4th ♌ [Video//Commentlog] Updating the Shipping Wall
[On the northern wall of the barracks, someone has been scrawling. From time to time - in between fetching fresh supplies - she can still be found there, painting away. Pair after pair of small stick figures has been matched up, each with a symbol between them: hearts, diamonds, spades or clubs
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Whoa.
That is a -lot- of scribbling. Painting. Whatever it is she's doing.
Riku slowly approaches the troll girl, taking in the entire mural as he does. His hood is down--so far nobody here has wanted to attack him on sight, so he figures he's likely safe--so it shouldn't be too difficult for Nepeta to know who she's talking to. Kind of.
After a moment of bemused staring, Riku finally speaks.]
Who all are these supposed to represent?
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Without turning, she answers Riku.]
They're the people of the keep, see?
[And she points out some of the more easily recognizable ones - Kevas, Sollux and Isabella.]
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Yeah, I see.
Who are these two?
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She's not sure about a lot of these ships. A lot of them are pure speculation. But she isn't going to waste an opportunity to find out more.]
Perhaps it's you.
I think perhaps this girl has a matesprit and a moirail here and both of them look like this.
[She points first to Kairi and then to the silver-haired figure next to her.]
But I'm not positive which is which.
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I think I can guess who the other one is. What's a moirail?
[He figures he can probably guess what a matesprit is.]
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It's a soul mate. A person who compliments you perfectly... But that you don't have mating fondness for!
[That is very important! Kissing her moirail would be gross.]
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...he'll deal with this later.]
Generally when humans talk about soulmates, we mean someone you do have... mating fondness for.
What you're describing sounds more to me like a best friend.
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I have a best friend. We play fun pretend games and pretend to flirt but she isn't my matesprit and she isn't my moirail.
My moirail is the one I get permission from before trying anything fris- I mean risky. I make him talk about his feelings even when he doesn't want to, so he doesn't do something terrible and hurt people.
[Is there any possible way to make humans understand moirallegiance?]
He's more than my friend. But I'm not attracted to him as a mate.
[She pulls a face. Equius is so stinky and sweaty, even the thought is gross.]
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I think I understand.
[Except not at all. But getting into an hours-long discussion and debate over what it means is nooooot what Riku really wants to spend his time on today.]
So what do the symbols mean?
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The hearts are for matesprits. They're fated lovers. They share mating fondness.
Diamonds are for moirails. They're soul mates or complimentary halves. They balance one another.
[She pauses. If he didn't understand the first two, he's definitely not going to understand black romance.]
The spades are for kismeses. They're fated enemies. They share mating unfondness or bitter, potent rivalry. And the clubs are for auspistices. That's when a third person meddles between two enemies to keep their hate from turning into true kismesissitude, or to keep them from killing each other.
See now?
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Surprisingly enough, the black romances make sense to Riku. ...kind of. Maybe. That is to say, the kismesis part does.]
So spades means someone you're fated to fight against forever? Someth--someone you want to destroy?
[Then again, describing it as rivalry makes it sound like something else entirely... but she's already shown that trolls use terms for different scenarios than humans do, what with the soulmate thing.]
And clubs... is where somebody else gets between two people to keep them from becoming enemies like spades?
[He's sticking to card suits, thank you. This is confusing enough without trying to introduce the formal terms into the mix.]
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[She frowns.]
If you destroy your kismesis, you won't have one any more. You are fated to fight them forever but not to destroy them.
[And then she nods.]
But that is an auspistice! Yes!
Do you perhaps know people who fit those quadrants?
[She hasn't really shipped Riku in blackrom yet.]
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[He was totally thinking of Ansem and his influence over Riku's own darkness with that. But he plans to one day destroy Ansem outright.]
Maybe. I don't really know.
[Or, y'know, he just doesn't really want to talk about it.]
Is it possible to have one person in more than one quadrant?
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[She looks momentarily shocked and appalled by the idea! But then she relents. And glances aside.]
... Yes.
Everyone has one true pairing for every quadrant. There is supposed to be four people out there who each fit into one of your quadrants perfectly.
But it's so hard to tell when you've met one of your true pairings and which quadrant they are perfect for that a lot of the time people make mistakes and their matesprit might become their moirail or even their kismesis!
It's very perplexing.
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[And she grins brightly.]
You only have one quadrant! Love. It's very precise. Either you love someone, or you don't! There is no different way of loving someone.
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