caughtinanetwork | Quest ♆ oo1 [video]

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Quest ♆ oo1 [video]

[Percy looks tired. He's in his pajamas and drinking milk at the counter in his kitchen.]

Hey, people of Vatheon. I figure it's about time I introduced myself on here. So far I've met some really cool people, and it's helping me get my bearings in this strange new place.

[He takes a swig of the milk, then wipes away a milk mustache with his sleeve. So classy.]

So anyway. I'm Percy Jackson. Been here a couple weeks now.

[His smile fades.]

I haven't been sleeping well. Anyone have any tips?

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Polyamorous?

[For such a simple form of romance, humans sure have a lot of words about it.]

Pity makes up half our emotional spectrum; hate is the other half. All other feelings can be classified as permutations of those two, so of course pity is equated with love. Consider also that we would generally cull the weak members of our species for about any reason you can think of. Genetic defects, disabilities, mutations, diseases, or whatever else, to say nothing of generally fucking up in a social sense. Basically, you have to watch yourself closely, or else you'll end up dead. If you actually care about someone enough to want them in a positive quadrant with you, then of course you're taking pity on them - what else would you call it when their flaws don't disgust you?

[ Thoughtful nodding, lots of it. ] ...when you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. Generally we'd call it tolerance, I guess? But pity definitely seems apt for you guys.

Oh, poly, meaning more than one, and amorous, meaning pertaining to love. It's how humans describe having more than one consenting love partner at a time. Generally we pair-bond at keep it at that but rarely people will live in happy relationships of more than two people.

--Oh, that. I've heard of that. A few of my friends have or have had that kind of thing before. Like, my one best friend had two matesprits for a while, and it sounds weird to me personally, but if they're happy then fine for them.

Obviously I can't see quadrants from a human perspective, nor do I particularly want to, but I'll put it this way. A troll is generally loyal and devoted to the partner they have for a quadrant. Auspisticism is kind of different, as I already explained. It's not a thing of having a lot of partners; it's having whoever in whichever quadrants you have currently occupied. When you get more than the usual number for a specific one, that's when it stands out, for us.

Huh. That makes sense. [ Annabeth looks thoughtful. ] I mean, a... moirail, was it? Seems quite close to having what we call a best friend or a sibling, and best friends don't tend to get jealous of lovers. ...mostly, anyway. We just don't formalise it into a proper love relationship like you do. But then I can see how, with the way you breed, that you'd need to have a formal sibling-like relationship declared.

I'm fascinated with this concept of blackrom though. Do you have blackrom partners here in Vatheon? You can tell me to butt out if you want.

Why do you humans always get that wrong? It's not a sibling relationship, and it's not best friends. We're basically all related somehow, anyway, so siblings is a moot point. The closest we even get to relatives is our concept of ancestors, barring one specific case.

But look--I was best friends with my moirail before we got into that quadrant, and I can tell you it is way different. You hang out with your friend, you talk to them, you call them on being a moron, sure, but it's not the same. A moirail is like--if your best friend does some stupid shit, you don't go in after him to pacify him and stop him, you just tell him what a dumbass he was after the fact, but you go after a moirail. You talk about deeper things, important stuff, and they help you sort it out. They're meant to balance you, too, and calm you down when you need it. It's not just someone you like to hang out with; it's a matter of deep, devoted pity. This feeling of, I understand why you're such a careening fuckwad at life, now let me help fix it. Do you understand?

[Pause.]

And no, you may not ask about my black quadrants.

Because people often learn by associating things to their own frame of reference. In human society that's obviously as close as we're going to get to moirails, so I think you're just gonna have to deal with that comparison often cropping up when you try to explain this in future.

And yes. Now that you've corrected me oh so delicately on my getting something wrong after a mere ten minute lecture on what I actually think are remarkable and intricate complexities of your culture, I'll remember it in future.

[Association? As close as--? Deal with it? Karkat's expression turns quite flat, for a moment.]

[Then it animates.]

Oh, I'm so fucking sorry that I wasn't delicate enough in correcting your fragile, human sensibilities! Horrorterrors forbid I set the record straight on relationships that aren't analogous in the least, because the last thing we want here is the prevention of cultural misunderstandings! Surely if I yank my head out of my ass, which is the only place it could have been, I'll be able to see with eyes unclouded by the shit I've spewed that best friends and human siblings are a perfect match for a defined relationship from a culture where our concept of best friends is entirely separate from moirallegiance and we don't even have traditional earth siblings. Thank you, oh wise ass human foreigner, for educating me on my own culture! I've only spent these seven sweeps of my life trying to learn the intricacies of our considerably more complicated system of romance as best as I can, which is nothing next to a human who just had it explained to her ten minutes ago.

Do you want me to bow in deference, or would dancing a lively jig of pantswetting shame suffice, oh wise one?

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Quest ♆ oo1 [video]

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