#QPR? that’s your moirail

[coolryptid]

“Enemies to lovers”

“Rivals with sexual tension”

“Toxic yaoi”

Back in MY day we called that Kismesissitude.

[yardsards]

people have pointed out the symbolism of mace repeatedly referring to lake as “girl” and how that plays into the transgender metaphor, how he represents society’s bigotry and bias and whatnot and done really good analysis about that

but i would also like to draw attention to him referring to jesse as lake’s boyfriend while taunting them

and how lake doesn’t really react to that, just disdainfully ignores him

compared to following scenes where lake fiercely defends the validity of their and jesse’s relationship and only ever uses the term “friends”, doesn’t even use ambiguous words like “he loves me”

and idk i just feel like that kind of ties in as like, mace enforcing heteronormativity/amatonormativity onto lake and jesse’s relationship, just like he could be interpreted as forcing a cisnormative gender onto lake, just like he is canonically forcing mirror law onto them.

and i may be projecting as an aroace (just like i may be projecting as a nonbinary, tho the trans metaphor is a lot more blatant) but. idk it just means a lot to me that a friendship can be so fiercely defended and a platonic bond can be strong enough to bend the laws of the universe

(and this isn’t a diss if you headcanon lake and jesse’s relationship as romantic; i myself have even enjoyed romantic content of them. but i think even if they did enter a romantic relationship, it’d be done in a way that rejects amatonormative and heteronormative roles and instead would be done based entirely on their own terms rather than on society’s rules)

[p2ii]

Man I love *looks at list of all the canon moirallegiances in homestuck* (wow there are all dysfunction af) ...meowrails I wish moirallegiance was real

[impishglee]

the issue with queer platonic relationships is that they’re so real and also great but there’s nothing good to call them. qpr is a fucking mouthful and has huge “i was on tumblr in 2014” energy. and your other option is moirail which also has huge “i was on tumblr in 2014” energy but magnified by the power of homestuck. and while a decade+ of tumblrina tenure and reading homestuck are not causes for shame sometimes i’m in situations where i want to keep that to myself

[relaxxattack]

Hi i want to thank you for the QPR vs Moirail venn diagram. Its a rly excellent way of showing the difference. My gripe is about human romance, and how people will either 1- conflate it in a 1:1 ratio with Matesprit, or 2- claim it is “all the quadrants”. I personally feel both are false equivalency, and that the human romance is similar to both pale and red rom* and SO i was wondering if you agreed w that assessment, or if not, if you have the time to explain your thoughts on human traditional romance vs the quadrants (perhaps w another nifty graph)?

* which is why Rose’s destructive tendencies during sburb & her descent into addiction on the meteor were not addressed by kanaya, who feared palezoning herself like she did with vriska

OH MY GOD! YES!!!! why am i getting such great asks today?!

no, you're EXACTLY right. people are constantly conflating matespritship in those two ways; "all of the quadrants" being especially irritating (since Some humans occasionally argue, Occasionally in a kinky way, and i guess that means that they totally have all of kismesissitude covered?? :/).

matespritship is its very own thing. of the two interpretations above, i feel the idea that it's 1:1 to human romance is the closest to true. i mean, that's what they literally say in the comic, for gog's sake.

humans do not truly incorporate moirallegiance, kismesissitude, or auspisticism into their lives in any meaningful way. while it's possible for humans to sometimes have romances that might seem more like one of those than matespritship, they're considered abnormal or toxic-- and they often ARE, because humans do not have the same sort of biological drives or social understanding of these things that trolls do. humans do not understand the true needs and ramifications, or even the ROMANCE of moirallegiance. humans would be hard pressed to understand a kismesissitude in a 'healthy' way. i don't even need to mention how auspisticism flies over people's heads.

so, yes, humans only have the one quadrant. (and karkat vantas, i am sorry to say, is not going to "human date" anyone as the "solution to his quadrant problems". this would literally be the same as him trying to stick only to matespritship, and we all know exactly how that turned out.)

however! matespritship is not an exact 1:1 on human romance either. the direct quote from the comic is;

"[It's] the closest parallel to the human concept of romance trolls have." [x]

this is not really expanded on much in the text, honestly-- the intricacies of the social and biological traits of matespritship aren't shown enough for us to draw clear distinctions between them and human romance.

however, i think you're right that rose and kanaya are the best example we have of that-- despite them both aiming for matespritship, they have cultural misunderstanding quite often from some of rose's flirting, or even just her needs, crossing wires into a pale threshold that kanaya is weary of.

it's entirely possible that the differences between troll and human "hearts" might have made it difficult for kanaya to really connect with rose's problems and discuss them with her.

which might explain why when things go "better" for them in the retcon, they're portrayed reading a book on troll romance together:

it could be implied here that searching for a more in-depth understanding of quadrants actually helped rose with her ability to connect to kanaya-- and maybe, reading into it a little too hard here, this also could have been an opportunity for kanaya to work through her vriska-based hangups with the pale quadrant. that's entirely speculation on my part, though.

at the end of the day, we don't really KNOW enough about the details of quadrants for me to paint a clear picture of how matespritship differs from human romance. i mean, i could try, but it would certainly be more of a headcanon post than an analysis one!

[slowpokedragon]

seeing homestuck analysis made my brain go brrr.

ykw im gonna say it....!!! the idea that matespritship is "the closest to human romance" is fundamentally misunderstood by a majority of the hs fandom! matespritship is "closest to human romance" [karkats words] in the sense that its closest to the human concept of *dating.* the concupiscent quadrants are provocation based, and more align with the ideas of "going out on dates and having sex / one night stands" with people, rather than longterm human romance.

the actual thing closest to "human romance" was the relationship between the signless and the disciple that "transcended all four quadrants"; if i had to pick a quadrant closest to "human marriage" or a longterm relationship, it would be ***moiraillegiance!!!***

moirails are conciliatory yes, but more than that they are *balanced equals, matched pairs.* theyre the closest quadrant to the traditional human soul mate. the one who perfectly completes you and keeps you on an even keel. the idea that moirails are platonic or qpr is just fundamentally wrong. *some* moirails can be qprs somewhat, but it literally is textually just a different form of romance, the same way that dating somebody vs being married to them for a decade are different forms of romance!!!

when youre married to someone for a long time, they often stop surprising you (not in the sense of "i bought you a gift!" but in the sense of the feelings that provokes. when youre first dating somebody, youd be surprised and pleased and a little awed that they went out their way for you. when youve been married a long time, youre still surprised and pleased, but its with this undercurrent of "hah, of course they would do this for me; they *love* me!"); moiraillegiance is the deepest quadrant and the most complex, which is why the presentation of moiraillegiance varies so wildly! look at depictions of matesprits, and youll see they all follow the same patterns of "shallowish romance between two people that have been dating for awhile"; moirails vary wildly!

the two extremes are definitely nepeta and equius vs folykl and kuprum. both pairs are equally balanced and a matched pair, its just that theyre on opposite ends of the "moirail spectrum" in what ways they provide for and ease their quadrantmates. the idea that matespritship is "human romance" is so wrong its laughable and thats why davekat is destined to fail if they dont deepen their relationship from matesprits to smeared moirails or human romance altogether IN THIS ESSAY I WILL

in a canon only reading; davekat COULD WORK and thats what drives me crazy. if they communicated better and changed their relationship it COULD WORK! but communication in romance is fundamentally incompatible w both of their characters! so i froth at the mouth

[crimeronan]

hi this is random and you might be like “why are you asking me this” but I genuinely don’t know where else to look for info/advice. but like. how does one go about finding a queerplatonic partner/relationship. I exist in very queer social circles and most people I know have never heard that term, I’ve never seen it irl, and there’s obviously very little representation in media to go off of. do people like. put it in their tinder profiles? is there a secret qpr dating app? is it just a matter of meeting people and explaining what you want like any other relationship? anything you can share either about how it worked for you or about other resources you know of would be helpful. if it’s too personal and/or you don’t want to answer this for whatever reason feel free to ignore

i wish i had a better answer for you, but i've actually never sought out any of my relationships on purpose -- it's always just been meeting people, becoming close friends, and then deciding we want to make a permanent commitment.

my qpp was my best friend before she was my partner. also, we'd spent like 7 years roleplaying a moirallegiance between homestuck characters. moirails are platonic soulmates in canon, working our relationship around that definition is what worked for us. i used the term moirail long before i used the term qpp and switched to the latter simply because my circle is mostly normies now KFSKDJ

with that said, the one place i CAN point you to is bumble BFF, which is a dating app but for platonic friendships. if your profile is loudly openly queer, you're a lot more likely to match with other queer people who understand qprs. but with pretty much everyone i've met who has a queerplatonic partner, it was less like dating someone and more like already being friends & going "hey, i love you so much. do you want to get married without any of the sex or romance"

if anyone else has experiences wrt this, feel free to rb or reply to let anon know!

[gl1tchypyr0]

Homestuck may have changed my brain chemistry too much because now, I see Asexual Arackniss and Asexual Baxter being Best Friends in the roleplay server I'm in, that are heavily they do love each other to an extent, very QPR over there But when I close my eyes All I see is Pale Karkat and Eridan again LIKE I see a fish boy, he really likes science, is stated to be antisocial, kinda grumpy, and my brain goes "okay that's just like Eridan" And then I see spider guy over there and sure Vriskas a thing but dark grey fur and red eyes? and a moody temperament? "Karkat is that you?" and then I see them being Friends that also talk about their feelings to each other and protect each other and calm each other down, and are willing to Kill for each other and watch movies with each other and share their hyperfixations with each other and do give each other kisses from time to time and are willing to cuddle sometimes? THE FUCKING PARALLELS HAVE GOTTEN TO MY BRAIN THEYRE FUCKING MOIRAILS YOUR HONOR-

[1alchemistart]

Laios and Marcille are qpr moirails. to me.

i See your Vision 👁️👁️

[qprsmackdown]

what submissions have the most convincing propaganda: rather for being silly or being serious

hi anon. mod zazie here. i read through every single one of the submissions to answer this because i am insane. and the results are as follows ^-^

techno & phil fans are INSANE over "for you phil, the world!!" as they should be!! i, too, read bunfloras' phil & techno fics. but even if i didnt already know who emeraldduo was, you all have VERY GOOD propaganda. Immortal lifelong best friends... <3

dsmp fans i love you im holding out my hand to you in a gesture of friendship. hello. both mods are also mcyt fans and dsmp fans. we know abt characters vs ccs. we also despise cc!dream. you are safe here. im sorry that previous polls have traumatized you :((

c!tubbo/c!ranboo fans also fucking turned out you have VERY convincing propaganda

ive never read the locked tomb, know nothing of the characters, but to the submitters who sent in Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus youve convinced me. VERY good job. where can i find your media i need to learn more. no like fr

jrwi fans are you okay. good lord /pos. also youll be pleased to know WE HAVE NOT ONE BUT TWO SUBMISSIONS OF THE GREATER MANA POLYCULE

to the etho/skizz fan who submitted an essay. hi. i think youre so right for putting them in a httyd au. very convincing propaganda. also are you okay.

hi silmarillion fans. do you need hot cocoa.

jrwi fans are literally so not normal about their guys. sorry to call you out but oh my god not a single one of you is normal /pos. its great.

not a fnaf fan but "Theyre also both canonically queer, if that helps. That has nothing to do with the lobotomies or the dying and being revived as a soulless walking corpse, though." is the sentence of all time. i hope whoever wrote that is doing well.

good evening to the homestuck fan who wrote jake & dirk propaganda so convincing that for a moment i wanted to go check out their media only to remember its Homestuck and ONLY to the homestuck fan who wrote jake & dirk propaganda so convincing that for a moment i wanted to go check out their media only to remember its Homestuck.

we've been over the jesus christ/mary magdalene submission but did you know apparently there's actual evidence to back it up? lots of it in fact? i did not expect to read that tonight (for future reference slash in case you're curious i am an atheist & cycad is christian)

the little women fan has some SERIOUS propaganda. my respect o7

hello to the autistic sp (south park) fan who wrote a genuine essay on kenny mccormick and eric cartman. wish you well (and like, we got a voltron submission as well. i dont know either of those shows/fandoms at all besides vague knowledge that they're not great but eh we're here to have fun. who cares (this is in response to you mentioning you didnt know if sp was allowed (i dont know actually youd have to ask cycad but im like 95% sure its fine (can you tell i have adhd))))

GIGOLAS FAN SPOTTED. they didnt write a lot of propaganda but HELL YEAH WE GOT SOME LOTR FANS HERE. theyre so qpr to me you dont even KNOW

i didnt even think about link/zelda being a qpr before this but you have convinced me. youre so right. they Are

besties who drink poison together STAY together!!! (merlin and arthur). fuck yeah baby!!! i have never seen merlin bbc

oh moirails are a homestuck thing i saw those in our asks and was unsure what they were

CANON QPR IN FABLE SMP? oh i need to check that out. fable smp fans ik this is a long shot but if anyone wants to give me reccomendations for where to start watching.

hiya qsmp fans. no need to worry you have turned out in both numbers AND propaganda. wowzers.

we have One submission for q!quackbur but now im wondering why no one has submitted c!quackbur. theyre literally homoeretic business rivals whose relationship could be viewed as platonic or romantic. smh

Roman and Youngblood from Roleslaying with Roman have very dedicated fans.

divorce quartet the divorced qp polycule ever but also im very biased. (both scott/cleo and scott/martyn were submitted multiple times)

we have some very fun ocs & real life qp relationships and im so here for it.

oh hey lifesteal smp i know those guys. wow damn theyre kinda fucked up arent they.

POLYARCHIVES SUPREMACY <3 BASEDBASEDBASED

POLYMECHS SUPREMACY ALSO SO BASED

Hi. Person who submitted both jesus/mary magdalene and now hamlet/ophelia. I love you. You are here to cause CHAOS and i for one applaud you for it. Can we kiss /j

[danganronpa-ship-tourney]

I'm sorry for dumb questions, but what does "qpr" stand for in the shipping bingo?

Queer Platonic Relationship, it's aromantic terminology

It's like....how do I explain this, it's like dating but without the actual dating part, its someone you devote your life to similar like you would a romantic partner, but without or little romance. Like you would move in with this person, build a life with them, that kind of stuff, but you're likely not going on dates or kissing.

Its someone you care for deeply and want to spend every day with but not really in a specifically romantic way. So like you want to wake up every day with them in your house, but you might not want to share a bed or have good morning kisses or stuff like that.

If you want a better explanation I'd advice poking around aromantic tumblr and the like

I'll be honest the best way to explain it I've found it is to ask if the person knows what homestuck is and if they do to point at an aspect of Homestuck known as moirail and go "kinda like this"

[friendsim2]

It actually matters to me a lot that ALL the quads were romantic in nature. it's not that only hearts and spades were romantic: only hearts and spades were SEXUAL, which is not the same thing. desire relationships ARE super important to me, but I also feel like the urge to make some of the quadrants 'not really romance' comes from an urge to make troll relationships (and trolls themselves) more analogous to human ones, when I really think trolls are more interesting if you truly let them be a separate species with different ways of experiencing things and different relationship urges. Moirails are described in a way similar to QPRs, but they are romantic, because they are romantic for trolls, even if they wouldn't be for humans!

Which is a completely valid interpretation of the work. Personally, I (speaking as the director and lead writer) always saw moraillegiance as pretty directly equivalent to a QPR (and as such fit into the balance of something an aromantic person could experience) and trolls as much more analogous to humanity than a wholly different way of thinking about things (because of how Scratch set up Alternia in the first place and how it relates to Earth).

Like, in my mind you can't really extricate Alternia from being a hyperreal version of Earth (especially the United States of America) and that's important to some of the themes in the game itself.

Which isn't to say that someone else's take on it is somehow less good/valid/important. The writers on any given project have to choose how they interpret source material.

All that being said, we tried to frame the actual conversations in the game around the concepts of quadrants as quadrants. So, for example, while Polypa is intended to be representative of an aroace experience, what she actually says in the game is basically "yeah, I was never into flushed or pitch relationships, just pale" and that's compatible with a reading like yours where the quadrants are a little more alien to human experience. Like, we as a writing team (and me specifically since I wrote a huge chunk of the script) have our own feelings on it, but you're also free to interpret our work however you want and in whatever way you feel most comfortable.

[qpr-competition]

shoutout also to every single person who explained moiraillegiance to me when submitting homestuck characters; to the person who said “moirails arent platonic* but since your pfp just by coincidence happens to be the moirails symbol”; and to the person who submitted dirk and roxy because im pretty sure that opened my third eye

* by standards of troll society, moiraillegiance is considered one of their four types of romance. however, through the human lens, it is not romance. arguments can be had on whether or not the former counts and therefore disqualifies moirails from being Qpr From Media, but i dont want to start any

[fictionkinfessions]

To this troll!

idk how familiar you are with queerplatonic relationships ? In my experience they're moirail-equivalent. I had a QPP for 12 years and we always typed <> at each other instead of <3, wrote it like that on birthday cards etc., and even did hand gestures that way.

You don't need to use that label, though! Frankly since we both read HS we had also just outright called each other moirails for like half of that time before realizing QPRs are a human thing lmao!

...Tbh you don't even really need to have that sort of relationship at all in order to keep using <>. You could tell your regular friends it's just a platonic version of <3 and they should understand / be fine with it :)

- another anonymous troll.

[

[impishglee]

my real opinion is that if i had a qpr that i was like cohabitating with/planning our futures together/etc, i would just say partner and let people mind their own business. i largely would be fine using language that implies a romantic relationship, like partner or spouse if we’ve tied the knot for xyz reasons. my life is my own business. idgaf.

but the thing is that that’s not nearly as funny as complaining about not being able to call someone your moirail in polite company without explaining a cult classic webcomic from the early 2010s

[relaxxattack]

this is such a semantics thing so please don't take this as me attacking you or anything, but related to the tags in your moiraillagence post a little ways down, "maybe moiraillagence is platonic and inherently lesser than matespritship" (verbatim) i think it's a little reductive to imply that moirail's being platonic would make their relationship worth less than a romantic quadrant lol i can say as somebody who's aromantic (and so does enjoy platonic moirail's just as like, a personal preference thing, but also somewhat as an interpretative thing) i definitely wouldn't consider any qpr's i've been in or even just general friendships i have to be lesser than a romantic relationship, and i think that having close platonic relationships can be just as valuable and fulfilling as romantic ones. idk, food for thought i guess on how you've been discussing it?

oh my god don’t worry i don’t think that at ALL i was making fun of what eridan says about being “pale zoned” (and “friendzoned” culture in general) i’m so sorry that wasn’t more clear 😭😭😭