#dear sweet nepeta

[h0peful-gh0stt-art]

holy shit first original post on this blog lol. anyways drew dear sweet fefeta <3 and decided to share :]

#fefeta #fefetasprite #feferi #nepeta #dear sweet fefeta #<3 #love her #homestuck #art #fanart #homestuck art #gh0sttsart

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Love is Stored in the Cat: A Nepeta Leijon Character Study

I guess these are a series now! I also have a request for Feferi in my inbox that I'll get around to eventually.

SO! Dear, sweet Nepeta.

Nepeta is the troll that is most against the existence of the hemocaste.

I believe the Ultimate Self speech was originally going to be from her, not Davepetasprite^2.

She's bad at shipping.

These all make her extremely impurrtant!!!

So furst of all, I'm going to start with the same disclaimer as my Eridan essay (go read that first!!! It sets up a lot of ideas that I'm expanding on here), which is that the things Hussie says are going to be lowered in value, because he likes to play coy about plot stuff. I'm also not counting anything but the actual text as canon, and even with in that text, I'm counting everything after GAME OVER as soft canon - a suggestion of what would have been, often truncated for time, often a deliberate middle finger to the shitty fandom.

Okay, so with that squared away!

Nepeta Says Fuck The Hemocaste

I'm not going to bother doing a deep dive on Nepeta's characterization, because fur the most part, I think the fandom more or less gets her right - she wears her heart (h33h33) on her sl33ve, after all! She's a very sweet little catgirl who loves roleplay and shipping, who is also a vicious hunter of wild beasts and lives in a cave. She's very nice and friendly, but has a tough streak and a spine.

She also says fuck the hemocaste, why does that even exist:

CT: D --> Your fraternization with the base classes have 100sened your morals, can't you see this AC: :33 < no! i dont care, they are fun AC: :33 < and i dont know anything about classes or bases or blood color, it doesn't matter! AC: :33 < what does gr33n blood even mean! it doesnt mean anything to me and it shouldnt mean anything to anyone else!

This is a radical stance not outright shared by any of the other trolls. Aradia calls highbloods "hateful sn0bs" that she and Tavros shouldn't have "ever had anything t0 d0 with", the highbloods are, of course, all casteist to varying degrees, and even Karkat seems fairly accepting of the class divide, at one point taunting Vriska that her rejection from the blue team is "ANOTHER INFURIATING VICTORY FOR GUTTER BLOOD OVER ARISTOCRACY". Not to mention his long-held dream of becoming a threshecutioner.

Even Feferi, despite saying to Eridan that "W-E AR-E NOT B-ETT-ER T)(AN ANYBODY!!!!!", is actually perfectly comfortable with the caste system's existence, comparing having to stop using her royal typing quirk to "peasant-IFICATING" herself - and let's not forget that a Beforus under her rule had its caste system 100% intact.

This means that Nepeta is the ONLY troll who has said, in no uncertain terms, that the caste system should not exist. It's stupid, it's bad, and it doesn't meowtter!

AND SHE'S RIGHT.

But she's never able to fully express this opinion, which brings us to:

A COMPLICKATED RELATIONSHIP WITH EQUIUS

Now, before I say anything, I must insist that I do believe these two work as good moirails. That does not, however, stop them from being 13, and therefore, being poor to each other the way 13-year-olds sometimes are. I don't think they should break up; I think they should re-examine certain dynamics, and I think they need some space to breathe apart from each other.

Equius has a lot of problems, which I won't get into overmuch here, because... that's a whole essay on its own (are you people seeing a trend yet). But with regards to Nepeta specifically, he's extremely controlling and protective, to the point where she's a little scared of him before the game begins:

AC: :33 < well it does sound like it will be a lot of fun but i think i should get purrmission first GC: BL4R!!!!! GC: TH4TS SO STUP1D GC: H3S NOT TH3 BOSS OF YOU AC: :33 < i know! AC: :33 < but still im kind of scared of him and i think purrhaps its best to just run it by him first so there isnt a kerfuffle about it or anything

She's also afraid to tell him about her crush on Karkat, since she knows he doesn't like Karkat:

AC: :33 < well AC: :33 < i have never told anybody this not even my moirail AC: :33 < heh, actually hes the LAST guy i might tell, he so wouldnt appurrve X33 AC: :33 < but yes i have liked somebody for quite some time, but alas he doesnt know it

By the time they end their game, she's gotten over this fear, seeing as she spends many hours curled up with Equius in a pile of robotics parts, but it still must be noted that they have some issues in their relationship that were never resolved, primarily on Equius's end. What this means for Nepeta, however, is that in addition to setting her up as the most outright anti-classism troll, the comic sets her up to be socially isolated due to her moirail's paranoia about letting her associate with both lowbloods (seeing them as bad influences) OR other highbloods, seeing them as dangerous.

He's not entirely wrong - his refusal to allow her to participate in FLARP kept her from winding up entangled in the horrible chain of revenge, as Tavros alludes:

AT: iT'S PROBABLY FOR THE BEST, AT: tHAT YOU LISTEN TO HIM, AC: :33 < i dont know AC: :33 < you think so? AT: wELL, AT: iF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM BEFORE, AT: yOU MIGHT HAVE PLAYED GAMES WITH US BEFORE, AT: aND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU, AC: :33 < hmm purrhaps

But he's still wrong. And it's probably an uncontrolled manifestation of his Heir of Void abilities - he's both consciously and unconsciously hiding her from other people.

This isn't to say she doesn't stand up for herself! Many of her discussions with Equius are pseudo-arguments, and she does get her way often enough, managing to get him to roleplay with her, and managing to get him back in the roboti% pile to talk about his feelings about Aradia. She also talks to the humans explicitly against Equius's orders, although she's keeping it a sneakret from him:

NEPETA: :33 < but equius already furbid me from doing that :(( NEPETA: :33 < not that i am listening to him, but shhhhh! :33 KARKAT: WAIT, HE DID? KARKAT: OK, THEN AS YOUR LEADER I ORDER YOU TO RP WITH THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. BE AS OBNOXIOUS ABOUT IT AS YOU CAN. NEPETA: :33 < yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

But the fact that she has to tiptoe around him like this speaks to them having issues in their relationship that go unexamined and unresolved, especially since it's clear that Nepeta really would like to be friends with more people, were Equius not getting in her way. So, even though I do think they are good moirails for each other - they clearly genuinely, deeply care about one another. But they could use some relationship counselling.

In fact, Jasprosesprite^2 outright calls her lonely:

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Or the girl who likes ships! Cause they made her less lonely. ;3

So, she's anti-hemocaste and lonely, two character traits that were set up and never resolved. And beclaws this is Nepeta, in her honor, I'm going to talk about a third:

Her Unrequited Crush On Karcat

She has the BIGGEST flushed crush on Karkat. It's seen on her shipping wall twice, once with the word OTP on it.

And, despite never discussing it with her moirail, Nepeta mentions it once to Jaspersprite, and once to Jasprosesprite^2.

Now, I'm not really here to debate on the validity of KatNep - I think it's fine, even if I don't personally ship it, and don't personally think it would work out (there are lots of indications that they wouldn't work out, including Jasprosesprite^2 outright saying so). However, her crush on Karkat is both complicated and creates some interesting setups for her character. I am going to discuss it fairly critically either way, so KatNep shippers have been warned.

A lot of her feelings about Karkat - and about shipping in general - wind up being heavily interlinked with her status as a Hero of Heart, so I'm going to expand on it more there. But what I will note in this section is the fact that, despite Nepeta insisting twice that she doesn't think Karkat knows about her crush on her:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < it was karkat NEPETASPRITE: :33 < but i never told him and im pretty sure he never found out how i felt!

He tooootally did:

KARKAT: OK, BUT TO BE FAIR, I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'S STILL OBSESSED WITH ME. KARKAT: IT'S A VERY UNFORTUNATE, VERY RED AND VERY UNREQUITED SITUATION I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TIPTOE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, OK?

Interpret that how you will for shipping purposes, but I want to propose that this is a reflection of their statuses as Heart and Blood players. Heart, despite its players' obsessions with romance, is not the romance aspect, Blood is. Karkat displays this very same romantic acumen when he tells Dave that he's known Terezi and Gamzee were a thing for a long time, despite everyone else on the meteor trying to keep it a secret from him. Heart is, instead, about identity, feelings, motivations, souls, and self. In other words:

Nepeta Is Kind Of Bad At Shipping

Let's take a look at those shipping walls.

Let's break this down a little. Nepeta's ships are not entirely wrong, but even the successful ones are kind of wrong. Here's what I mean. We've already discussed how Equius and Nepeta's moirallegiance has some... issues in it. If we go down her list of ships that actually do happen, most of them have some issues in them!

Aradia expresses her regret for getting together with Equius in the Ministrife. Kanaya and Rose suffer some major relationship problems when Rose starts drinking, to the point Karkat feels a need to step in as an auspice. Karkat and Gamzee fail, as Karkat is not calmed by Gamzee, and Gamzee stops listening to Karkat. And while Sollux and Feferi seem to be fairly healthy, after they both wind up in the Furthest Ring, he's pretty much always next to Aradia - he and Feferi don't even get to exchange words with each other once they're in the Furthest Ring. Purrsonally, I think he and Feferi are meant to end up as moirails, but shhhh.

So what's happening here? Well, this goes back to her identity as a Heart player. Heart is concerned with feelings and motivations.

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.

Nepeta's shipping has also been associated with her isolation and loneliness. When you put this together, it implies that Nepeta's shipping is about her desire to understand others, and much of her ships are based on one of the parties having feelings, regardless of compatibility, feasibility, or broader implications. After all, despite the fact that she has pretty terrible romantic acumen, she IS able to instinctively identify that Eridan's advances toward her were insincere:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < well ok i guess eridan hit on me a few times NEPETASPRITE: :33 < but his advances always struck me as cr33py and insincere

And that Karkat secretly LOVES and RESPECTS his friends:

JASPROSESPRITE^2: On the contrary Nepeta. You deserve someone who will RESPECT and ADORE you. NEPETASPRITE: :33 < well... yes NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i always hoped to find someone like that some day NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i dunno maybe youre right but in spite of whatever problems he might have i always felt like i saw something in him that made me think he could be that purrson!

Or knowing that Equius loves to play games, and still feels sad about Aradia exploding:

AC: :33 < i s33 right through your stupid act, who are you trying to kid! AC: :33 < look how you go out of your way to use words that have x's in them so that you can use your silly purrcent signs AC: :33 < or use these absurd words that you can shoehorn a '100' into, even if its not strictly replacing 'loo'!!! AC: :33 < you are so transpurrent AC: :33 < i can tell you like to play games, d33p down you are a guy who likes to play games! AC: :33 < i can smell a guy who likes to play games from so fur away with this nose, you have no idea X33

NEPETA: :33 < she was so happy, just like she used to be, and she said she would s33 you soon! EQUIUS: D --> That's a nice thought, and thank you for sharing it EQUIUS: D --> But it was only a dream, and will surely have no consequence in reality NEPETA: :33 < equius? NEPETA: :33 < are those f33lings i an detecting with my wiggly whiskery nose? EQUIUS: D --> Maybe

Because feelings, and not relationships, are her actual domain.

And speaking of Heart powers...

Nepeta and the Ultimate Self

So from this point forward, I'm going to assume you're more or less agreeing with my take that at some point after Game Over, Hussie - for whatever reason - gave up on his original ending, and wound up truncating his ideas so he could finish the comic faster. I go more into detail about that here.

So, in this hypothetical original ending, I firmly believe that the speech about the Ultimate Self would have come from Nepeta. First, let's take a look at what the "Ultimate Self" entails, as it appears within the comic:

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < everything that ever happens to every version of you is an important part of your ultimate self... like a superceding bodyless and timeless persona that crosses the boundaries of paradox space and unlike god tiers or bubble ghosts or whatever, it really IS immortal DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but in your physical form there are all these partitions in your mind that prevent you from remembering any of that which makes your existence f33l totally linear DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < which is probably for the best! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < in a regular body s33ing all that would be too overwhelming ... DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < and after it sinks in for a while you start coming to this understanding of a greater self DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < maybe i "got it" quicker though because of the two people i was and their aspects DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < understanding heart is all about the nuances of a distributed self DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < nepeta never got to make much headway with her aspect but shes finally gettin the chance DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < the time aspect is all about running into different versions of yourself so you kinda get confronted with it in a really literal way that can be disturbing DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < obviously davesprite stuggled with that too, but now its fine DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < hes fr33 from worrying about it all and what it means for his place in reality DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < because he can s33 now all his selves have relevance in painting the full picture of who he truly is DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < im not COMPLETELY sure because im not like some sort of ASPECT MASTER but DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < my avian slash feline intuition tells me that all roads will lead you here eventually DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < gaining the d33pest possible understanding of any aspect will bring you to the same final conclusion about your ultimate self

Now, I believe - and I hope you'll agree - that it's kind of lame, narratively, for Davesprite to have been set up with so much angst about not being the "real Dave," and for Nepeta to have all her issues with loneliness and shyness, and for these two specific iterations of each other to have never interacted, but suddenly getting double-prototyped fixes all of their problems, and they achieve Ultimate Selfhood despite being two total strangers to each other. So let's instead break down the more salient points about what Ultimate Selfhood entails, divorced from the fact that it's Davepetasprite^2 doing the narrating:

Every player in the game possesses an "Ultimate Self," an ultimate culmination of all their experiences and memories, specifically referred to as a "persona"

Normally, people are not aware of this, because it would be too overwhelming to deal with so many memories and iterations of each other.

Everyone will achieve Ultimate Selfhood eventually as the final culmination of their understanding of their aspect.

Heart is all about the nuances of a distributed self.

Let's talk about that last one some more, and by that I mean, let's see what Calliope has to say about it:

TT: I don't know why it had to be this way for me. Juggling these two waking selves at once. TT: I guess I'm used to it, but it still makes for a pretty intense existence. TT: Do you even know what the deal with that is? Like is there any precedent in your readings? UU: i don't know aboUt precedent, bUt it makes plenty of sense to me as the type of path one might expect for a hero of heart. UU: a path rUled by the heart aspect can be a joUrney of splintered self. UU: that is, the player's being may exhibit the same kind of fragmentation which certain classes coUld caUse in others. UU: i think this is what has triggered yoUr dUal-awareness between waking and dream selves, thoUgh it woUld not sUrprise me if the symptoms manifested in even more ways than this.

Now, Dirk has a clawmplicated relationship with his alternate selves, given that he's a Prince, but Nepeta wouldn't have the same struggles, or at least, not to the same degree. The problem is, hampered by Equius and her own shyness about discussing her thoughts and feelings with others:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i get so shy and worried what people might think of me if i say how i f33l NEPETASPRITE: :33 < im always so scared that they wont f33l the same way or just think im stupid or pathetic or something

She never actually gets to explore this part of herself.

But What If... She Did?

The way I imagine the original ending going is that each troll that gets saved by John's interference in the timeline then asks John to help them fix their own mistakes, thereby saving somebody else. Each successive trip through the meteor brings new character development, and also riddles the comic with progressively more password pages, which I think would be really funny. And throughout all this the Game Over team is searching for Vriska, Meenah, and the treasure, and resolving their arcs that way, so it's not like they would be replaced - they're the ones who get to kill LE. The process, in my mind, goes like this:

Terezi asks John to save Vriska, and prevent her from getting too spades with Gamzee, as these are her two greatest regrets.

Vriska obviously had great regrets about killing Tavros, both pre- and post-retcon, so she asks for his death to be prevented.

Tavros staying alive means that he and Gamzee wind up hashing out some stuff - Gamzee mentions that he feels "So aT ChIlL WiTh yOu" while talking to Tavros, and Tavros reciprocates the friendship and also - interestingly - acknowledges Gamzee's religion, calling it beautiful even if he doesn't necessarily believe in it. This is interesting because Karkat's inability to do so is explicitly one of the reasons their moirallegiance broke down. So having Tavros back, alive, means that he and Gamzee would likely end up in some sort of relationship, probably pale despite flushed leanings, and would bring Gamzee back into the fold.

Gamzee would then be like, yeah, wow, that time I killed Nepeta and Equius was pretty bad, huh? Especially since his decision to hang onto his friends' bodies and prototype them is often interpreted as him genuinely feeling bad about his dead friends (he tells Kurloz to shut up when Kurloz mentions all the dead friends, and his religion seems to be about a paradise he wants to share with his friends anyway). So he'd ask John to prevent him from killing them, resulting in the two of them getting to live.

Things get much more hypothetical from here, since so much of the character dynamics would have changed, but I think by this point, Equius might command ask John to let him say goodbye to Aradiabot before she explodes, which he expresses feeling very sad about. However, in doing so, John and Aradiabot end up in the same room, and when she realizes that he has the ability to change the timeline without repercussions, she'd seize him by the arm and demand that he take her back in time, to before she died. After all, she expresses regrets about her reckless actions, and how she always felt like it was all one big setup.

She would take Aradia's place in the Vriska revenge chain, being once more freed of her robot chassis, and from there, would trick Doc Scratch and the Handmaiden into thinking everything was still going according to their designs. Meanwhile, Alive!Aradia would be hanging out at Equius's place, borrowing his void powers to avoid notice, coordinating a new timeline that keeps the beats of the original (too much deviation causes unpredictability, and an paradox'd timeline offshoot without John's direct interference would still become doomed), but allows them greater freedom and the ability to overcome the machinations of Doc Scratch and associates.

This would also prevent Sollux from becoming so self-loathing, since it's no longer "his fault" that Aradia dies, although he winds up in that hole again after Feferi gets killed. Now that his Aradia is alive, he wouldn't feel like he might as well stay in the bubbles because his closest companions are there, so he'd make it to the end, and would ask John to prevent Feferi's death.

Eridan still dies; he's so disconnected and isolated from all his friends that his course of actions is largely unaffected even by everybody else's timeline tweaks. But before Feferi can suggest bringing him back, Karkat would butt in.

The Friendship Troll should be the one to demand that ALL of their friends be revived, especially if they had everyone except only one guy, and Karkat and Eridan are heavily implied to be moirails anyway. The course of Karkat's fixes are so comprehensive, and primarily romance-based, that the end result of this final loop is everybody not only being alive, but god-tiered, with appropriate character development.

Now, where Nepeta's Heart powers would play into all of this is that she would start to notice something going on. After all, Heart players are sensitive to their splintered selves, and (Nepeta) is probably much closer to Nepeta than regular doomed timeline offshoots. As the loops continue, and Nepeta has more and more time to talk to people, and meets her dead alternate selves, and even meets (Nepeta), she starts to awaken to her Ultimate Self - to come into possession of alternate memories.

And if the Ultimate Self is a very soul-y kind of concept, such that Heart players have a natural advantage in coming to understand it, then isn't it a natural fit that a Rogue of Heart - one who steals from Heart or steals Heart for others - would be naturally inclined to share the wisdom of her alternate selves, and even the very concept of the Ultimate Self, with her friends?

Because the Ultimate Self is actually, in my opinion, a pretty good narrative device. It turns the sadness of the dead and doomed timelines into something littersweet instead, and makes it so any weirdness regarding time travel and not really knowing your friends anymore will eventually be resolved, even if off-screen.

It's not really narratively satisfying when Davepetasprite^2 suddenly comes into being and reaches enlightenment, but imagine if instead it's a post-character development Nepeta comforting Davesprite on his relevance, or Jade on her loneliness, or John on not really knowing these new post-retcon versions of his friends? It would feel a lot better, since in this hypothetical, she would have reached that point after on-screen character development. Being able to share her true self with her friends on the meteor - by necessity, since what else are they going to be doing for three years - leads to her finally being able to fulfill her role as a Rogue of Heart.

Also, at some point during these repeated meteor trips, she dates Karkat (whether that's successful or not, I'll leave to reader interpretation - you already know where I stand), fulfilling Jaspersprite's musing that she might only be able to date Karkat after she dies.

So that's two out of thr33 of her outstanding plot hooks resolved... okay. So, I try not to make these essays into ship propaganda, but hear me out:

Hate Is Stored In The FefNep

Okay, so, remember that thing about how Feferi is actually a huge casteist hypocrite? Well, let's also note that the comic, post-Murderstuck, seems to put Nepeta and Feferi together a lot - they're a Commodore and Rear Admiral in the ghost pirate army, respectively, and they also wind up as Fefetasprite. So I think it's not entirely out of left field to say that these two were implied to have SOMETHING going on.

And that something... is a difference in political views.

I mean, let's be real, there's a reason Fefetasprite is the most explode-prone after Tavrisprite. Miss "The Hemocaste is Stupid and Shouldn't Matter" vs. Miss "I Love Being A Princess And Call Jade Hornless and Finless (Derogatory)"? Come on, tell me you don't see it.

Without getting too much into Feferi, this hypocrisy, and unwillingness to check her privilege (so glad I found an excuse to use that term unironically), are probably her greatest character flaws - ie, the things you would expect the story to address about her. Meanwhile, one of Nepeta's flaws, which she laments to Jasproseprite^2, is that she feels too shy to talk about her feelings to other people, leading to her having never expressed her views on the hemocaste to anyone but Equius.

I think that they initially think they'd be friends. Each one of them would go "oh man, this other girl is soooo cute, I wish I could talk to her more often!"

And then, once they do, they realize they fucking hate each other. Nepeta would go "X00 < you are such a hypocrite who f33ls like youre better than all of us!!!" and Feferi would go "You're suc)( an uneducated glubbing P-EASANT! 3X0" and then they'd claw each others' eyes out. It would be so funny, and if a homestuck ship isn't extremely fucking funny, then why are we even here.

But more importantly, this would further them along into resolving each others' arcs - Feferi would be forced to grapple with the greater implications of classism, and Nepeta - who is shown having a spine the most in defiance of somebody else - would grow more aggressive about being open about her feelings in defiance of Feferi. Even Equius would get roped into it in a positive way - you can just imagine him going "D --> Can I really believe my auricular sponge clots D --> Nepeta, you are finally taking interest in politi%" and be 100% on board with teaching her so Feferi won't be able to call her uneducated.

And then for flushed, I dunno! Karkat's an option, and Jade and Jake also both love the fuck out of furries, and Tavros seems nice. But yeah I'll die on the fefnep hate ship. Guys it would be so funny.

Thank you as always for reading! Let me know if there's a troll you want to hear me ramble about next.

#homestuck #nepeta leijon #feferi peixes #equius zahhak

[triptychgardener]

Hello sorry if this is a bother but I am asking in good faith where is the reading for transmasc nepeta. I’m asking this cuz of your last ask (the June one) and I see aradia Dirk and Jane. Thoes all I have seen post and analysis about. But I have not really seen anything about nepeta.

Okay so first thing you gotta understand is that gender in Homestuck, for lack of a better way to say it, can be understood in how characters reflect and relate to each other. That being said to understand Nepeta's gender, we gotta understand the gender of at the very least one other person.

Dave.

And more specifically.

Davepeta, Homestuck's very own first(ish) trans character.

Davepeta is noted to be a sort of platonic ideal of existence for both Dave and Nepeta. Somehow, through a strange series of cosmic coincidences, these two end up making an odd sort of parallel. Both having a strange relationship to a man who loves him some goddamn horses. The whole Akwete Purrmusk thing. I mean, Dave canonically engaged in semi-nonironic furry roleplay with Nepeta offscreen, and given what we know about what becoming a furry in Homestuck means, it's not a leap to describe this as their ideal form.

But, although we don't see a lot of Nepeta's character arc, we do see a lot of Dave's. He struggles his whole life under an incredibly oppressive masculine force (both of Bro and, indirectly, Lord English), and once the game is over ends up deconstructing and largely rejecting that.

So when Davesprite, who's also probably been thinking about this for even longer, bereft of purpose or identity, finds a kindred soul in a spunky catgirl... well the rest is Davepeta.

And similarly, there are points in the story where Nepeta acts kind of uncomfortable with how others see her as exclusively something to be protected. The whole "Dear, sweet, precious Nepeta" grates on her early on, as Equius uses it as an excuse to control her actions. The whole of moiraillegience as it is originally explained (i.e. one party helps to calm down an especially brutal and violent person from outbursts of anger, and in turn that person will protect the more docile, even-tempered soul from external harm) even kind of FEELS like the way heterosexual relationships are portrayed in a lot of conservative spaces, where women are nuturers and caretakers while men are protectors. And Nepeta is supposed to, in this situation, be the person who helps Equius manage his emotions, which she feels some consternation at!

Now, over the course of Hivebent, their relationship appears to evolve and get a bit more balanced, but it still carries these overtones of "I will protect you, and you will handle my outbursts." Notably, when Equius goes to seek the Highb100d, and leaves Nepeta behind.

And of course not after roleplaying as each other.

Which. I mean come on.

But notably, Nepeta doesn't just stay put! She doesn't really want to be protected all the time! And when push comes to shove, she leaps out to defend, or at the very least avenge, her best friend.

And then, we don't really see Nepeta for a while!

Until we get to the end of the comic.

During their whole "date", Nepeta seems a little uncomfortable with Jasprose's affections. She may be a bit flattered, but Jasprose also fully admits later that she was frankly looking for any girl she could fall in love with after the tragic death of her girlfriend and possible more tragic untimely resurrection.

But then the pivotal handshake happens, and we get to see who is perhaps the most happy being in all of Homestuck.

Then we get into some of the only actual discussion of gender in Homestuck. We don't get much besides that, for both of their lives, Dave and Nepeta both felt something was missing. Something felt wrong that they couldn't quite place that made them both miserable. I don't think it's a massive stretch to say this could be gender dysphoria.

And when they combine, they feel the fullness of the gendered experience they were missing, melded together like a two-piece puzzle.

Now while the abovementioned "strong identities as a boy and a girl" might throw you off, I would point to what Victoria Lacroix said about this passage: note the lack of the word "respectively." I rest my case.

Now full disclosure, my personal headcanon for Nepeta is genderfluid transmasc. The whole affinity for roleplaying lends itself to a more shifting identity and I just think Nepeta, given more time, would love exploring the little nooks and crannies of gender.

This isn't going into the more complicated shit with Gender when it comes to Equius and Dirk and all that other stuff. Here's a quick summary so you can see exactly how my brain is broken.

Anyways, thanks for the question! I hope I answered my thoughts on the topic adequately! If other people have more to say about this, please feel free to add on!

#whoof this was a long one #asks #anon

[hspolls]

Well, there we have it! End of Round 1. Let’s to a little Round Roundup before moving onto Round 2!

The Dolorosa tried to scare our favourite Egbert off, but- Well, Dolorosa was left in the past and Egbert moved on. On to Round 2, at least!

It was a brutal battle between the great and mighty Nicolas Cage and the underdog fedorafreak, but fedorafreak and his support pulled through. A God Tier battle if I’ve ever seen one!

The forces of Light and Void came face to face in the battle between Roxy and Aranea. Dark beat Light in this valiant battle, congrats to our winner Roxy!

The battle between Erisolsprite and Tavrisprite was not so... bright. Erisolsprite has his torment prolonged for one more round.

A battle between... brothers? Lovers? It’s not clear what the relationship is between these two. But either way, Trace wins the vote and moves onto the next round!

Caliborn and The Condesce face off in our next matchup, but it seems Caliborn just can’t reach his full potential yet (Will he ever...?). The Condesce takes the win!

Our two gun (rifle?) slingers are up next in the next round. And...! Oh, how the mighty fall! Aimless Renegade wins this duel!

Kanaya faces off against ARquius sprite, two wholes put together to make a new whole! And. Uh. Well, he’s more two halves now. Kanaya wins!

Rose and Marquise Spinneret Mindfang face off, a battle so blindingly bright that... Well, we know how blindings go for Mindfang, historically. Rose progresses onwards!

I liked these tags and they deserve to go here. Seems like Die can't really hold his own in a rap battle. Unfortunate. He's always been a bit chicken.

GCATavrosprite is scheduled to face off against Jasprose...! But decides to take a little nap instead. You know what? He deserves it. Sleep well our sweet little meow meow. Jasprose wins by default.

Sollux and Terezi are pitted against each other. To every Sollux fan’s despair. Sorry guys. I really thought he had a chance. Interesting first round, though, right?

Davepeta and Fefeta face off in a matchup that, once again, was met with a lot of despair. Davepeta would never do a thing to harm their dear friend (and half paradoxical twin? alternate self? sister? Whatever they’d be...) And spares her, not only in the battle, but from the rest of her fights. Fefeta never wanted to fight anyway. A “win” for Davepeta!

Davesprite kicks Bro’s ass lol. (Talk about closure...!)

Two tallguys in this matchup! A battle between Crowbar and Sawtooth. Both are pretty powerful, but the felt fans are stronger. #feltsweep

The battle between Mom and Cans is less of a battle and more of a landslide. For Mom. She punches Cans into next week. Taste of his own medicine!

Jack Noir battles Becquerel, in a test of who will become BEST DOG. And. Well. Its the dog. Its the dog.

Meanwhile, Snowman and Ms. Paint battle... to see who wore it best! And Ms. Paints sweet charm is just pure unbeatable! Onto the next round she goes!

Meanwhile, in the Jade and Rufioh faceoff... It’s a win for Jade. No contest, really.

Elsewhere on the battlefield two revolutionaries battle, to change their worlds. The Signless inspires many, and does a lot to help his people... But still, the Warward Vagabond moves more. And moves onto the next round, too.

Nepeta and Stitch are our next matchup, and...! Well, dear number Nine might need some stitching himself after this ruthless battle.

Gamzee and Grandpa, two Gs. I... don’t have any smart comments for this battle actually. Just the G thing. And Gamzee takes the W. Which I guess would make him Wamzee? Yeah, sure. That’s what I’m, choosing to say.

PM and Meulin up next! And... Woah, that’s a twist! PM caught Meulin sending some nasty hate mail. And did what any good Postal Mistress would do. Seems Meulin may be down another life...

Jadesprite challenges Lil Hal, but Lil Hal is not relinquishing control to a sad dog girl. Sorry dog girl fans. Lil Hal goes ahead.

CASEY SWEEPS ROUND ONE LET’S GOOOOOOO (Yeah, no. Caliborn will never reach his full potential.)

The Handmaid, however, is very powerful. More powerful than even Darkleer, once a powerful figure himself. The Zahhak is put out of his misery... into the darkness of history he shall disappear. “History” is too restricting for the Handmaid, who moves ever forwards.

The Insane Clown Posse prepare for one of their famed demonstrations, miracles ready, face paint on... But wait, who let this fucking cat in here? What the hell? Oh my god, Holy--

The ICP are dead. The cat remains, paws bloodied, face adorable.

Itchy seems to have the advantage in his battle, moving faster than any eye can see- but the Summoner summons his own loyal fans, and... the battle’s over before either of them know it.

There’s a bit of infighting going on in the Midnight Crew’s side of the ring, with Hearts Boxcars and Clubs Deuce feuding between themselves. It seems like HB should win, being stronger, burlier, and capable of eating a mans head off in one fell bite. But Clubs has something the big guy doesn’t. Clubs has a hand full of penis. And he is not afraid to get swinging. Ultimately, HB bites the dust.

Next up is the Disciple and Horuss. With the Disciple on the other end of the indigo’s bow, he falters just as his universal counterpart did, so many sweeps ago. He doesn’t shoot. The Disciple survives for one more round.

Two of Egbert’s guardians battle in a fight for supremacy, but there can only be one winner. Dad continues on... but not without Nanna’s blessing. He is her son, after all. And perhaps all she really wants is to see him succeed...

Aradia and Tavros participate in a battle between friends, but Aradia’s bold plays give her an edge that Tavros simply doesn’t have. Aradia wins this battle - and Tavros surely comes along to cheer his friend along for the following ones!

Jake attempts to face off against this blue babe before she has the chance to gain momentum - the only chance anyone may have to truly strike her down. But he can’t. He’s stricken down... The first one to fall against Vriska’s pursuit of supremacy. If he can’t stop her......

Meenah, like Horuss, follows in the footsteps of her universal counterpart, harnessing the power of the Ψiioniic in the hopes their combined power could do what Jake couldn’t Vriska lurks in the distance of the next round. One goldblood is hardly anything in the face of victory.

Redglare battles against a child and loses. Unforunate. Well, she had a good run. Before the tournament. Her run in the tournament sucked. Unfortunately. Sorry Redglare. Jane wins this trial.

Feferi and Kankri face off in a debate for the ages -- Or rather, Kankri debates at her, but her joyful outlook is too powerful to be destroyed by the redbloods gift of gab. Feferi rules over this round!

Calliope and Cronus participate in a battle of music, something I just decided since I think Cronus canonically makes music and Calliope is the name of an instrument. Well, Cronus is the one getting played this round. Calliope dominates the soundscape in this battle!

Kurloz and Damara get into an argument, though its hard to tell exactly what they’re arguing about because nobody else speaks troll Japanese and Kurloz doesn’t really say much of anything. Well, either way, looks like Damara won that battle!

Battle of the Bronies! It’s Dirk against Equius in this battle of pride, to determine who the ultimate pony aficionado is. And what do you know, Dirk comes out on top.

A battle between Leprechauns is breaking out on this side of the field. And its not really clear how the battle is progressing at all. Doze is moving a metre an hour and Eggs is just... kinda there? As unclear as the whole thing is, Eggs apparently wins this one!

In the next matchup over we have another one of the Leprechauns, Quarters, up against Latula, who doesn’t doesn’t hesitate to annihilate our turtle-toothed friend. Latula 1, Quarters 0.

And right there next to him, Biscuits gets swept too, annihilated by the smooth Diamonds Droog. Effortlessly. At least, that’s how it looks, and what he wants you to think. Will his next round be as effortless, or will this Diamond be done for? Only time can tell.

In a repeat of troll history, Dualscar faces off and against the Grand Highblood, and. Well. Heads off too. (That’s a joke. About decapitation. If it wasn’t clear). Dualscar doesn’t survive this round, but the GHB marches on to the next.

Next is the battle between two big story influencers, the arrogant Doc Scratch and the, uh, controversial Andrew Hussie, to see who reigns supreme. And Doc Scratch takes the cake this time. Sorry Hussie. Maybe next time.

Clover distracts matchsticks with a jaunty little jig and then Matchsticks gets flustered and fucking dies. RIP matchsticks. Clover’s moves were just too fire.

Karkat faces off against Sawbuck, who... Well, I’m sorry Sawbuck. There weren’t many people left to match you up with at this point in the planning stage and you got fucking murdered the moment you stepped into the ring. Your fans still love you though. Poor guy.

Dave and Mituna faces off in what was perhaps THE most despaired of the matchups. I’m sorry guys! I was running out of matchups that would keep the game both initially interesting and interesting in the future! It’s just the way the turns tabled!

Dave wins the round, but Mituna fans everywhere are united in their love for this goldblooded boy. He may just be the most mourned of all this round’s losers, but he is a winner in all of our hearts.

And lastly, the battle between Madam Firefly and the dear Firefly herself, which... Wait. Hold on. What’s this? They both tied at 50%? Serenity technically won by a few votes but the poll-holder had a special even planned in the case of a 50/50 and is going to enact it anyway? Well, that’s certainly something! Props to these two lovely ladies for sharing the win this round! And in the distance...

A SPECIAL CHALLENGER APPROACHES...

#hspolls #round 1 #round roundup #long post

[pesterloglog]

Tavrosprite, Jasprosesprite^2, Jake English

Act 6, page 7812-7817

TAVROSPRITE: aCHOO! aCH-,

TAVROSPRITE: oH, nOO, nOT,,,

TAVROSPRITE: aCHOOOO!

TAVROSPRITE: nOT YOU, }:(

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Mrrrelax my sternutating acquaintance.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: I have just the magic thing for you because I'm a magical being, squared!

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Take this curative tablet! It will make those cat allergies slink away as if they saw a raccoon out the window.

TAVROSPRITE: oOH YES, tHANK,,,

TAVROSPRITE: aCHOO!

TAVROSPRITE: tHANK YOU!

TAVROSPRITE: *gULP,*

TAVROSPRITE: w,,, wOW!

TAVROSPRITE: iT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!

TAVROSPRITE: i LOVE MAGIC, i'M SO GLAD IT'S REAL,

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Couldn't agree more!

JASPROSESPRITE^2: That pill was a placebo, by the way. It was actually one of the buttons from my velvet pillow!

TAVROSPRITE: oOOOOOH,

TAVROSPRITE: tHANK YOU SO MUCH, mAGIC SORCERESS CAT WOMAN, fOR YOUR ENSORCELLED CURATIVE PLACEBO BUTTON,

TAVROSPRITE: tHIS IS GOING TO CHANGE MY LIFE! }:D

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Yes I thought you wouldn't understand what that meant, and that the button would continue to do the trick.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: I'm so pleased as usual to see that I was right! Not that it was ever in doubt.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: NOW.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Since that hideous brouhaha of spittle, mucus and shouting has subsided, peace and quiet has revisited these hills and I am free to do my work.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: It is the most important work that has ever been undertaken or even attempted in this gloomy session.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: You there, master of this land.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Tell me, where is your kernelsprite?

JASPROSESPRITE^2: *Inquisitive chirp.*

JAKE: Uhhhh.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Never mind, you don't know anything! Haha. :3

JASPROSESPRITE^2: I was only asking as a polite formality anyway, since it is right there in plain sight!

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Jake, drumroll, please.

JAKE: Um...

JAKE: Hold...

JAKE: Hold on ill go um...

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Don't you dare actually play some drums it was a figure of speech.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Mrow, well hello there, beautiful. ;3

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Fret no more sweet princess, for as long as I am here, you will never suffer such indignity again.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: How could anyone let such monstrous injustices happen to one so dear?

JASPROSESPRITE^2: What FILTH would dare to debase you in this manner?!

JASPROSESPRITE^2: To say it was the marginalization of a bright and pure spirit, to say it was MURDER, this would be too flattering to the purrrpetrator.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: What happened to you was nothing less than the desecration of a MASTERPIECE.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: My mystic kittycat senses divine that you have been mistreated for a stretch of your life far preceding your demise.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: I detect that you may have been toyed with and disrespected by none other than the supreme puppeteer of unrepentant horseshit himself.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Any who would dare claim a greater atrocity has been committed in some godforsaken furl of paradox space, say it now and I will hiss and growl and curse your name.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: You are gorgeous, dear, sweet Nepeta. You deserve only happiness and fulfillment.

JASPROSESPRITE^2: And from this moment forward I shall see to it that those are the only things you will ever know!

#homestuck #tavrosprite #jasprosesprite^2 #jake english #homestuck act 6 #page 7812 #page 7813 #page 7814 #page 7815 #page 7816 #page 7817 #homestuck act 6 act 6 #homestuck act 6 act 6 intermission 5

[omegasmileyface]

homestuckpost on main but the boldest thing they did with the aspect wheel was having heart be a dark aspect and mind be a light one. very interesting putting Passion And Identity, the little <3 associated with dear sweet nepeta, on the same side as Fate, The Unknown, Entropy, Responsibility, and Doubt. and also putting Logic And Justice, a concept directly tied to the word "legislacerator", on the same side as Creation, Perfection, Growth, Freedom, and Faith. most ppl would have done the opposite. very intriguing connotations

#i consider them 'derse-aligned' and 'prospit-aligned' aspects but i have literally no reason for this beyond that it feels right #so theyre dark and light for the sake of this post #now what the hell is my classpecting tag again #roxys classpecting #?

[conservedlythunderous]

► Oh hey look, this month's Widening Waistlines as well! Placed neatly on a nearby stack of towels that Zahhak had. ...Shit she was going to have to read too this cause she dropped a Vantas tier "FUCK" earlier, wasn't she?

Nobody was supposed to know about this particular subscription. Organized to be delivered via drone and only at high noon (as Equius lived in a primarily daylight averse troll-inhabited area). One long arm begrudgingly reached out the door and snatched the illicit pages back inside.

While one could successfully argue the last one was ordinarily just a fitness magazine, besides a few recipe lists in the back there was no disputing the primarily pornographic nature of the Widening Waistlines catalogue. No page was bereft of someone stuffed into a completely inadequate outfit, softness overflowing straining and inadequate cloth.

Sucking in a feeble breath, Equius turned the page to where they knew their trials would begin.

A headline read: "Legislace...weightor?" And underneath stood Terezi. Her poor Redglare uniform failing to pull itself over the slope of a swollen belly. Buttons visibly strained, failing to conceal a weightier bustline and allowing a peak within. Most blatant however was the wobbling shelf of booty hanging out like two perfectly risen loafs from the tight pants. That alone would've had poor Equius steaming, but she'd managed to fit an entire cake onto that jiggling surface to further add to the depravity.

Trying in vain to spare their delicate constitution, the magazine slipped from Equius' hands. But as it struck the floor the pages managed to flip to a new spread, one that visibly created steam as the poor indigo's sweat formed on their skin and heated to a boil from the sheer heat of their embarrassment.

"Heavyweight lap cat!"

Dear sweet Nepeta, plumped on all sides, straddled a chair. Her pendulous, drooping frontside alone would've stretched across the entire seat of the chair, and there was no way her pendulous bottom could've fit between the armrests. But even so she shared the chair with another occupant. Their face, and indeed most of them was completely obscured, buried in the pillowy avalanche of fattened cat tats and soft paunch. The barest sliver of nubby orange poked out from between the crease of underboob and upper-belly to give hint. Not that Equius could decipher it, as they were stone cold unconscious.

#e%cerpts #took awhile to think what i wanted to do

[ugghouly]

#homestuck #polls

[hapticcuddles]

HapticCuddles Began talking with CentaurTarrasque Log #1

HC: :33 < hey ct, are you there? i think that i n33d to talk with you now CT: D --> yes, i'm Here, Nepeta, everything is ok? HC: :33 < you don't n33d to call me nepeta honey, or talk like my meowrail, you know? CT: D --> i'm Aware, but i'm kinning Equius like you Kin Nepeta because that makes you happy, Nellie HC: :33 < yes, i know, i know, you always says "--> you should be more kind with yourself", but i don't know, i think that i'm still scared of someone calling me "cringe" just because i'm kinning nepeta, you know? CT: D --> Yes, i know you perfectly, and that's why i'm insist that you are now Nepeta Leijon, because that puts a smile in your cute feline face HC: :33 &lt; oh you, you are making me blush equius <:33 CT: D --> don't worry my dear Nellie, i insist that you should enjoy thinking about being that cute, feline olive b100d that resembles a lot of your own Trollsona, you and Nepeta are really similar to eachother, even in the bad parts, so try to enjoy your kinning sessions, ok HC: :33 &lt; you talk about kinning if it is some sort of therapeutic way hehe HC: :33 < but yeah, you are right with this, dear, locking my own f33lings of expression only cause harm in the long term, but i really n33ded to talk with you, calm my anxiety about being that catgirl CT: D --> and you are Nepeta, our sweet, precious sweet Nepeta Leijon HC: :33 < >//w//< 3333equius, stop, you are really making blush right now, and now fur your fault i'm gonna end stimming with the lion plush CT: D --> Good, and remember to enjoy every second of it HC: :33 &lt; ok equius, one more thing befure i go HC: :33 < i <> you CT: D --> i really <> you too, my dear Nellie HC: :33 < my name is nepeta <3 CT: D --> That's my girl <3

#Nepeta kin #kin blog #Homestuck kin #pesterlog #hs kin

[modernchemical]

dear sweet nepeta

#homestuck #my art #nepeta leijon #fanart #GREEEEN

[foxskip]

nepeta homestuck

Poor dear sweet precious Nepeta...

She is a feral autistic rping cat girl how could I not love her

I think her & Feferi should've kissed also. Remember Fefetasprite? I remember Fefetasprite.

#ask #blorbo bingo

[necrobarbie]

46,48,68,73,85,88 aaaannd 94 lmao sorry if these are a lot a;osdighasdgo

46 Character you’d be best friends with?

roxy i think! similar interests and she reminds me of my own bff. nice balance of silly and serious. i like hanging out with social bubbly people even if i myself tend to be withdrawn and grumpy lmao

48 Zodiac troll? Are you happy with them?

dear sweet precious nepeta. i too am an autistic catboy so i'm pretty happy with her, even if her story was cut pretty short! she had a lot of potential that never got to see the light but that just leaves more room for fandom to expand on so /waves hand

68 & 85 - answered !

73 Meteor trip headcanons?

my headcanons are always more flowy than stuck in stone but off the top of my head i love rose being angsty about her mom, trying for hours to alchemize something resembling alcohol enough to get her drunk and hazy so she can quiet her internal thoughts for once in her life, just alone in a dark room on the meteor and not knowing how to reach out for help from her friends

also a lighter headcanon: trolls don't just let anyone cut their hair bc sharp things, vulnerable neck, etc but kanaya lets rose start trimming her hair after a few months, pre-retcon gamzee and karkat trim each others hair but post-retcon they don't, and terezi doesnt let anyone cut her hair partly bc she just doesnt care about how it looks

88 Favorite Homestuck fics?

also answered but for a fellow gamkar enthusiast i will add:

Pale as Arena Sand by CurlicueCal and LaughingStones (pale serendipity!!)

River in Itself by anonymous (post canon gamzee focused, in progress, not super fluffy if that's what you prefer but a great gamzee voice imo and maybe theyll be able to pick up the pieces?)

94 What would your strife specibus be?

so i have this fancy little letter opener i got from an antique store years ago that i rush to use for even the most mundance mail and i would love to just get stabby with in a game. letteropenerkind

#no worries on it being a lot i love to talk lmaooo #asks

[kamboree]

commission for @meulinn !!

#blackrom erinep... i have never considered you but by god youre so FUN #breaking news local kitty cat bites a twink #eridan ampora #nepeta leijon #dear sweet nepeta #digital art #drawing #art #my art #homestuck #fanart #erinep #♤

[hskin-r-us]

Aesthetic for a Davepetasprite who was dating Karkat and Jade and misses them and loves them.

#davepetasprite^2 #davepetasprite squared #dave strider #nepeta leijon #karkat vantas #jade harley #aesthetic #hskinaes #hskin #mod trizza #dear sweet precious anon #request

[kanayanonymous]

:33< hello again miss kanaya! *ahem* apologies fur my absent33ism h33h33 x33 i know ive b33n gone fur a bit but i hope that ofur of trying on cute outfits and also maybe snacks is not entirely out of the window?

Oh Hello Again Dear Sweet Sweet Precious Darling Nepeta

Of Course The Offer Is Always Open I Have Even Just Baked Some Fresh Cookies If You Like

[overtrolled-liveblog]

[7816]

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Mrow, well hello there, beautiful. ;3 JASPROSESPRITE^2: Fret no more sweet princess, for as long as I am here, you will never suffer such indignity again. JASPROSESPRITE^2: How could anyone let such monstrous injustices happen to one so dear? JASPROSESPRITE^2: What FILTH would dare to debase you in this manner?! JASPROSESPRITE^2: To say it was the marginalization of a bright and pure spirit, to say it was MURDER, this would be too flattering to the purrrpetrator. JASPROSESPRITE^2: What happened to you was nothing less than the desecration of a MASTERPIECE.

Hrm. This is sort of creepy. It isn’t just Nepeta’s severed head in its customary kittysmile paired with a dead wall-eyed stare, but that certainly doesn’t help.

I mean I like Nepeta a lot, but Jasprose knew her for like, a day, right. This is weirdly, like, i don’t know, it almost seems objectifying. There’s probably a different word for what I’m talking about, but it’s in that genre of thing.

#a6a6 #homestuck liveblog