which leads into how precarious it is to worship an idea of truth that surplants genuine observation. ragebounds are prone to mistrust facts and testimony unless it is satisfyingly (or conveniently) caustic, making them arrogantly skeptical on nothing but their gut, while thinking being smug is, itself, an argument. if this gets out of hand, the pursuit of "truthier truths" dismisses anything outside its manufactured mythology, making the ragebound increasingly conspiratorial in their sole sobriety. while both aspects can motivate and shake foundations, having your head in the clouds or feet on the ground work better as methodology - not the point.
the light aspect presents itself as a seeker of great truths, unifying and guiding those that find it - and while that's not technically wrong, it's important to realize that anything one notch off from time is looking for catharsis before anything else. light expands where time reduces, turning blunt judgements into resplendent archetypes, all in the name of clean and compelling narratives. while the lightbound (probably) do not literally believe their world a fiction, they are often eccentric in arranging it as though it was one; stories, titles, myths, popularity contests, tropes and cliches, all treated as tangible enough to trust and work off of. even if they (consciously) put this aside, there's still an innate superstition that colours their worldview: what they expect to happen is what ought to happen (do not bring lightbounds to casinos). if life is a puzzle, the lightbound are way, way, way too quick to assume they found all the corner pieces; that any and all unknowns uncovered may still be fit to existing, verified categorizations, and that the most annoying thing people can do is not stick to their scripts. even in the face of doubt, light's complexity compounds, rationalizing curveballs away with a lust for answers that only answers itself. the aspect that pertains to relevant information ironically obscures the most relevant fact of all: stories are comforting more often than they are true. the ability to connect dots does not mean the dots should be connected, leaving the lightbound chasing a "grand destiny" they don't realize they're inventing. "luck" may be the more accurate name, but lightbound find it difficult to admit their worldview hinges on coincidence; to keep the golden flame of fervor going, you're going to need to burn alot of books.
the void aspect is space's somehow-more-depressing sibling, finding value in exactly the kind of unsatisfying lack of payoff light abhors. it revels in uncommitted ambiguity, contemplating what surprises lie outside our perception, and how meagre our preconceptions are in the face of such hypotheticals. "doubt" is the most intrinsic quality of the voidbound, and probably the reason it's hard to name any others; if life is a puzzle, then the voidbound don't believe in corner pieces, or even the picture on the box. it is a bit of a coinflip, however, if they think "the truth is out there" waiting to be discovered by those wise enough to never trust anything for certain...or if existence truly is nothing more than cheerful nonsense, only ruined if you try to force it into order. the more you look for answers, the more you could wind up wasting your time, or find something you can't unsee. then again, some voidbounds can spend so much time imagining what's out there that they'll argue based on wild hunches they either can't or won't clarify - sometimes, without admitting they're hunches. confusion can be a valuable state of mind, embraced or encouraged, spiritually or tactically. still, while the lightbound are dangerously over-certain of all-they-can-be, the voidbound...well, "lack". whatever class they are is composed of values they - by definition - cannot articulate, where self-reflection challenges self-confidence. hunches and flights of fancy are their preferred state of being for the reason of their lack of reason, where being truly known can feel equal parts impossible and precarious. the lightbound rarely see their true potential, but where the voidbound often do, they simply do not recognise it as such.
everybody do their part key words: solutions, health, politeness, social obligations, support, stability, harmony, growth, appearances, teamwork, nature, nurture, food, safety, complacency
the life aspect shares some of the archetype obligation from light, but tempers it with an essential idealism: the only story being told is "and everyone lived happily ever after". the lifebound strive for health, sustainability, emotional wellness, cheerful communities, and fetishizes the smallest steps to get there. life is tied for hope in terms of positivity, but leaning to time instead of space is what defines its language of practical, tangible solutions, and the vigilance in keeping your hands busy. on a surface level, it seems like there's no downsides, but the keyword is surface. the life aspect still shares weaknesses with light, misunderstanding impression and substance: trying to make people look healthy feels as valid as being healthy, all while far easier to engineer. even this reliable practicality is a double edged sword, as the life aspect never runs out of ways to slot itself into the lives of others, and self-perpetuates by trying to kill the voice that protests - "burnout" is in the realm of the doom aspect, the enemy. whatever class a person may have, the life aspect will dominate the definition of that self-identity into "unpaid therapist", inflicting a burden to carry their entire lives. every lifebound is, effectively, springlocked into smiling for (their projected perception of) everyone else's benefit, and they will always snap eventually. in the end, life can be as fragile as hope, but the damage to their sense of self is not (inherently) from incredulity as much as fatigue, disgusted at the high cost of upkeep they can rarely admit is coming entirely from their own head; even if their friends want help, the details of how much and in what way are often lost in translation through the deeply-worn conniptions. again, "unpaid therapist", but not always qualified to be a paid one either. no matter their best, it is the fetishization of stability that ultimately destines it for instability.
i don't owe you a smile key words: problems, sickness, spiraling, dysfunction, isolation, fatalism, depression, coping, crying, venting, rot, decay, rest, reprieve, resignation, closure
"destined instability", however, has a name: doom. it is the aspect of pessimism, decay, languishing, and probably just the emo/goth scene as a whole. while ocassionally fascinated by death and our futility towards it, it is not the adrenaline-filled conflicts of time, but rather, a perspective on loss, grief, and the contented numbing that comes with processing all of that. indeed, "contented numbing" overlaps with the directly-adjacent void, even if doom has no innate interest in secrets and strays even further from space's lack of bias; in all the intangibles of what could be, expect only disappointment, as all good things come to an end and leave you lesser. the doombound themselves, however, are all quite accustomed to this state of mind, and fairly in tune with the positives that come from not having a goddamn thing to prove to anyone. if it all rots eventually, then bothering to hold on to relationships, morals, or dignity can feel insulting, especially if it's societal and not anything personally chosen, while it isn't unfair to regard this as an eternal personal rain-cloud of "unproductive bellyaching", the doombound can be both greatly approachable or emotionally suffocating - sometimes both. genuine compassion shines all the more in contrast, from someone with no expectations of others as much as themself... though, sympathy alone is not enough for everyone. even to the doombound themselves, there's cracks from what they only thought they could tolerate or give up on, worn down by an aspect that may as well be surgically designed to justify self-sabotage and wilful isolation. between stepford smiles or eye rolls, arguments of happiness's surplus or scarcity only reach the same result: failure by futility, or failure by design.
don't worry, be happy key words: the future, "the easy way", trust in intuition, freedom, the wind, trailblazing, individuality, moving forward, free-flow, calm, forgive, forget, boredom
the second axis of aspects really couldn't care less if the mind is looking internal or external, resulting in two aspects equally as likely to find unifying threads between all aspects as ignore the "big picture" stuff altogether, while their lack of internal interrogation makes them reliable in how they trust others and themselves at face value. the breath aspect is the absolute peak of positivity, transcending the limitations of both hope and life by assuring with complete sincerity that "everything is going to be okay, eventually". the specific details and structure of the future, be it imagined or observed, are rendered irrelevant as breath positions it's full faith in this stress-free peace of mind, as contagious as it is indefatigable. pain is temporary, promises were made in an old world that doesn't exist anymore, leave behind what (or who) isn't working for you, and you'll find your path someway, somehow. if breath falters, it doesn't need an argument to reassert itself; only the vibe must return, feeling like this obvious constant you didn't really lose so much as forgot you always had. the breathbound are steadfast, accommodating, and resilient enough to make excellent figureheads... but, it is that vague sense of the future that betrays a lack of endgame, and the humble wisdom that bypasses so many existential concerns can be a buffer against not actually having a real answer. believing in tomorrow is charismatic, but not prediction, all while the assurances easily turn incestuous: resolved of the need to justify itself, or assert itself at all. finding simple solutions can mean little besides the path of least resistance, where it doesn't matter if you're bored or depressed, only that you're relaxed. breath is blissful, independent freedom - and sometimes, even often, not a damn thing else.
don't you dare walk away key words: the past, "the hard way", trust in others, bonds, oaths, promises, grudges, family, judgement, suffering, camaraderie, ordeals, stress, sacrifice, debt, scars, guilt
the blood aspect shares many of breath's strengths and weaknesses, in its lack of bias to tangible and intangible, giving it unique solutions and a certain rallying charisma. it is, however, still diametrically opposed, worshipping the past and all the pain that comes from holding on tight to what was, using that endurance of suffering to create bonds to last through thick and thin - family, born or forged. while "community and cooperation" may feel redundant to life (blame the human genome), blood has zero interest in being polite about its assurances, and mistrusts innovation compared to what works... or, doesn't work. we suffer, and we suffer together; blood is the aspect of martyrs, of donating kidneys to relatives you don't even talk to anymore, and trying to endure a friend's terrible choice of movie night. it does all of this while being too responsible to resemble doom's lackadaisy, or overthink the reliability of memory like rage's obsessions. like breath's good moods, blood's bad moods don't need to be argued, but it is the loyalty through that grim affect that can make bloodbounds as magnetic as their inverse. if the bloodbound have a reason to be grumpy, it's because they're sick of everyone's shit, but also care about them deeply - though, this doesn't mean they'll always be justified in lashing out, either from an unrequited intensity, or a particularly petty definition of "everyone's shit". just as with breath's vagueness, blood can flounder on goals besides the purity of itself, as the burden of suffering loops into a sunk cost fallacy that's a hard sell to the very people the bloodbound requires to identify themselves. likewise, this idea of "thick and thin" can result in pardoning - or encouraging - abuse, be it their own or others. breath and blood both create some powerfully single-minded people, unifying groups under banners whether it's theirs or not... but if they don't want to lose them, they have to listen, not just talk.
class desc here.
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placeholder text for prospit seers like reaaaaally long so i can test the gradients you know.