Difference between revisions of "White Ajah FAQ"

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So um... the big picture. Viewing Life through Logic's Prism. Those fragmented images can be pretty insane... but when the view comes in clear, it's crystal. (white)---> {logic}---> (life) = (All the Colors of the Rainbow)" ~ Andra
 
So um... the big picture. Viewing Life through Logic's Prism. Those fragmented images can be pretty insane... but when the view comes in clear, it's crystal. (white)---> {logic}---> (life) = (All the Colors of the Rainbow)" ~ Andra
  
''Which qualities do you see most in White? Which qualities don't "mesh"?'' <br>
+
'''''Which qualities do you see most in White? Which qualities don't "mesh"?''''' <br>
  
 
"Okay, we mostly see - smart funny logical nice women who are just all absolutely wonderful. :look I don't think there's any qualities we won't accept... the major defining characteristic all whites have absolutely is that they chose the ajah. There are some things that, wouldn't "not mesh" with the white ajah, they just tend to lead others towards another... so they don't appear in white. Make sense?" ~ [[Hyain Robere]]
 
"Okay, we mostly see - smart funny logical nice women who are just all absolutely wonderful. :look I don't think there's any qualities we won't accept... the major defining characteristic all whites have absolutely is that they chose the ajah. There are some things that, wouldn't "not mesh" with the white ajah, they just tend to lead others towards another... so they don't appear in white. Make sense?" ~ [[Hyain Robere]]
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"To be a White here at TarValon.net, I think there are very few qualities that are actually necessary. The ability to both reason and listen to reason, and the willingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary (notice I said willingness and necessary--those two words are essential to that statement :P ), are the only qualities I can think of that are really ideal. On the flip side, I think the only qualities that do not mesh well with the White Ajah are the opposite of the ones I mentioned above--never being able to reason or listen to reason, and the unwillingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary." ~ [[Dralyn Montsier]]
 
"To be a White here at TarValon.net, I think there are very few qualities that are actually necessary. The ability to both reason and listen to reason, and the willingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary (notice I said willingness and necessary--those two words are essential to that statement :P ), are the only qualities I can think of that are really ideal. On the flip side, I think the only qualities that do not mesh well with the White Ajah are the opposite of the ones I mentioned above--never being able to reason or listen to reason, and the unwillingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary." ~ [[Dralyn Montsier]]
  
''What is the best thing about the White Ajah? What is the worst thing?'' <br>
+
'''''What is the best thing about the White Ajah? What is the worst thing?''''' <br>
  
 
"The best thing about the White Ajah is the closeness we have. Although we've been growing a lot in the past year or so, we are still a fairly small Ajah, and because of that, we're able to still be very tight knit without being exclusive.  
 
"The best thing about the White Ajah is the closeness we have. Although we've been growing a lot in the past year or so, we are still a fairly small Ajah, and because of that, we're able to still be very tight knit without being exclusive.  
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As for the worst, it's probably our direct-ness. Most Whites aren't very good at being tactful, and sometimes we come across as too blunt and uncaring. That can make a bad situation worse." ~ Lyssandra
 
As for the worst, it's probably our direct-ness. Most Whites aren't very good at being tactful, and sometimes we come across as too blunt and uncaring. That can make a bad situation worse." ~ Lyssandra
  
''How are the TarValon.net Whites different from the book Whites?'' <br>
+
'''''How are the TarValon.net Whites different from the book Whites?''''' <br>
  
 
"The Whites at Tar Valon have a lot of negative stereotypes associated with them based upon the way they are portrayed within the Wheel of Time series. As with any social group, there are many different levels to the associates beyond the general stereotype. We Whites are often found saying nearly the same thing... We're like a prism. We take all the other colors (attributes), filter it through the facets of logic and come out with a pure source of light. (Yes, yes, sort of backwards, but you understand what I mean? ) This is the Ajah that embraces the characteristics of all the others and melds them seamlessly in to one. We are incredibly passionate, yet we try to keep a level head. We are nurturing, caring and supportive, despite our perceived cool exterior. We are attentive to detail and aware of the world eddies and swirls, yet we keep our distance to offer unbiased input. We have great strength of character and often try to mediate situations with a logical viewpoint. We are learned, seeking out knowledge in all forms, media and designs. And yes, in our own cool way seek to right the wrongs we see around us." ~ Zhareen
 
"The Whites at Tar Valon have a lot of negative stereotypes associated with them based upon the way they are portrayed within the Wheel of Time series. As with any social group, there are many different levels to the associates beyond the general stereotype. We Whites are often found saying nearly the same thing... We're like a prism. We take all the other colors (attributes), filter it through the facets of logic and come out with a pure source of light. (Yes, yes, sort of backwards, but you understand what I mean? ) This is the Ajah that embraces the characteristics of all the others and melds them seamlessly in to one. We are incredibly passionate, yet we try to keep a level head. We are nurturing, caring and supportive, despite our perceived cool exterior. We are attentive to detail and aware of the world eddies and swirls, yet we keep our distance to offer unbiased input. We have great strength of character and often try to mediate situations with a logical viewpoint. We are learned, seeking out knowledge in all forms, media and designs. And yes, in our own cool way seek to right the wrongs we see around us." ~ Zhareen
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"Well now. Obviously we're not cold-hearted and distant, like the book Whites. We really do like to just let our hair down, throw caution (and maybe a smidgen of logic ... but not too much :P ) into the wind and have fun. We're very silly people at heart. :P " ~ [[Rikka al'Vorik]]
 
"Well now. Obviously we're not cold-hearted and distant, like the book Whites. We really do like to just let our hair down, throw caution (and maybe a smidgen of logic ... but not too much :P ) into the wind and have fun. We're very silly people at heart. :P " ~ [[Rikka al'Vorik]]
  
''Why bubbles?'' <br>
+
'''''Why bubbles?''''' <br>
  
 
"I so want to just say "why not" but that doesn't quite work. Bubbles are from even before my time with the Ajah. They started at a White Ajah clam bake (this type of activity was not a public one, but just a fun forum thing) Shirlyn was playing around and "discovered" the infamous purple bubble. This bubble was SO much fun at first, almost addictive  but soon, we realized that eating too many of them would turn you *into* a bubble yourself. The sad truth about most things that are fun is that there has to be something wrong with it.  This started the hunt for an antidote, which provided us with the Green bubble. Not so much fun on it's own, or even very tasty  but it did what it needed to do, which was negate the effects of the purple if taken in time.  From there, the experiments and fun continued... a little bit of mindless fun. We then decided to start sharing them a little bit with the general public, and who doesn't like playing with bubbles??" ~ Shyana
 
"I so want to just say "why not" but that doesn't quite work. Bubbles are from even before my time with the Ajah. They started at a White Ajah clam bake (this type of activity was not a public one, but just a fun forum thing) Shirlyn was playing around and "discovered" the infamous purple bubble. This bubble was SO much fun at first, almost addictive  but soon, we realized that eating too many of them would turn you *into* a bubble yourself. The sad truth about most things that are fun is that there has to be something wrong with it.  This started the hunt for an antidote, which provided us with the Green bubble. Not so much fun on it's own, or even very tasty  but it did what it needed to do, which was negate the effects of the purple if taken in time.  From there, the experiments and fun continued... a little bit of mindless fun. We then decided to start sharing them a little bit with the general public, and who doesn't like playing with bubbles??" ~ Shyana
  
''Why do you think not many White bond warders?'' <br>
+
'''''Why do you think not many White bond warders?''''' <br>
  
 
"Simply put, men are rarely logical creatures.  
 
"Simply put, men are rarely logical creatures.  

Revision as of 09:19, 8 January 2010

White Ajah Interviews

By Koralei Sedai (date unknown)

What does it mean to be White Ajah? What are the goals of the White Ajah?

"To say being a member of the White Ajah means "a lot" is an understatement... It isn't a switch that is turned on when my web browser opens and ceases to exist when I power down at night; it has become part of who I am and has helped me to become a better and more caring person. It may sound cliché, but this is the Ajah that embraces the characteristics (stereotypes) of all the others groups and melds them seamlessly in to one. We are incredibly passionate, yet we try to keep a level head. We are nurturing, caring and supportive, despite our perceived cool exterior. We are attentive to detail and aware of the world eddies and swirls, yet we can keep our distance to offer unbiased input. We have great strength of character and often try to mediate situations with a logical bent. We are learned, seeking out knowledge in all forms. In our own way, with a logical twist, we seek to right the wrongs we see around us. I actively acknowledge these characteristics as more than a passing fancy or a way to explain a circumstance. I am pieces of it all, logically filtered! So, what does it mean to be white? It means a little bit of everything, distilled and purified. I am incredibly lucky and proud to be part of a group of women with such a diverse way of thinking, living and loving... it's hard for me to express, you see. I have no blood sisters so I never was able to form that kind of a bond or friendship with other women. Among the White, I have found my soul sisters." ~ Zhareen

"There are as many definitions of what makes a "White" as there are women in the Ajah. Everyone has their own idea of what their "Whiteness" consists of; be it logic, theories, puzzles. Here's mine: To me being White has a lot to do with analyzing and questioning yourself and your surroundings. You could call it philosophy, but to me that sounds too much like reading Aristotle or Kant. I did read some of them in school, but since then I prefer to "make my own thoughts". Funny enough that doesn't extend to the books. I'm not the one to think up theories about the series, even though that is another important aspect of the White Ajah, I leave that to others. I must admit though that for book 11 I started reading other people's theories which was quite interesting.

Now, since the Ajahs don't have specific jobs anymore, it is difficult to define an Ajah's goal. Our goal is the same as any other Ajahs'. We want to bring life and fun to the community, to welcome newcomers and to support each other. There are two events that I can think of from the top of my head that have become a White Ajah tradition in which we try to involve the whole community. That is for one the card delivery for Valentine's and the other one is the egg hunt for Easter or the bubble hunt. Or did we do the bubble hunt for Easter? I don't even remember. Well, we like to hide stuff. :P " ~ Annouk Vinkona Úlfanna

"Okay. I'm going to start this by quoting something I said in our forum a couple of weeks ago. (We do talk about this sort of thing you know) We (The White Ajah) apply logic to life. We reason through things, rather than jumping straight into a situation. We still have our passions, our quirks (boy do we!), and we are interested in many different things. As Whites, we look at life through the prism of Logic. A situation looks one way, but through that prism, the picture changes. Sometimes it fragments, and sometimes it comes together, when you focus just right. We can see all sides, through that prism of logic. This is not to say that our emotions don't run away with us from time to time. We all have those buttons. But after the initial flare-up, we look back on the situation logically and our view may change, or we can more coherently defend the original.

So um... the big picture. Viewing Life through Logic's Prism. Those fragmented images can be pretty insane... but when the view comes in clear, it's crystal. (white)---> {logic}---> (life) = (All the Colors of the Rainbow)" ~ Andra

Which qualities do you see most in White? Which qualities don't "mesh"?

"Okay, we mostly see - smart funny logical nice women who are just all absolutely wonderful. :look I don't think there's any qualities we won't accept... the major defining characteristic all whites have absolutely is that they chose the ajah. There are some things that, wouldn't "not mesh" with the white ajah, they just tend to lead others towards another... so they don't appear in white. Make sense?" ~ Hyain Robere

"The most obvious quality of the White is Rationality. Not all of us are totally rational all the time, or even most of the time, but it's a common thread that runs through us. Many of us are pretty stubborn as well. We enjoy fun on a large scale, and are usually willing to put in a great deal of effort to pull off something that's going to be fun for all. And we're caring. Not in a healing sort of Yellow Way, but when a new Accepted comes to us, we often hear how immediately she felt at home, how completely appreciated and, well ACCEPTED she feels from the moment she joins us. :hug Closed-minded people tend not to mesh well with the White Ajah." ~ Aidan Pendragon

"To be a White here at TarValon.net, I think there are very few qualities that are actually necessary. The ability to both reason and listen to reason, and the willingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary (notice I said willingness and necessary--those two words are essential to that statement :P ), are the only qualities I can think of that are really ideal. On the flip side, I think the only qualities that do not mesh well with the White Ajah are the opposite of the ones I mentioned above--never being able to reason or listen to reason, and the unwillingness to put aside your personal emotions when necessary." ~ Dralyn Montsier

What is the best thing about the White Ajah? What is the worst thing?

"The best thing about the White Ajah is the closeness we have. Although we've been growing a lot in the past year or so, we are still a fairly small Ajah, and because of that, we're able to still be very tight knit without being exclusive.

The worst thing about the White Ajah is our former reputations as both lurkers and cold, emotionless philosophers. We've done a lot lately to change these perceptions, but they still follow us and it makes us somewhat less attractive to new citizens and the like." ~ Aidan Pendragon

"The very bestest thing about the White Ajah is... The White Ajah. I'm serious... sort of. You'll hear this from other ajah's as well. Your Ajah is your family here at Tar Valon. Recently, one of my big Sisters said, “you can't chose your relatives, but you can chose your Sisters”. Go where your heart leads you. Make the choice for yourself. Don't go just on ideology or stereotypes. Go for the people. The women in your ajah will stand by you. Even when/if you leave someday, you will still be in their hearts, as a Sister. The worst thing about the Ajah is... we live all over the world. There are so many of my sisters I may never meet face to face because of that, but at the same time it's a wonderful thing, because we get their views on issues and the whole time zone thing makes it a sure thing that you'll almost always find someone online, regardless of your schedule." ~ Andra

"One of the best qualities of the White is to be able to pull back when we really have to and to think through something. A lot of times, especially when you get to major drama, people react to emotions first, and many let that cloud their judgment so they can't think. Whites certainly aren't immune to that, but we're (as far as I know) the only Ajah (or Company) that has never had major Drama and splitting within the Ajah itself. There have certainly been times when something got heated and produced some strong arguments, but we've always managed to talk about it until we could accept whatever the problem was. We might not all agree, but we've avoided wars of flaming each other and having members leave in a huff because of our Ajah. Problems with the Tower and other members, yes, but not the Ajah.

As for the worst, it's probably our direct-ness. Most Whites aren't very good at being tactful, and sometimes we come across as too blunt and uncaring. That can make a bad situation worse." ~ Lyssandra

How are the TarValon.net Whites different from the book Whites?

"The Whites at Tar Valon have a lot of negative stereotypes associated with them based upon the way they are portrayed within the Wheel of Time series. As with any social group, there are many different levels to the associates beyond the general stereotype. We Whites are often found saying nearly the same thing... We're like a prism. We take all the other colors (attributes), filter it through the facets of logic and come out with a pure source of light. (Yes, yes, sort of backwards, but you understand what I mean? ) This is the Ajah that embraces the characteristics of all the others and melds them seamlessly in to one. We are incredibly passionate, yet we try to keep a level head. We are nurturing, caring and supportive, despite our perceived cool exterior. We are attentive to detail and aware of the world eddies and swirls, yet we keep our distance to offer unbiased input. We have great strength of character and often try to mediate situations with a logical viewpoint. We are learned, seeking out knowledge in all forms, media and designs. And yes, in our own cool way seek to right the wrongs we see around us." ~ Zhareen

"Well now. Obviously we're not cold-hearted and distant, like the book Whites. We really do like to just let our hair down, throw caution (and maybe a smidgen of logic ... but not too much :P ) into the wind and have fun. We're very silly people at heart. :P " ~ Rikka al'Vorik

Why bubbles?

"I so want to just say "why not" but that doesn't quite work. Bubbles are from even before my time with the Ajah. They started at a White Ajah clam bake (this type of activity was not a public one, but just a fun forum thing) Shirlyn was playing around and "discovered" the infamous purple bubble. This bubble was SO much fun at first, almost addictive but soon, we realized that eating too many of them would turn you *into* a bubble yourself. The sad truth about most things that are fun is that there has to be something wrong with it. This started the hunt for an antidote, which provided us with the Green bubble. Not so much fun on it's own, or even very tasty but it did what it needed to do, which was negate the effects of the purple if taken in time. From there, the experiments and fun continued... a little bit of mindless fun. We then decided to start sharing them a little bit with the general public, and who doesn't like playing with bubbles??" ~ Shyana

Why do you think not many White bond warders?

"Simply put, men are rarely logical creatures.

But aside from that, in my opinion Whites tend to have a lower than average bond rate versus other Ajahs because of a few different reasons that mainly center around quantity and misconceptions. First, there aren't a lot of White Ajah members. We have traditionally been one of the smaller Ajahs at Tar Valon; one of the reflections from the books that spills over accurately. Whites are still perceived as the "cold fish" of the literary realm, but that couldn't be further from the truth! I believe we also put much more thought into our potential bondmates, after all we like to logic and reason most things to death... why not this decision too? It takes a very special breed of man to be attracted to the White, and I definitely believe his desire and thirst for knowledge and reason fits in to the master plan. And, of course, if he happens to have a white storm trooper suit that certainly wouldn't hurt his chances either." ~ Zhareen

"The White Ajah is a group of strong, independent women. Telling any of us that we *need* a man for anything is probably not be the best idea in general so for the Whites I would say that a warder is less of a necessity and more of a gift. It has also been said that we are a little reclusive by nature, and don't often hang out on the board areas where all the men folk do this is also quite true. So the ones that do happen to bond Whites are the few and far between who go out of their way to get to know us I guess . While we currently only have three Warders in the White Ajah, whenever one of our sisters finds someone they feel is the right person for them as a Warder, she knows that she has her sisters full support in having made that decision, and we look forward to welcoming him into our family." ~ Shyana