READ_THIS_BITCHES.doc (1.0)
((OOC: This is ICly written in Karkat's usual font -- Courier, grey, all caps.
It's written out normally mostly as a courtesy to players who didn't want trolltext, and also because grey on this background is probably a sin.
This is so not required reading. Karkat doesn't mind explaining things in better detail no matter how much he complains while he's doing it, so feel free to skim this (or skip it) and ask him your questions directly!))
Ok, if you're reading this thing, it means you asked about the four romantic quadrants as explained by a troll who knows what the fuck's up. This is one seriously important aspect of troll culture, and I don't want to hear any bitching or "Oh my god, Karkat, I don't have the thinkpan power necessary to read all these amazing words" because I'm not even sending this shit out unless you asked first! Save your questions until you've read it all. I plan to make this thing in-depth as hell, so whatever you were about to waste my time with is probably in here already. If you read it all the way through and somehow still don't get something, then ask me. I guess I won't mind.
I'm going to be referring to that chart a lot, so get used to it. That's a visual representation of our quadrants: flushed, represented by the <3 symbol, caliginous by <3<, pale by <>, and ashen by c3<. And yeah I know that last one looks stupid, I'm trying to make do with a fucking keyboard here so seal up your stinking word tube and deal with it.
So just like it says, flushed and caliginous are the concupiscent quadrants, representing the two relationships that will eventually lead to reproduction.
On the other prong, pale and ashen make up the conciliatory side. They're still considered romantic and exclusive by our standards, but it's not quite the same. The feelings in them still run deep, but they're not quite as dramatic. No offspring will come from these relationships.
As for the other division, top and bottom, flushed and pale are grouped together as redrom, or red romance. That means they're couched in softer, more positive feelings. Humans seem to be pretty good at this shit already, so we'll focus more on the other half.
Caliginous and ashen both represent blackrom, or black romance. They're relationships based on hate. Trolls are a lot different from the rest of you assholes, we apparently have a wider emotional range or something, and we're capable of being involved with someone this way without it being unhealthy or abusive. In fact, where we're from, blackrom isn't just encouraged, it's fucking essential.
The flushed quadrant, or matespritship, is universal enough that I'm going to skip the explanation unless you really need the details. Odds are it's the same concept your species uses to identify romance.
The caliginous quadrant, or kismesissitude, is hard to explain to someone who's not from a culture where blackrom happens. A kismesis is an enemy, an arch-rival, and an important romantic partner. It's not just an intense dislike, this quadrant deals with boiling pitch-black hatred so profound you can't stop thinking about them or plotting their downfall. They're someone you hold so much contempt for in your vascular organ that somehow not having them in your life is more painful than when they're there. I know you're probably rolling your eyes or making a face right now, and fuck you for that. This is romantic as hell.
The pale quadrant represents moirallegience, which doesn't seem to have a human equivalent. The whole concept hinges on the fact that for every troll who's a psychotic asshole bulge-to-the-wall rage addict, there's a calmer troll who's less shitty to be around. The attraction between them will be almost instinctual, and if it's right, they compliment each other's personalities. The two of them then balance each other out. The idiot comes to trust in their moirail's judgment and learns how to act, and the nicer one becomes stronger from dealing with the idiot, and it makes them both better partners for their other relationships. Like a yin and yang sort of thing, if that concept means anything to you.
Don't get confused here, this relationship is still considered romance from our perspective, and the bond between moirails is deeper than any simple friendship. You can have a shitload of friends, or even more than one best friend, but you only get one moirail. They're like your safety net, or sometimes they act like a second guardian.
That just leaves c3< in the ashen quadrant. All right, this one's tricky because it involves three trolls. And no, that doesn't mean it's a damn threesome! Auspisticing refers to mediating between potential kismeses. I don't know if you've noticed, but trolls are a pretty volatile race of jackasses. It's just our nature to aggress all the time, but not every fuckup or argument needs to turn into some misguided long-term grudge, and that's why we need auspistices. If we didn't have them, there'd be widespread black infidelity. Fights and crossfire and fucking murder in the streets. Rivers running a fucking rainbow of blood. It'd be kind of awesome, but you can't run a society like that. Trolls are going to argue and fight, and it's the auspistice's job to try to settle the argument if they can, and that way the weaker feelings of hate die off and make way for the real rivals, I'm talking about the pair of hopeless kismeses who absolutely won't stop until one of them lies bleeding in a ditch somewhere.
I guess that's about it. It gets more complicated than that, but those are things I can explain on a case-by-case basis. I don't have time to detail everything that can go wrong with troll romance here, dammit, I'm kind of a busy guy!
It's written out normally mostly as a courtesy to players who didn't want trolltext, and also because grey on this background is probably a sin.
This is so not required reading. Karkat doesn't mind explaining things in better detail no matter how much he complains while he's doing it, so feel free to skim this (or skip it) and ask him your questions directly!))
Ok, if you're reading this thing, it means you asked about the four romantic quadrants as explained by a troll who knows what the fuck's up. This is one seriously important aspect of troll culture, and I don't want to hear any bitching or "Oh my god, Karkat, I don't have the thinkpan power necessary to read all these amazing words" because I'm not even sending this shit out unless you asked first! Save your questions until you've read it all. I plan to make this thing in-depth as hell, so whatever you were about to waste my time with is probably in here already. If you read it all the way through and somehow still don't get something, then ask me. I guess I won't mind.
I'm going to be referring to that chart a lot, so get used to it. That's a visual representation of our quadrants: flushed, represented by the <3 symbol, caliginous by <3<, pale by <>, and ashen by c3<. And yeah I know that last one looks stupid, I'm trying to make do with a fucking keyboard here so seal up your stinking word tube and deal with it.
So just like it says, flushed and caliginous are the concupiscent quadrants, representing the two relationships that will eventually lead to reproduction.
On the other prong, pale and ashen make up the conciliatory side. They're still considered romantic and exclusive by our standards, but it's not quite the same. The feelings in them still run deep, but they're not quite as dramatic. No offspring will come from these relationships.
As for the other division, top and bottom, flushed and pale are grouped together as redrom, or red romance. That means they're couched in softer, more positive feelings. Humans seem to be pretty good at this shit already, so we'll focus more on the other half.
Caliginous and ashen both represent blackrom, or black romance. They're relationships based on hate. Trolls are a lot different from the rest of you assholes, we apparently have a wider emotional range or something, and we're capable of being involved with someone this way without it being unhealthy or abusive. In fact, where we're from, blackrom isn't just encouraged, it's fucking essential.
The flushed quadrant, or matespritship, is universal enough that I'm going to skip the explanation unless you really need the details. Odds are it's the same concept your species uses to identify romance.
The caliginous quadrant, or kismesissitude, is hard to explain to someone who's not from a culture where blackrom happens. A kismesis is an enemy, an arch-rival, and an important romantic partner. It's not just an intense dislike, this quadrant deals with boiling pitch-black hatred so profound you can't stop thinking about them or plotting their downfall. They're someone you hold so much contempt for in your vascular organ that somehow not having them in your life is more painful than when they're there. I know you're probably rolling your eyes or making a face right now, and fuck you for that. This is romantic as hell.
The pale quadrant represents moirallegience, which doesn't seem to have a human equivalent. The whole concept hinges on the fact that for every troll who's a psychotic asshole bulge-to-the-wall rage addict, there's a calmer troll who's less shitty to be around. The attraction between them will be almost instinctual, and if it's right, they compliment each other's personalities. The two of them then balance each other out. The idiot comes to trust in their moirail's judgment and learns how to act, and the nicer one becomes stronger from dealing with the idiot, and it makes them both better partners for their other relationships. Like a yin and yang sort of thing, if that concept means anything to you.
Don't get confused here, this relationship is still considered romance from our perspective, and the bond between moirails is deeper than any simple friendship. You can have a shitload of friends, or even more than one best friend, but you only get one moirail. They're like your safety net, or sometimes they act like a second guardian.
That just leaves c3< in the ashen quadrant. All right, this one's tricky because it involves three trolls. And no, that doesn't mean it's a damn threesome! Auspisticing refers to mediating between potential kismeses. I don't know if you've noticed, but trolls are a pretty volatile race of jackasses. It's just our nature to aggress all the time, but not every fuckup or argument needs to turn into some misguided long-term grudge, and that's why we need auspistices. If we didn't have them, there'd be widespread black infidelity. Fights and crossfire and fucking murder in the streets. Rivers running a fucking rainbow of blood. It'd be kind of awesome, but you can't run a society like that. Trolls are going to argue and fight, and it's the auspistice's job to try to settle the argument if they can, and that way the weaker feelings of hate die off and make way for the real rivals, I'm talking about the pair of hopeless kismeses who absolutely won't stop until one of them lies bleeding in a ditch somewhere.
I guess that's about it. It gets more complicated than that, but those are things I can explain on a case-by-case basis. I don't have time to detail everything that can go wrong with troll romance here, dammit, I'm kind of a busy guy!