#nepeta.pdf

[nekropsii]

what do you see in equius ?? genuine question i don't mean to sound rude but to me she's just really offputting. she gives me such creep vibes that i can't seem to get over and every time i read a page with her it just gets worse..... like when i first read nep & eq's chats i was sitting there wondering if this was outright abuse or at least bullying of some kind??? it felt like it idk.......

but honestly i do wanna see an equius liker's opinion on him because i can't understand it like at all and i'm probably just missing something that all the equius likers saw and i didnt LMAO

Well, considering I’m an Alpha Trolls Enthusiast and have been for, like, a decade, as well as having Horror as a Special Interest since age… What, 3? I’d say I personally have a pretty strong stomach for Weird and Offputting in fiction, lol. Stronger than most. Equius isn’t a very palatable character at all, I’ll be the first to admit that - a lot of the characters I enjoy the most in Homestuck aren’t very palatable… But I find ‘em real interesting, personally. The fact that they aren’t palatable adds to the intrigue for me, and poor execution tends to be a total weakness of mine. Again, Alpha Trolls Enthusiast for a decade straight.

I have a post here that talks a bit about my reading of Equius, I’d recommend giving it a read. I see Eridan and Equius as being very similar characters - not necessarily due to their shared hemoloyalty, but because they’re both teens falling down online pipelines. They’re very prevalent Kinds Of Guy that no one wants to talk about.

But people talk about Eridan plenty even to this day - he was even a fandom favorite for a while, being the fandom’s first Prettyboy Sad Gay Anime Prince long before Dirk… So he doesn’t reel in as much interest for me as the chronically overlooked Equius.

If there’s anything to know about me, it’s that I love a good underdog.

Equius-Likers, from my experience, are very aware of his issues. It’s part of the draw. Enjoyment of him tends to be an analytical fixation. I haven’t met a single Equius-Liker that hasn’t had some very complex thoughts on him. They’re just kinda quiet about it. Fitting.

Unfortunately, I’m Aranea But Real, so. No quietness here.

Your response to Equius is valid. It’s also intended, I feel. To specifically address the bits about concerns of his relationship with Nepeta not being healthy… I mean, it’s not abusive, but it’s definitely more complicated than fan art would lead you to believe, as always. “Complicated” is to be expected from a Moirallegiance - remember what they exist for?

Nepeta is very much so in control of the things going on, and their relationship is pretty equal, all things considered, so I wouldn’t be worrying too much about that. She very distinctly does not lack agency here - Nepeta is the one who has a leash on Equius, not the other way around. Equius is mean, because that’s the way she is to… Everyone, more or less, but she’s not of any danger to Nepeta. They have a fine Moirallegiance. 1,000% more functional than whatever the fuck Karkat and Gamzee had going on.

Anyway. I think Equius is neat, and has both missed and oft overlooked potential. One of the very few characters I’d be 100% down to have seen more content of in the comic.

Once again, check out this post. I still think it’s decent. Maybe you will, too.

[nekropsii]

Sorry if this is out of the blue, but what do you think of the whole "Heart players deal with their splinters"? To me, it doesn't really make sense?

I keep seeing it in classpecting posts (which are years old tbf) and imo, splinters are a Dirk thing, not a Heart thing.

I mean, if Heart is the aspect of the True Self, then it makes sense for Dirk as a Prince to destroy it and have multiple selves. But Nepeta, for example, never struggles with this? Nor Meulin?

The only other self Nepeta has is her role-playing persona, which she doesn't really struggle with, and her Dream Self which I think was awake on Prospit before the start of the game.

Unless you count Fefetasprite and Davepetasprite, and she seems happy as both.

I feel like sometimes fans only look at Dirk to define Heart and forget that Nepeta also was a Heart player, or that Dirk had a Destroyer class.

What the hell?

Yeah, this is absolutely a problem caused by what I like to call “Strider Bias”. Dirk is very, very frequently used as the sole reference for analysis of Heart as an Aspect, with complete disregard for the fact that he is a Prince. It’s such an issue within Classpect Analysis that even the Official Extended Zodiac Site fucked this up.

Splinters are a Dirk only problem, stemming from his specific manifestation of him being a Prince of Heart. This is because Heart is the Aspect of the True Self, and Prince is a Destructive Class. He expresses this by fragmenting his soul- or his self- into “Splinters” and scattering them elsewhere. This is not something that other Heart players have to deal with, because the nature of their relationship with Heart is not inherently Destructive. Destruction of Heart is needed for Splintering. That is in the very nature and title of the ability.

Earnestly, Spriting does not count towards Splintering unless what was put within the Sprite… Was ALREADY a Splinter. Davepetasprite^2 and Fefetasprite are not Splinters of Nepeta. They’re just Sprites that happen to have Nepeta in them, who happens to be a Heart player. No one’s saying Erisolsprite is a Splinter of Sollux or Eridan, nor that Davesprite is a Splinter of Dave or the crow. That side of the argument falls apart when you consider that the Heartbound aren’t the only people that get Sprited.

Same for the Roleplaying example. The Heartbound aren’t the only people that Roleplay. Nepeta’s roleplaying has to do with her being a Rogue of Heart. That’s a Redistribution class. She’s just putting her soul into a character for a while as a means of earnest self expression. She gets her friends to do it with her, yes, but none of it has to do with Splintering. It’s not Destructive. You need Destruction to form Splinters.

[nekropsii]

hot take: i think that ppl try to make the kids and trolls too suave and intelligent when in reality they’re mostly like. losers (respectfully). i just think if you arent looking at them and thinking “yeah. they were bullied in middle school” then you’re doing it wrong

Yeah, that’s something that bothers me kind of regularly. These aren’t suave, attractive cool kids. None of them are. No, not even that guy, don’t let your favoritism win over your wits. They’re all the weird kid who sits alone at lunch. All of them. This is part of the appeal.

I think Nepeta is a shining example of this. Every single god damn thing about her just screams “autistic middle school girl in the throes of a Warriors fixation”. It’s genuinely incredible. The oversized green coat. The cosplay tail tied to the coat. The animal hat. The fucking fingerless gloves? Genuinely flawless. If you think she’s cool, you’re right, but only- and I mean ONLY- because she is completely swagless in the most autistic way possible. It’s so good. She is such a 13 year old.

Every Homestuck character is swagless. Let them be swagless. The fact that they have no swag is a good thing, because they are all, like, 13 years old. Not only that, they’re weird 13 year olds. Let them be kids! It’s so fun. The representation of weird kids being allowed to be weird kids without them being made pretty or marketable is genuinely a huge drawing point to Homestuck. Let them be weird and swagless!!

[nekropsii]

im tired of ppl talking abt how much depth nepeta has and then never going into that. ots always "yeah she isnt uwu she kills people haha!!" and not "nepeta inherently lives in a society where if she does not comply to the romantic expectations she will be literally killed, with her closest relationship being equius who is very careful to remind her of the power bloodcolor holds. therefore her attraction to karkat is actually an extremely layered and complex part of her multifaceted character that is often overlooked" and thats not even getting into how ppls misunderstanding of meowrails works as a character assassination of the both of them.

not saying they cant exist outside of eachother, what i /am/ saying is that if you mischaracterize their relationship with eachother you are exponentially more likely to mischaracterize the two on their own as well.

i could go on, but i dont want to completely flood your inbox.

Absolutely true, you get it!! Nepeta has real, genuine depth to her character, and I love her.

In order to truly understand Nepeta, you have to understand Equius, and what Nepeta’s dynamic with him is. Same goes for the inverse. It’s not at all a stretch to say that one’s closest relationship can help define who they are- especially when what we’re talking about is, you know, a fictional character. That’s just how writing works!

As you said, they can exist outside of one another, but you really do have to understand their dynamic, even if you’re just writing how they function as people on their own. It’s integral to who they are as people. They really do balance each other out nicely.

It’s just such a shame that so many people do just fundamentally misunderstand them!! They’re interesting characters, really. Yet so often, they’re overlooked and misinterpreted…

[nekropsii]

too many people forget that nepeta is not just a cute innocent catgirl. she regularly hunts and kills wild animals and paints art in they're blood on her walls, and uses they're pelts as rugs. stop infantilizing her please I'm begging. she's not a little kid. equius has to stop her from cursing. she watched equius die and her immediate response was violence. she is not a soft little uwu baby please don't treat her like one. - your local nepeta kinnie

Completely true. She’s definitely not helpless!

Like, yes, she is cute. No one’s gonna deny that. But she isn’t a baby. She’s very much so capable of holding her own, and knows what she’s doing. She’s honestly one of the more well put together people in the Beta Troll cast.

Her only personality traits aren’t “cute,” “furry,” “likes to draw,” and “enjoys shipping.” There’s a lot more to her than that. People focus so hard on those few traits that I think they forget that she’s a person with genuine intrigue to her character. Have you seen the dynamic she has with Equius? It’s fascinating!

[nekropsii]

well the thing about the "self" is that its q narrative we construct, so...

I understand where you’re coming from, but I need you to recognize that Homestuck tends to use “Narrative” in an entirely different, very meta sense, and paired with everything else, they were absolutely talking about the forging a coherent character in the overarching story (you know, the story’s narrative,) because they were talking about Dirk and not the Heartbound generally speaking.

I don’t think that, for example, Nepeta shamelessly being a middle school Warrior Cats LARPer and shipping fanatic is, like, a narrative thing per se. I think she just… Does it. Being true to yourself doesn’t have to have narrative importance. “Narrative,” in the meta sense in which Homestuck tends to use it, is patently not why they’re like that. It can be, but that would be a fringe/individual example and not something you put as a definitive fact for every Heart player. That’s how Dirk functions. He’s not countable as a solid example of Heart because he’s Destroying it.

The Heartbound aren’t so honestly and transparently themselves because they want anything to do with a narrative, they’re honestly and transparently themselves because that’s what’s important to them as a person. That’s what an Aspect defines- an Aspect represents is most important to a character as a person. Class defines how they interact with that element of their lives. Not every character trait is going to have something to do with an overarching narrative, once again, especially not in the way that Homestuck employs the term “narrative.” It feels stupid and in bad faith to claim that those bound to Heart inherently care about The Narrative and are Self-Obsessed when that only applies to a singular Heart player we’ve seen, and that Heart player was Destroying his own Aspect.

Yes, the self is a narrative we construct, but Heart is about not having to “construct” that in the first place, because instead of intentionally building an identity or wearing masks- you know, like the Mindbound do- you just are who and what you are largely without thought. It’s being yourself even when it’s not entirely rational to be so honest and transparent in the first place.

Again… I cannot stress enough how much they were just talking about Dirk. I could just be talking out of my ass here, but it genuinely feels ridiculous to claim that the Heartbound care about forging identities, wearing masks, and making their lives a “coherent narrative” when they, like, don’t… Do that. That was a Dirk thing. Dirk is knowingly playing the role of a character in a story. Nepeta and Meulin… Were not doing that.