I am a hardcore Epilogues defender - if nothing else they are the bridge from what Homestuck used to be to what Homestuck is right now. It's an off ramp, and it's fine if you don't like it, but it is capital H Homestuck. So much of what I hear about it is, to quote you "I suddenly feel oddly validated for not finishing a single page of the epilogues. What I had understood of them via osmosis from others who had... suffice to say they so soured me on Homestuck content" and like, you didn't finish a single page and already have an opinion! That isn't how you judge media! I read it straight off of Homestuck and loved it, it was a mature response to the frustrations I had with Homestuck itself. But so much of the way people approach it is so poisoned.

I will say if you wanna get into Homestuck - and Beyond Canon is Homestuck right now - you need to read the Epilogues. They aren't written to be liked, so not liking them is fine. And then 2/BC is a reaction to the necessary mess the Epilogues made - not fixing the mess but engaging with it.