What is a relationship ontologically?

I think that I want to eventually write an essay on this, but I don’t have enough brainpower to do it right now. I would have to do a lot more thinking and research on this anyway, but I still wanted to organize my thoughts and publish something in case others might find it interesting. Relationships as separate entities What is a relationship, ontologically? Relationships are separate entities from the participants. A relationship is nothing but an agreement to be in a relationship. The relationship has its own identity — it's its own entity. A relationship has no moral weight and no real causal power. It's more about people's orientation to the thing. What is good for the relationship vs. the participants? What is good for a relationship isn't always good for the participants, which I believe to be evidence of how a relationship is a separate entity. E.g. lying is good for the relationship because it maintains its state — though it does undermine the grounds of the relationship,…