Radio; voice;

[weirdnecro]

Hello and welcome to another episode of Undertaking with Undertown! As always, I am your host, Sokie Undertown, and today, we’re having a very special episode. Not just because of the topic, but because for the first time, we have guests on the show.

Guests, please introduce yourselves.

[ Dead air. On the tail end of a few uncomfortable seconds, a sharp inhale. ]

I’m shocked we’re your first! How, uhm, how is everyone? Feeling well?— I’m Paloma. Sokie was, is, my first Bonded. Here with us is...

[ Cue joins a lively male voice, a teasing lilt to his voice ]

Yo! Name's Cú, though I've been also going by Caster for a while. Sokie's been a dear friend of mine, ever since she broke into my house on her first day here. [ The tone suggests he’s surely? joking?? ] It’s truly an honor to be here today with this incredible company

[Thankfully Sokie laughs. Clearly it’s a joke! It...actually happened but...that’s a Story for later.]

As you can tell, I have very charming company, maybe too charming. But we’ll try not to get too distracted. Especially since we have a very important topic to cover today. And that topic is...bonds!

[ For once Cu’s voice become a little more serious — the light tone is still present somewhere, but subdued ]

Majority of us are unfamiliar with those kinds of...well, contracts. Add urgent necessity in forming them and you get an explosive mix. How people deal with it, changes from person to person— perhaps it's not being talked about enough.

[When Sokie speaks, her voice is calmer, more soothing. Like Cu, she’s taking this seriously.]

And we do need to talk about it. While there are ways to delay the effects, the fact is-we need each other to survive. Witches make too much magic to handle on our own. And monsters...the fact is you need magic to stay sane.

Exactly! [ Nerve to pipe up once more: mustered. ] And the emotional component is wonderful, sometimes, but we’re sharing our innermost selves, and that can be… frightening, even when you want to take that step. If you don’t feel ready to connect your soul to someone else’s, if it’s too much, too soon, you’re not alone in it. Please, ask what you need to ask. I can’t pretend to be as familiar with the technicalities as Cú and Sokie; I can only offer some perspective, or hope to.

And that’s where you, dear listeners come into the picture— er, radio [ Cú quickly corrects himself ] As you can hear, Paloma is ready to take all kind of questions from the audience.

Don’t! No, that’s a lie.


[ooc: Sokie is green, Cu is blue, and Paloma is purple! Any one or all three may answer questions. Since this is a live transmission, they'll only have voice, while the audience can text, video, or voice chat, as par usual.]

Comments

[stopfen]

Very reassuring when someone with a bond says it's frightening.

[Did the sarcasm carry over text? But she hadn't heard anyone say the soul connection part before, the likeness' to marriage with feelings being shared through it was bad enough.]

voice

[gehennawind]

Two bonds— but I get what you mean. Frightening is just one thing taking the step can be, not what it has to be. It was frightening for me because I wanted it, so badly, and I was afraid that they would reject it after they knew me better than anyone.

D’you have one?

[stopfen]

I don't.

Aren't they pretty much stuck then. I don't think the coven would let someone break it off so soon.

[can't relate to that reason]

[weirdnecro]

It's also very much a "We've been in your shoes", bit.

I did spend awhile resisting myself.

[stopfen]

For how long?

[And Sokie was probably going to get another message later. Because she already knew people could see this.]

text, un: filament

[omnicrafter]

We know too many can hurt us; how about too few? Is there any true consequence for not Bonding within a set period of time? Or if you lose your Bonds? Has anyone even gone that long without one yet to find out?

[weirdnecro]

Ah, dear listener, that's tricky.

I haven't tried to go to the full limits of explosions! That's what they say will happen to witches and such.

For monsters, you're more likely to see their sanity start to slip as they become more feral- and during the full moon, especially. That's when you learn of people attacking others in all sorts of ways. Pretty nasty.

As for a bond breaking, I've only had it when someone returned to the mirror. It felt...it felt as if my heart has been broken, some time ago.

[omnicrafter]

An explosion? Truly? I knew about the monsters' sanity degrading, as I am one myself, but that a witch should overload on their own magic...

It's no easier even when you break it voluntarily, believe me. The physical toll may be a bit easier, and yet I find filling the space again is proving an ordeal.

text

[petcromancer]

i have heard bonds involve a sharing of emotions and memories. is there a way to...not do that?

[weirdnecro]

Oh, certainly. It takes a bit of practice, since I find that it takes a certain state of mind to keep detached.

Having an idea of your emotional state isn't a bad thing. There's a reason why Wilders use bonds, even temporarily.

[petcromancer]

can that be learned before you have a bond?

un: gioia.

[trouvaille]

It all just sounds like a more formal and less hereditary version of what I've been cut off from.

[weirdnecro]

It may be, depending on what it is. It's really in how you treat it.

[trouvaille]

'Hypothetically', at this point.

( she's been here a while, so that is what it is. )

But my bloodline has a—it's kind of empathic, kind of psychic thing. Not telepathic, or it'd get weird and it'd be harder to ignore, but it's, like, if you just grow up with it and you don't know what it is, you don't question it even if you don't believe in magic. And if you know what it is, then you can take advantage of it, more. But it's not—optional. You don't choose and you can't undo.

un: enkidu

[enkidoh]

perhaps it is wise to say that at times it is difficult to be bonded to a witch and a beast at the same time. at times it takes a lot of sorcery and magic and it wears me out.

though i am very fond of the ones i am bonded with it is a very intense sort of thing. i feel a lot.

[Really, it is a lot. It is fun, it is warm, it is somewhat secure. But a lot.]

[weirdnecro]

Oh, Enkidu! It's been awhile.

You're bonded to two, but you feel worn out? Maybe it has to do with their intensity?

Tell me a little more about it.

[enkidoh]

hello sokie. i still remember our kissing and other things. perhaps we should do that again soon. it was pleasant.

[A minute later.]

i feel i am not able to handle the magic very well. distribute it, so to speak. cu has learned me how to do it but its different to process it when it comes to people.

and i feel a lot.

Voice

[pastregrets]

Have you heard of anyone posing a specially different danger to the people they're bonded with? I'm not exactly sure how to explain that... Like, say someone was really unstable, or overly emotional, or even really strong. Is there anything about the bonds that can make that worse, or shared, or... I don't know, maybe numb to it? Ah, like a blind spot!

[weirdnecro]

A danger....mm, well, we have come across cases of where bonds were abused. Thankfully, there hasn't been any of that in this city that we know of.

But a blind spot...it really depends on who you're bonded to, how empathetic you are to them, and how much their emotions...leak over through the bond.

Because while there is a low key awareness and an intimacy, there's no mental arm wrestling to make one person the dominant one. It truly is a partnership.

[gehennawind]

[ Who frenzied in public recently and SWAMPED the bonds to Sokie and Asura with fury and hunger!!! Who's generally overly emotional! Ha HA!!

Paloma's very grateful that Sokie is tackling this one. ]

[pastregrets]

It's pretty equal? That sounds better. I don't know why I got it into my head that Witches have a harder time. Maybe just because I haven't been quite as informed on the merits and demerits of being a Witch, compared to the crash course I've had in Monster-ing.

Is there a good way to feel someone out before a Bond? I make it sound like I'm about to ask people out on dates... that's not it, though. What I mean is, is there a way to tell if you'll have empathy issues or other systematic issues before you commit to something like that?

text;

[scatmaam]

Just up and calling himself Cu on an open broadcast, is he? I'll need to discipline him for that.

[weirdnecro]

What's wrong with him calling himself something other then Caster?

Text ; un:magicowl

[getting_better]

Does a bond have to be emotional and all that? Frankly the thought of me feeling others emotion directly and sharing memories is very concerning.

Could a bond just be strictly business? Witch provides magic and doesn't blow up while monsters suck up the excess and don't go wild and nothing further that that?

[weirdnecro]

I haven't shared memories with either of my bonds yet, and they haven't with me-and we've been bonded for months now.

But yes, it can be that. Consider the empathic feedback more of a monitoring system. It helps especially when you're in a...uncertain situation.