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THE QUADRANT MEME.

Quadrants are the Alternian method of romance. Now though, whether you're a troll, human, robot, jello alien or other: you're suddenly experiencing some... feelings for someone else. Feelings that may be alien to you, may be comfortable, or may be utterly outrageous. The point here is: what are you going to do about it?

● post with your characters.
● go here and roll a number between 1 and 6.
● your character is suddenly overcome with one of the emotions outlined below for the person you're tagging.
● obviously since a lot of characters don't understand, recognize or even know of the existence of the quadrants they probably aren't going to call them that. the focus here are the feelings your character will be experiencing, and how they react to and interpret them is up to you!
● have fun!

one. ♥ matespritship.
flushed romance! this one is pretty straightforward! straight up parallel to human romance. they make your kokoro go doki doki, etc. you are suddenly as deep in the scarlet throes as one can be. you are basically in love with them. qurl, you be crushin' up a storm.

two. ♠ kismesissitude.

caliginous romance! is a romantic hatred that functions similarly to an arch nemesis dynamic. whoever this person is, you hate them so, so much. you loathe everything to do with them. you're compelled to oppose and compete with and undermine them at every opportunity. you want them to hate you just as much as you do them. this isn't just your run of the mill loathing. it's a rivalry. it's romantic. you want to punch them in the mouth and then you want to kiss it.

three. ♦ moirallegiance.
pale romance! being a conciliatory quadrant, this one doesn't entail physical attraction like the first two. the closest human concept to that of moirallegiance is a "soul mate". however there is more to it than that, a very specific relationship dynamic. moirallegiance involves the pacification of a dangerous partner, whether that danger is posed to everyone else or to themselves. for whatever reason, you either feel as though the other person tempers your more destructive or self destructive tendencies in a way no one else can -- or you feel the need to do just that for them.

four. ♣ auspisticism.
ashen romance! another conciliatory quadrant. this one involves three people, where one party mediates between two others in order to prevent their relationship from boiling over into caliginous territory (see above) and/or help stabilize particularly turbulent or unhealthy relationships. either your character thinks this person needs a middleman, they want a middleman, or they themselves want to be the middleman. either way, someone is doing some meddling here. optionally you can bring in a third player for this one!

five. ♥♠♦♣ vacillation.

feelings are tricky things and rarely are you able to fit them into clear cut little boxes. whether you're flip flopping between flushed and caliginous or flushed and ashen or caliginous and pale, your feelings don't appear to know what they're doing here! which quadrants you're vacillating in are entirely up to you. you can either roll for them or choose. the main thing here is you can't seem to decide on how you feel about this person.

six. ? wildcard.

choose your own! do whatever you like. this option is a blank check.

if my own summarized explanations of the relationship dynamics were not enough, there is a teal deer explanation here and a slightly less teal deer explanation on the mspa wiki.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ karkat likes rose. usually. he respects her intelligence and her competence, though he is pretty sure she is insane on some level (anyone who blows up their first gate and makes a contract with horrorterrors has to be insane) and she reminds him of kanaya in an infuriating sort of way. rose is his friend. a good friend.

a good friend who is really, really good at kissing when she isn't drunk. a good friend who was his first kiss. a good friend who can be incredibly disarming when she chooses to be genuine for three seconds rather than lace her approach with irony and sarcasm. a good friend who also makes him so angry at times he is speechless with it. a good friend who somehow knows how to push every one of his buttons until he is utterly beside himself with anger.

yeah. friendship.

he shifts uncomfortably across from her, glaring into his teacup and down at the laid open romance novel that sits beside it. a human romance novel. it isn't very good, to be honest, and the only reason he hasn't slammed it shut yet is because he's been kind of enjoying critiquing it into cinders with rose's help. he tore apart the relationship dynamics -- she, the writing itself. ]

So, in conclusion the chemistry between the lead pair is forced, dry, and utterly lacking in any believable romantic tension whatsoever. I can't believe this piece of trash even bothers calling itself a romance to begin with.

Romance is a personal affair, of course. What you perceive to be as romantic will most certainly differ from what the author perceives as romantic.

[He is right, though. The book is drivel. Exhausting to read, the narrative dry and lacking, while the characters themselves lacked any real development or substance. Bodies with names and that's it. She leans forwards and reaches to turn the page, her expression carefully neutral.

She glances up at him, eyebrow raised. Her mouth smiles. ]

What would you say would be the ideal traits for a successful romance, then?

I dunno, a little chemistry maybe? Actual genuine mutual sentiment? Anything beyond this? [ and he gestures at the book. ] This could pretty much be summarized with Person A meets Person B and then they make out a lot, The End. PS, it wasn't even good making out.

Ah, but this happens in reality every day.

[Rose chins a hand and closes the book over. ] You may find it boring, but it doesn't make it any less similar to reality.

gomen for this

5 (red/black)

i knew you loved me

did you ever doubt it

yes