Homestuck’s Quadrants: The Internet’s Most Chaotic Emotional Taxonomy

Fandoms are incredible at building entirely new concepts out of thin air, and few other media does it better than Homestuck! In this blog post I’ll be explaining the Quadrants in Homestuck, please do enjoy! :-)

Let’s start with the question “What the hell is Homestuck?” for those who aren’t chronically online. Homestuck is a web comic well over 8 thousand pages, 800,000 words, which is slightly longer than the entire Harry Potter series. That is, not counting the flash animations, interactive games and GIF-heavy panels which would add about 10-20 hours more to your Homestuck-ing. It is a modern epic, if I dare say so, with confusing time loops, weaponized irony and a thick plot that even some of the biggest fans still struggle to understand. Andrew Hussie, the author, built his own world with its own rules, such as kids saving the world by playing a game and… being able to die more than once?  Seriously, what’s that all about?

In my humble opinion, one of Homestuck’s best inventions, aside from troll anatomy and reproduction, is the Quadrant System. In simple terms, it’s a structured way of defining feelings that transcend current human relationships. It exists for several reasons, but the main one is tied to how trolls function as a species.

Trolls have their own societal systems, customs and values, many of which are drastically different from anything we as humans use. Their society is rigid, often hostile, and classified by blood colour, which affects everything from status to behaviour. Because their culture is so volatile, trolls developed the quadrant system as a way to categorize and stabilize the extreme emotional dynamics in their lives. There’s a lot of world building behind this, far more than I can reasonably unpack here, but the comic is free to read here, and the Homestuck wiki is here if you want the deep dive!

So let’s get started!

 

 

What Are Quadrants?

Trolls don’t treat romance the way humans do, dating and love aren’t the main points of their system. Instead, their emotional lives are split into four quadrants, four styles of connection defined not by the form of the relationship, but by the function of the emotions involved. These categories are based on how trolls feel toward one another, and not who they’re “allowed to” be with.

Quadrants are more than romantic labels, they’re emotional classifications. They separate affection, rivalry, protection and mediation into distinct narrative instruments. And once you learn them, you start seeing these patterns everywhere, even in real human relationships that we never bother to name!

 

 

The Four Quadrants

1.   Red Romance: Positive, Affection-Based

Red romance (♥ and ♦) is built on positive emotions: affection, care, and support. These are relationships where you want the best for each other and actively work to help each other thrive.

Matespritship (♥)

This is by far the easiest concept for humans to grasp! It is mutual attraction, romantic tenderness, the classic “you and me against the world” cliché. In the web comic, matespritship acts as both comfort and narrative motivation, grounding characters who are otherwise wrapped up in constant chaos. It provides for the traditional romance trope people crave while consuming a media abundant with characters, one such as Homestuck.

Matespritship is represented by the heart (♥ or <3) symbol and a bright red colour, and it is known as the flushed quadrant.

 

Moirallegiance (♦)

If matespritship is passion, moirallegiance is stabilization. Moirails are emotional regulators for each other; they balance, calm, and keep the other from self-destruction. It’s a friendship with deep responsibility attached; almost like a soul-bond, but one built on caretaking instead of bodily desire. I find moirallegiance to be similar to platonic love between friends. Everybody has, or had, a homoerotic friendship threatening to cross the line of “just friends”, right? Right?

An example from popular media is Sam and Frodo from Lord of the Rings. They prove to be a classic moirallegiance-like pair as their bond is built on emotional grounding and taking care of one another, both mentally and physically. Sam’s entire role is to keep Frodo steady as the Ring corrodes him. He cooks for him, encourages him, carries him (literally), and pulls him out of despair whenever he spirals.

 Black Romance: Antagonistic, Rivalry-Based

Black romance (♠ and ♣) is built on negative emotions: rivalry, tension, and conflict. These aren't about harmony, they're about pushing boundaries and managing antagonism in productive (or at least stabilized) ways.

 

Kismesissitude (♠)

Here comes the famous hate-romance! For those who enjoy enemies to lovers dynamics, this quadrant is basically your cocaine. Kismesissitude is mutually charged animosity, two people who irritate each other so hard that it loops around into intimacy. Unlike normal human romance, it thrives on mutual antagonism, two people push each other’s buttons constantly; competing, teasing, and provoking one another, all while remaining emotionally invested. In a human context, it’s similar to frenemies or rival coworkers who respect each other deep down. What kismesissitude is NOT is a toxic relationship! Of course, as shown in the web comic, this quadrant can turn toxic, but in its core it’s based on mutual respect.

Here, I tried to find a mainstream example but, unfortunately, media often portrays this kind of relationship as primarily fuelled by hate, while kismesissitude drives each person to grow as their intense rivalry pushes them to be better. An example can be Dinesh Chugtai and Bertram Gilfoyle from the hit HBO show Silicon Valley. They are the textbook example of a kismesissitude pair because their relationship thrives on constant antagonism and snarky remarks. They insult and compete with each other relentlessly, yet beneath all that barb, they rely on and recognize one another’s skill, even if it’s never said aloud. It’s basically the concept of “hate as a connection.” You can see it here.

Kismesissitude is represented by the spade (♠ or <3<) symbol and a pitch black or “caliginous” colour, also known as the caliginous quadrant.

 

Auspisticism (♣)

The wildest quadrant so far… This is the hardest quadrant for non-Homestuckies to understand, because most people wouldn’t think to classify this as a type of relationship in the first place. Auspisticism is a form of mediated stability, one person steps in as a buffer between two others who are usually in a kismesissitude. It’s a half relationship, half conflict-diffusion ritual. It acknowledges a truth we rarely recognize, sometimes the emotional energy between two people needs a third to keep things from imploding.

An example from popular media can be C-3PO between R2-D2 (Star Wars) and everyone else. C-3PO practically lives in the ashen quadrant. He’s constantly stepping in to keep R2-D2 from making brash decisions or getting into fights with other characters. He interprets, interrupts, scolds and mediates whenever tension that dares to spark.

Auspisticism is represented by the club (♣ or o8<) symbol and an ashen grey colour also known as the “ashen quadrant.” 

 

 

Why Quadrants Are Actually Brilliant!

Before diving in, it’s important to understand that quadrants aren’t just a fancy way to describe polyamory! Each quadrant represents a distinct emotional dynamic, and your partners in different quadrants aren’t necessarily in a relationship with each other. For example, your kismesis and your matesprit might not interact at all. Quadrants break down the complex spectrum of feelings into separate categories rather than lumping everything into one messy relationship.

Quadrants just work because they reveal a truth about the complexity of human emotion, “love” is not simply a monolith. By splitting relationship functions into separate categories, Homestuck makes pre-established dynamics we choose to ignore more apparent. It captures the way queer communities treat emotions as interchangeable, customizable and non-hierarchical. Love isn’t just this or that, it is a whole range of emotions!

Blackrom resonates because many people already feel chemistry in rivalry, we as humans just lack a word for it. Auspisticism resonates because mediating friends’ drama is practically a rite of passage. Moirallegiance resonates because we understand the significance of someone who keeps us grounded, a relationship not driven by a romantic passion like a matesprit, but one as close; someone who balances us, supports us, and prevents us from spiralling, showing that deep emotional bonds don’t always have to be romantic. 

 

 

Closing Thoughts

The internet is brilliant at creating strange yet useful things, in this case an emotional language, and Homestuck’s quadrants are one of the clearest examples. What started as a piece of alien world building became a fandom-wide shorthand for feelings we’ve always had but never named. In giving a structure to the chaos of relationship dynamics, quadrants remind us that categorizing emotions isn’t limiting, it’s merely a tool for understanding them.

 

Fair warning!

I shall not be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential issues you may face after trying to acquire quadrants. I take no responsibility of the emotional damage this blog post may or may not cause.