The Heart Aspect, Essence, Instincts as Platonic Ideals, Aspects
Howdy everyone,
I hope you enjoy the examination of the heart aspect. If you haven’t already be sure to check out the other aspects I’ve looked at on my blog. Thank you!
Let’s start with a simple question. Who are the Heartbound?
The Extended Zodiac States:
Those bound to the aspect of Heart are very concerned with their favorite subject: themselves. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call them ‘self-obsessed’, but not necessarily in a negative way. They simply want to understand the one thing we all are stuck with for our entire lives, i.e. our own minds. 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. That isn’t to say Heart-bound don’t care deeply for their friends and allies; they just have a tendency to assume that everyone is as concerned with identity as they are. They are excellent at putting on and taking off masks as the situation calls for them. At their best, they are competent, imaginative, and steady. At their worst, they can be overbearing, inflexible, and cold.
And so we begin.
The Soul and Platonic Forms
Anyway, the Heart Aspect in canon has been said to preside over the idea of the self. Calliope offers Dirk an alternate interpretation of his role as a Prince (Destroyer) of Heart.
But what is the soul? The soul has been the focus of many philosophical and existential debates. Examining my sources (i.e: running a quick google search) the soul is defined in two ways.
the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance.
What sticks out to me the most from these two definitions is that the first mentions animals. Usually in Western culture when we talk about the soul, we are typically regarding it as something that human beings are uniquely in possession of. But this view of the soul is oversimplified by a religious understanding of it as basically the part of you that either goes to heaven or hell.
The comic seems to shirk this oversimplification (aside from the dream bubbles) the soul in favor of focusing on a different one altogether. The interpretation the comic uses appears to be platonic forms.
Basically a long time ago in Ancient Greece, Plato, a famous Philosopher, came up with something known as the theory of forms. The theory of forms basically posited that there is a true, ideal version of every object/individual that exists beyond our sensory perception.
Tex Talks gives a wonderful example of what the theory of forms is in practice in this video (I’ve marked the time on the video so you don’t have to sit through the whole thing if you don’t want to)
Right about now, you may be asking yourself “Why is this relevant?”
Well, what this theory is really getting at is the same thing Heart gets at fundamentally. The concept of ‘essence’, the true ideal of a person, idea, or object. The soul.
I mentioned before in my previous post about Mind-bounds that Heart Players are typically known to incorporate some sort of idea of an animal into their identities.
For example, both Leijons find the idea of a cat very appealing to them. Nepeta tends to role-play her cat huntress OC in conversation often, While Meulin to a lesser degree, wears a cat-girl get up complete with a tail and everything. Dirk has a noted interest in swole bunny-men and pony’s as well.
Heart Players can be best understood as having the natural affinity of being able to perceive the true nature and nuances of a thing and then being able to bring it into the physical world through their actions. They become masters of that concept so to speak, able to adopt whatever facet of it they need effectively and incorporating it into their identities.
But then rises an interesting issue. What is the difference between the Heartbound and any other character in the cast?
Memes: The DNA Of the Soul
Kanaya talks about how she and Karkat possess natural inclinations that they are drawn to.
Motherhood, Fertility, and Creation/Procreation are trademarks of those in possession of the Space Aspect. And this makes sense. In both sessions, Kanaya and Jade (space players) are tasked with breeding a genesis frog (the new universe they will live in). Porrim also acts very motherly to everyone she encounters, much to Kankri’s chagrin.
Karkat identifies his “natural inclination” as Blood because it’s his aspect. He then proceeds to describe what he wants out of his reality.
Conflict, Warriordome, and Camaraderie are all ideas that fall under the domain of blood, and Karkat understands this on an instinctual level.
But you don’t need to be a space-bound to want to be a mother: See Jane.
And you don’t need to be a Blood-bound to have an interest in fighting: See Jake.
So what gives? Why isn’t everything neat and packaged? What is the difference between Heartbounds and the others if their shtick is just ideas and concepts like everyone else?
Well, the reality is that all of the aspects exist in varying degrees to each of the characters. Some aspects even overlap with other aspects in weird ways. The aspect a character is assigned tells us specifically what shape their soul naturally, and predominantly takes and who they are without the influence of others. It tells us who they are at their core.
But the Heartbound has control over the ‘soul’ itself. The very idea of the soul and what it contains is their oyster and they can mess with ALL of the parameters (the different aspects inside you) and boundaries keeping both you and themselves separate from everyone else. If it’s in your soul, they can alter it.
They have access to everything in themselves making them ruthlessly competent. They are self-contained. A container that can expand and shrink itself and other containers outside itself.
They can take the ‘you’ out of ‘you’ and put it in themselves like how Nepeta roleplays as Equius and all of the traits associated with him.
Or they can straight up rip all parts of ‘you’ out of your body leaving you as an empty husk. A shell of your former self.
They can look deep inside them. Find the void in their heart, and make themselves invisible to whomever they wish as a Void player would.
They can change the meat (substance) of your sandwich (the container) while you weren’t even looking.
They are so in sync with themselves that they’re in sync with you and can take all of the worst qualities of your soul and push it to the forefront. Like a jovial and motivated breath player randomly becoming detached and isolated from his friends for seemingly no reason, context be damned.
Knowing all this really puts this statement in Nepeta’s introduction in a new light huh?
And that is as badass as it is absolutely terrifying. Of course, there are some things a Heartbound can’t control themselves. Feelings. Simply put, whatever they feel is whatever they feel. Dirk, for example, can’t stop liking dudes to appease Roxy. It would take a serious shift in worldview and his emotions in order for that to happen.
The animalistic instincts and primal desires of man are rigid and cannot be done away with easily. At best they can be repressed. So the emphasis they have is a lot more on the action and expressing their emotions, sometimes equating the two for themselves and others.
So they can really hold a grudge, even when a person is trying to change for the better or is doing their best with what they’ve got. They take everything personally.
Conclusion
The Heart aspect to me says that inside your soul exists all properties of the universe. And through serious introspection and self-understanding, you are able to control nearly all of them perfectly.
But be mindful that just because you’re always in control of yourself at all times, doesn’t mean that everyone else is. People are capable of fluidity, change, and growth. Those are also components of the ‘soul’.
