Aspect interpretation

One thing I like about the classpect system is its flexibility, the way it means subtly (or not so subtly) different things to different people.

So when Rose interacts with the Light Aspect, there’s a lot of focus on deep truth and unearthed secrets there, with a bit of Gnostic “the physical world is a lie” on the side. Rose applies her abilities to discover mysteries, to find paths to victory, and to break down the illusions her physical reality presents her with (“my personal quest is necessary for my growth as a person” being a big one).

And, like, Vriska does a lot of that, too, but Vriska goes whole hog on this completely different, hitherto undisclosed interpretation of the Light Aspect, that of fortune. Vriska’s a gambler and a cheat, and she creates this mythology of luck around herself, that it can be coaxed and manipulated through 8-balls or curses or whatever. Ultimately, she learns to control luck in a more direct fashion, in what seems a fairly overt interpretation of the Ultimate Answer, that reality unfolds in accord with the desires and actions of its agents, and grasps the reins of fate itself tight.

And then there’s Aranea, who talks a lot, and claims excessive exposition itself as part of her Aspect (which does fit with how previous heroes of Light have acted), but also plays the therapist, making an effort to give others peace of mind and clarity of purpose. And, yeah, there are shades of that in Rose, and if you squint you can see perhaps a smidge of it in post-retcon Vriska, but it’s still a very Aranea thing to do. Notably, her most overt application of the luck interpretation of Light, the death of Grimbark Jade, comes at a time when she seems to be very heavily channeling Vriska and her methodologies.

Aspects mean different things to different people. Not in an absolute way, not completely different things really, but still different.