#meowrails.ship

[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]

Horuss is very angry and aggressive?

Canonically? Yeah, absolutely. Perhaps "was" is a better term to use... But he definitely still has his moments, constantly. Such as his really disturbingly aggressive Hemoloyalty. But he's not really outwardly "angry and aggressive" in the traditional sense... Anymore, and for now. I might've mentioned this earlier, but Horuss's smiley demeanor is actually a facade forced upon him by Meulin.

This whole "Smiley Horuss" deal is a very recent change, in text. Very, very recent. It occurred in the advent of Horuss and Meulin becoming Moirails, which occurred in the advent of them meeting Equius and Nepeta. They saw their Moirallegience, and wanted what they had, basically.

Anyway, this Moirallegience meant that, in true Meowrails fashion, Meulin was the one keeping Horuss in check. But... Meulin has a rather unfortunate problem with Toxic Positivity, actually, which was a very common issue amongst Tumblr users for a while, especially people heavier into the fandom side of things... And this is what lead to Meulin forcing the facade of constant happiness onto Horuss... Essentially as "treatment" for his anger issues. She seems to be under the impression that it is somehow healthier to force yourself to never experience any negative emotion, ever, than it is to be able to confront and healthily engage with your negative feelings. Which... Again, is just what Toxic Positivity is, and again, was a huge problem on Tumblr for a while. It's a unique form of the Anti-Recovery mindset.

As the above screenshot says, Horuss finds this mask to be putting him in constant agony. It's really not helping him, and he's still an asshole. He just happens to feel more like garbage constantly for it. He isn't addressing a single one of his issues or bigoted views, he's just smiling while expressing them. For once, Meenah is the Voice of Reason regarding this:

She's right for that. It is some pretty shitsauce advice.

[nekropsii]

Opinion on meowrails? I got flamed for mentioned them on tiktok because it's apparently abusive? I haven't read Homestuck in a long time what kinda new lore is this

No one on TikTok has a fucking brain cell to their name when it comes to gauging the relative toxicity of a fictional relationship or of a fictional character. Hell, they're not good at gauging the toxicity of a real person. Never listen to them about that sort of thing literally ever. If it involves any level of reading comprehension, that is not your place to go.

Now, that's not my particular specialty in Homestuck analysis, but... The worst part about their relationship is that they are 13 year olds who grew up in Alternia. They really aren't that bad together at all. I have no idea where people are getting "abusive" from, but TikTok has never had a good track record when it comes to the inappropriate usage of heavy-hitting buzzwords. Especially when it comes to spurring moral outrage. It's borderline masturbatory to me- so much of it is embroiled in making other people look bad for legitimately no reason so you look comparatively better for being the one to "call them out". It's just... Ugh. Sorry you got flamed, that really sucks. I hope it eases you to know it was unjustified. That whole situation just sounds like people circlejerking. What probably happened was that someone didn't like the pairing for whatever reason and went off of that to try and find evidence to justify the dislike of it, filled to the brim with Confirmation Bias. Then someone else just took the "findings" at face value- because, again, moral outrage, you look bad if you try to debunk anything- and it spread like a disease.

If you like them together, just have fun with it. Don't let some weirdos on TikTok get you down.

[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…