Glub 010 // Video

[cull_means_care]

[Feferi's looking glum and more than a little worried]Mansion, what do you do when you need someone to hate, but there's no-one you can think of that you dislike enough to even think of hating? I'm in the mood for something black but it's hard when everyone's so fintastic and lovely. It's actually rather frustrating, truth be told

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[video]

[like_tofu]

[Rise had been hearing some terminology around the network, but didn't quite grasp all of them or their meanings. She decided to ask about them from someone who probably had a better idea about them than she did.]

Quadrants? Aus--what? You know what's going on around here?

[And funny, she did think she needed to find someone to hate, and she thought she might have already with a certain new arrival, but really didn't want to think about it. She would ask about that later.]

[video]

[cull_means_care]

[Oh new person! Feferi's intrigued but fair's fair. She was asked some questions so it's polite to help]

I think I have an idea. I didn't realise humans understood the facets of troll romance but everyone seems to be really chasing the quadrants lately.

But before we go any further, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Feferi Peixes, former abdicated heiress to the Alternian throne before I was brought here.

[video]

[like_tofu]

[Rise was still a bit confused, but this person (troll?) seemed nice enough. She knew about other worlds, so talking to Feferi was proof that those other worlds did exist out there somewhere.]

Oooh, an heiress? For real? Abdicated or not, that's still cool! I'm Rise Kujikawa! It's really nice to meet you!

So all this stuff is based off your world? And it's really all about romance?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Yes. If Alternia hadn't been destroyed, I was due to eventually become Empress. But sometimes these things happen so it's best to go with the flow. And it's nice to meet you too Rise.

Yes. It's confusing to humans, but troll romance is grounded in pity and hate, which we also refer to as red and black romance. It is also divided into the quadrants required for matings and the ones which aren't. Perhaps if you have any specific questions that might be better than me trying to explain everything in one go.

[video]

[like_tofu]

[Rise listened carefully, trying to commit everything to memory. It was all new and rather interesting, and she hadn't even considered that her emotions or feelings were being manipulated by some event. It hadn't really bothered her at the moment.]

Still cool! It's like doing interviews for the press, except I get to be the one asking questions this time!

Um, so let's start with the quadrants! There are four parts to your idea of romance?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Oh? Well we might as well make this fun, right?

Yes, there are four parts. As I said, they are divided into pity or red quadrants and hate or black quadrants, as well as being divided into concupiscent and concilliatory quadrants - those for mating and those which are more platonic. All trolls are required to fill all four, although only the concupiscent quadrants are necessary to avoid being culled.

[video]

[like_tofu]

[Whoa, big words. Rise got a pen and some paper and wrote down some words since there was no way she was going to remember that later on. And it did make her feel more like a reporter, which was a nice twist. But that last part had her a little worried.]

Culled? You mean something bad happens if you don't fill those quadrants? But why?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Yes. All trolls are expected to contribute to the reproductive rituals through concupiscence with both their matesprit on the pity side and kismesis on the hate side and submitting genetic material to the filial pails. Otherwise our race would not be able to continue.

[video]

[like_tofu]

[That's a crystal clear explanation despite how foreign or alien it sounded.]

You still call it "romance" but you use "pity" instead of love? That's not the same thing for you guys, is it?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Love is a human concept. The closest quadrant we have to your human idea of love is matespritship which, yes, is grounded in pity.

[video]

[like_tofu]

But is it kinda the same idea? You care a lot about that other person, look out for them, things like that?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Yes, that's about right. Really I suppose human love is a mix of our two red quadrants when you put it like that but most seem to understand when we compare matespritship to human romance.

[video]

[like_tofu]

I think I get it now! I never thought about how other people viewed love and friendship and relationships. It's interesting!

Oh, oh, I got one more question! What's the "auspistice" thing you mentioned before?

[video]

[cull_means_care]

It is! You should talk to Nepeta. Or Karkat. They know a lot more about our romance than I do and I'm sure they'd be happy to go into more detail if you wanted.

Auspistice? Oh, that's the ashen quadrant, one of the hate relationships. It's where one troll mediates for two others either because they're at risk of committing black infidelity or because they're likely to destroy each other if left unchecked.

[video]

[like_tofu]

Oh, are they your friends from your world? Yeah, I'll go ask them when I see them! What're they like?

You only have four quadrants, but it can get really complicated, so much that you need a mediator? Wow... but you got that covered if something goes wrong!

[video]

[cull_means_care]

Yes, they are. Nepeta types in green, her horns look a little like pouncebeast ears and she takes a lot of interest in the quadrants. She's very easy to get on with so I'm sure you'll like her.

As for Karkat...he can come across as grouchy at first. He yells a lot even when he's typing and he has little nubby horns. He'll probably mention how he's the leader because he likes to remind people of that...but he's really good at dealing with relationship stuff. Probably because of all the movies he watches.