Matespritic

Matespritic or flushed attraction is a type of attraction in the Quadrant System originating from famous webcomic Homestuck. Matespritic's closest analogue is romantic attraction, especially when tied to sexual attraction. The flushed quadrant is represented by the ♥ symbol, or in plain text, <3.

A matespritic relationship is referred to as a matespritship, and the person that one is in a matespritship with is one's matesprit.

Etymology
A portmanteau of "mate" and "esprit" (French for spirit), to have a similar meaning to "soulmate."

Pronunciation
/may-sprih-tick/

Definitions

 * RED ROMANCE, comprised of the flushed and pale quadrants, is a form of romance rooted in strongly positive emotions. ... Matespritship is the closest parallel to the human concept of romance trolls have. It plays a role in the trolls' reproductive cycle, just as it does for humans. - Andrew Hussie, 2010
 * An attraction very similar to our current definition of Romantic Attraction. Characterised by feelings of romantic love, and / or sexual attraction. Some gestures of Flushed affection may include hugs, kisses, and sex. Some people may view Flushed attraction and Romantic / Sexual attraction as one and the same. - mx-princey, 2020

In the original comic, a person may only have one matesprit, though real-life users of the term may have multiple matesprits.

History
The quadrant system was first introduced in famous webcomic Homestuck by Andrew Hussie on August 10 2010. In the comic, the quadrant system refers to the types of romance experienced by trolls. While humans only have one form of romance, trolls experience four; matespiritship (the flushed quadrant), moirallegience (the pale quadrant), kismesissitude (the pitch quadrant), and auspisticism (the ashen quadrant).

Although people have used quadrant romance to describe relationships since Homestuck introduced it, mx-princey on Tumblr formalized the terminology on 25 May 2020 for ease of use. In this post, they also coined flags for the four quadrants, and in a post shared details on matespritic attraction and bonus flags.

Subsets

 * Homomatespritic
 * Amatespritic
 * Demimatespritic
 * Flushed Polyamory

For a comprehensive list, see Category:Matespritic