Weekly Weird: Relationship with other Children & Aspects


Vivid asked: How would you describe your relationship with (each other Child)?


Ulic's Answers: 


Montage: While I'd say we're all very well-rounded in our interests, Montage is by far the closest to my own eclectic broadness of topics that interest me. Thusly, Montage and I can speak for literally days at time, which, admittedly is found to be somewhat taxing to others at times, ahaha


Rosin & Bahuh: Ro and I tend to either love each other or hate each other, and the mood changes with the direction of a wind, ahaha. This mostly stems from the fact that we're both academics at heart, and thus both have very strong opinions that can, and do change as more information comes to light on whatever subject matter is in contention. Bahuh tends to be a bit more diplomatic than Ro, but we still squabble similarly. Though none of us will directly admit it if pressed, I do believe we all enjoy the fervent debates. We also share a love of flying, and when we're not born to bodies that are capable of soaring on our own, we’ve collaborated on building machines or breeding animals to do so.


Rhean & Ra'vien: These two are far more well-read than I think the histories give them credit for– except maybe for Kubesh, who's extremely bookish, no matter what his followers try to depict him as. Anyway, I'm always having lively debates with Rhean, and Ra'vien is an absolutely vicious zenet player…to the point I can only play her when I'm up for a challenge and ready to be challenged, ahaha. Social games aside, though, these two will always be there if you need them, and are my first go-tos if there's ever a problem that I need hands on help fixing.


Beleskie & Mar'amie: Honestly, I don't think anyone dislikes these two. Both have a great interest in philosophy, sociology, and anthropology, and Marm and I have kept the most hilarious ongoing research thesis on the ever changing existence of vernacular 'slang words'-- it's about two thousand years running and just for fun we'll drop really old words back into circulation just to see what happens. It's hilarious.


Feator & Tp'aiwtt: Feator and I are probably the closest to each other out of our little circle of immortals, mostly because of the vast overlap in our Ways, but also simply because our personalities mesh together as well. I'm a touch more outspoken, but he and I ultimately are bookworms. We trade books and edit each other's papers, write letters and debate research findings and the best ways to apply new technologies and their impacts on the cultural zeitgeist. Basically we're two little spectacle-wearing peas in an academia pod, and we enjoy each other for it. Tp'aiwtt and I are more verbose, and as such are more prone to physically talking to each other, vs my relationship with Feator is more anchored in the written word.


The Red & Resolution: I enjoyed Conflict far more before he fell to maddess, I do admit it. But while I can empathize with the philosophical aspects of many modern Red Followers, the deeds done are physical, and those hurt are not thought experiments, but real people. Now, the thought of him just makes me sad. Resolution, I feel, she toes the line more often than not, and though I'll always do my best to keep her 'in the fold' as it were, there's always a bit of a trust issue there– as in the end it is only ego that can so thoroughly muddle Truth, and no one has so much ego as the Fallen Red, and he whispers forever in Resoultion's ear.


Desmoulein & Dy'mas: Medical research will always have a huge overlap in my Way, and because of this, Des and I will always have plenty to talk about and discuss. However, we have very different tastes in just about everything else – weather, heights, vegetables and spicy food… there is a reason we chose to settle on just about opposite ends of the Continent, I suppose. We enjoy teasing each other over these differences, though. Dy’mas enjoys slipping extra vegetables in my food when I’m unaware, and claiming it is for the good of my own health. And I enjoy tinkering with the temperature controls in his living quarters whenever the opportunity arises. The latest academic research shows cold weather immersion is good for health, after all. 


Kubesh & Ta'keni: While it's true I shall never be running through the woods with Kubesh on some fox-hunt nonsense, he and I do have our common grounds, and get along quite well. As I said earlier, he's quite more well-read than most realize, though I shall not do Ta'keni the disservice in saying he eclipses her in this– if anything the opposite is true. I'm admittedly more fond of Ta'keni as she is more cerebral as a whole, and is far more interested in the more traditional 'board games' than her twin flame. She's also a most affable player, and I take great enjoyment in the times we can manage to get in a new game. Kubesh, however, does bring with him his own fascinating topics of knowledge, and one we absolutely share is the evolution of combat technology and especially aerial tactics amid Okten and Tazu over the millennia. 


Turin & Imyi: I am very grateful that my neighbors to the north are such relentlessly practical folk – as is anyone who deals with death for long enough. I converse with them frequently, and enjoy their calm, practical manner of dealing with difficult things (as some of the other more emotional Children can be rather… overwhelming for my tastes, when dealing with matters of great urgency– I will always be a person of measured responses, not hastily launched fireballs.) Imyi’s insights and research into the mechanics of astral projection, and Veil sliding has proven to be a useful starting point for charm-researchers and inventors within my Way. But Turin begins his endless philosophizing on the philosophical nature of the Veil, that which separates mortal incarnation from immortal… well, let’s say I’m glad I’m that both of our Aspects are secret brewers of some of the best beer on the planet and are willing to share with me on occasion. Because while I may be the living Avatar of the Way of Truth, I’m far more interested in philosophizing about the living. Death is inevitable, but the Truth of this mortal realm is still out there, waiting to be found…. 


Bree & Bron: I do enjoy Bree and Bron, though sometimes their need for performative storytelling leads to creative decisions that, while delightful from an entertainment standpoint, skirt a touch too far from the truth. And while I'll always be an advocate for truth being tied to perspective and perception, some perspectives and perceptions must be weighed as to whether they do more harm than good. Sometimes Bree appreciates my concerns, and sometimes she calls me a 'party-pooper'. Overall, I'd much rather talk about charms.


Angani & Abyad: Angani is undoubtedly one of the most powerful representations of the power and purity of faith in Spirit, and Abyad is certainly one of the Continent's greatest defenders against the evil and corruption of the Red, and all the Sacrifice that must entail. Though I respect their own teachings greatly, I find their follower’s mentality  to be far too simplistic, far too binary. Either something is good, or it isn’t. I’d be tempted to call the Way’s approach childish, but I do not intend to malign the youth of Angani’s Incarnations. Old age is no guarantee of wisdom, certainly. To be clear, Angani’s bravery in facing death at twelve years of age, again and again, lifetime after lifetime, is deeply commendable. But I find that the more one seeks out the messy, unclear truths of life, the more you realize that most “purity” is an illusion. Admittedly, it is thus all the more commendable to find and preserve that which is truly pure. But of all the Children, we find ourselves at odds most often if simply because I am not a person with whom blind faith and blind sacrifice sits well. I am a person of facts, of measured data and reasoned philosophical debate– blind faith and the idea of sacrifice in the name of it is simply not my prerogative.



Cenon's Answers:


Montage: Montage has always had a bit of a better understanding of me than most of the other Children– I am, afterall, the Void of what is unknown, while Montage is the Way of All Ways– the entirety of existence. Ish is what I am, and yet my opposite at the same time, and we are matched together in our vastness and incomprehensibility. I sit easier with myself when I am around ish, as ish is one of the few who can fully 'see' me.


Rosin & Bahuh: Rosin and I honestly 'butt heads' a touch, though I do believe it to be more a sense of frustration on our parts, as we are very dynamically opposed representations of Spirit. She is magic, willpower over the divine spark, she is control and understanding over the forces that typically would not be– I am, the lack of control, the endless, the void of what isn't understood, of knowledge yet discovered and incomprehensible in my vastness. Personality wise, I am not one to sit and shape destiny to my desires, I am more fluid, more reactionary to what the world gives me. Bahuh is a touch softer than Ro, but he has a similar amount of befuddlement when it comes to me, I think.


Rhean & Ra'vien: It is easy to say Rhean and Ra'vien are like two sides of the same coin, but I find they are more inverts of each other in personality– Rhean, on the outside is all soft and sweet and affable, but at his core he is steel unmoving, strong and cold and tempered to flawless. Meanwhile, Ra'vien is the opposite– on the outside she is knives and sharpness and terror, but inside she is the softest of soft down, caring, affable, compassionate. I've found great comfort in both sides of them, and consider myself one of the lucky few who knows how to bring them out.


Beleskie & Mar'amie: I find the gossipy twittering of their followers to be incessantly irritating – live your own lives, you silly birds! Please stop trying to guess who is feathering who’s nest! But Bel and Mar themselves? Absolutely lovely gals. Beleskie is a veritable rose of compassion, the type of person who can truly sit with another in their pain, make space for their grief and extend loving sympathy without trying to fix the unfixable.This is the the side of love that is sometimes forgotten by her pink-feathered flock. Mar’amie understands the deeper foundations of things, the dark twisty places deep under the surface. She helps others see the hidden places of the heart and mind as a place of growth– the quiet nourishment feeding the roots of our beings, the secret work that is done alone, but without which, nothing blooms. These two have helped me through dark times… but I do not wish to speak more about those ordeals. 


Feator & Tp'aiwtt: Ulic and Feator get along famously, and thusly one would imagine Tp'aiwtt and I would as well. While this is true, we are quite different in personality, she is the living moment, existing without care of what is known or unknown, while I am the vast empty-but-not-empty of what isn't yet known. I'm quiet, contemplative, while she is louder, more boisterous and moving. Despite these differences, however, we are actually good compliments to each other, though I find we're better balanced when Imyi is also in attendance.


The Red & Resolution: The Red’s corruption is total and absolute. During the Fall, his followers attempted to use me in ways that broke my mind – not simply in that life, but in all lives. The damage to my hippocampus and parietal lobe follow me physically through each incarnation yet the bastards had the audacity to claim they were just helping me. They claimed I reached my “true form” only because Red, and the Way of Conflict helped me. This great falsehood is but one of the countless irredeemable lies of the Red. Resolution…. She helped me once. I owe her. No more than that, will I say.


Desmoulein & Dy'mas: Desmoulein, Spirit love her, is the type of healer who can not leave “well enough” alone. She pokes and prods– kindly, yes, with the intent to help, yes –  but her intense desire to fix things becomes vexatious with repeated exposure. Dy’mas… actually I appreciate his sense of humor. He often gets lumped in with Abyad as one of the “stoic, protective warrior” Aspects, but unlike the Pearl Phoenix, Dy’mas is actually a real hoot to be around. He’s usually got great comedic timing, and was actually pranking the other Children for lifetimes, and letting Rhean take the blame, before we all caught onto his games. “Laughter in the best medicine” as he likes to remind the victims/audience. I aid his hijinks whenever I can… nobody expects it from me, and I enjoy watching how the other react.  


Kubesh & Ta'keni: Every problem looks like a bloody nail, when viewed by Ki’ra with a war-hammer, and our brother in Spirit is no exception to this saying, even when he is born in human form. But where we may disagree in methods of problem solving, I appreciate the Child of Strength for his kind heart and truly generous manner. Whenever we visit our neighbors to the East, Ulic and Ta’keni can fill a room with their lively debates, board games and banter, leaving the old fur-bag and I to sip our ciders in companionable quiet. It is…nice.


Turin & Imyi: Turin and I both understand the Great Unknown that is death, for even though so many mediums and spirits and such speak to those living about how the afterlife works, the true vastness that is the nature of Spirit is beyond what a living brain can possibly comprehend. Thus, so much of Turin's realm falls into mine– that of what we don't know we don't know. We're both soft spoken about this, and have a gentle hand when it comes to people, and so, we get along well for it. However, as Turin's closest friend is probably (and surprising to many) Dy'mas, my closest confidant is most certainly Imyi. There's something about how we don't seem as if we should get along, life and the void, that somehow works, and oddly enough it works in a way that is not easily explained or comprehended– it's a friendship unknown, and somehow perfectly fitting.


Bree & Bron: Bree once told me I was the space between the notes played, and thus the most important part of the song, as that's where the emotions had the space to live– in the breaths and heartbeats between. I never underestimate her after that. Bree and Bron tend to have a 'fun younger sibling' place amid the Twelve, but I always treat them with more reverence, as they both have deeper understanding and influence than most readily realize.


Angani & Abyad: Ulic’s impatience with the Way of Purity is a bit infamous. Let me guess – he made some eloquent equivocations, praising their bravery but notably not their brains? Yes, I thought he’d put on a good face for you all to see. He gets along fine with Angani and Abyad themselves, but their Way and their followers are such a source of great irritation. He doesn’t like to admit to such illogical, irrational personal distaste. You see, Ulic is not wrong that purity is a rare thing in life, but he is wrong to ignore the Way of Purity as a whole. I have seen the Void in Angani’s eyes…she knows it the way I know it. It is hard to put into words. So I do my best to smooth ruffled feathers where I can.