NO, not these trolls
These trolls:
The trolls not only look drastically different from humans, but also live in a very different culture. There are overarching similarities between human and troll culture but this post is focusing on the differences so I'm not going to get into that.
One of the most confusing differences between human and troll culture is the trollian understanding of relationships. To humans we really only care about romantic relationships (yeah, platonic relationships are super important too but bare with me). To the trolls, there are two different types of romance: red romance and black romance. Within these two types of romance, there are four different relationships. These four relationships are called the quadrants and are symbolized as the four playing card suits.
The first quadrant, the red (aka flushed) heart, is the quadrant that we humans understand most. When a troll has "red" feelings for another it means that that troll would like to date that person. A red relationship is called a "matespritship" and one's partner would be called their "matesprit." Within a matespritship, the two trolls would act like any other human couple and could potentially reproduce.
The second quadrant is the pale diamond. When a troll has "pale" feelings for another, it means that that troll would very much like to help that person through their problems, calm them down, and be their friend (although trolls do not actually understand the human ideal of "friendship"). A pale relationship is called a moiraillegience and one's partner would be called their "palemate" or their "moirail." The pale quadrant is very close to the human understanding of platonic friendship but the relationship is much stronger and deeper than any human friendship.
The third quadrant is the black (aka caliginous) spade. When a troll harbors "black" feelings towards another, it means that that troll has a strong hatred for that person. The relationship, called a kismesissitude, can only be considered a real relationship when both parties exhibit the same hatred for the other. One's partner in a kismesisstude is called their "kismesis". This type of relationship is similar to human rivalry but is felt much deeper as in a kismesisstude, reproduction is not uncommon.
The last quadrant is the ashen club. If there are two trolls who are in a harmful relationship (usually red or black), a third party may harbor "gray" feelings in which they would want to step in and mediate the relationship and give each party advice on how to continue into a less harmful relationship. This relationship between the three parties is called "auspiticism." The third party that steps in is called an "auspistice."
In troll philoshy, each quadrant must be filled in order for a troll to live a healthy and happy life.
The relationships can lead to break-ups just like human relationships but in troll culture, trolls may find that their feelings for each other shift from one quadrant to another. This is called vacillation. For example, a troll might enter into a kismesisstude with another troll.
One party might start to have red feelings for their kismesis. Their kismesisstude would eventually vacillate into a matespritship. As one troll vacillates, their partner would normally follow just to keep the balance. Here's a gif of it:
So yeah, I think that about does it for troll romance. I always find it fun to try and apply troll romance to my own relationships. Are your quadrants filled?
-René
