Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

[X] You have not spent enough time with your family. The new help should be settled in, so spend some time with your mother and sister. In the wake of your growing insights, you need to think about what family truly means.

I agree with the above points. Ultimately the ideas of family that we're going to need to draw on to deal with Ice Mom are going to be grounded in our own experience, and spending time with our own family will sharpen those lessons for when we need them most. We're not procrastinating, we're preparing for our tribulation by emphasizing personal elements with thematic resonance!

I'd want to see family before going off to fight cold dark incarnate, and then go back to family to get warmed up again afterwards.

yrsillar said:

It looks like I actually misread the plan a little at the start, but I think it ended up flowing better as written. Might cut back on moment to moment details for fight plans in the future

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Mmm. I would be concerned about cutting back on details. It depends what you mean, but the system right now is built off discrete techniques that have very specific effects. How they are combined and built upon is important - as you showed in this fight with Echoes.

While that kind of thing would work fine in a vaguer, more narrative system, I'm not really sure how to engage with the current function of arts without that context.

Indeed, the showcasing of Echoes here kind of illustrated the reason why we wanted to open with it. It was precisely because we were taking him seriously that we wanted to open with it to reduce his damage and boost our own. A plan that didn't do that, and just tried to burst him with HR immediately actually lost because of that.

Again, I don't have a problem with the fight. As you say, this way actually worked really well, and it was super cool to read. I don't even have a problem with Ling Qi being portrayed as overconfident - it's a reasonable narrative and characterisation decision similar to her (poor) decisions in the Meizhen spar - even if it is somewhat contradicted by our actual planning. I'm more than happy for you to adjust our plans to make a better story, or because there are nuances to how things work that we don't appreciate and Ling Qi would know that doing things differently works better (though in that case it would be nice if it were explained).

I am, however, somewhat concerned about quest communication and our ability to engage with the Art system. Like with our desire to get PLR out early in the Ji Rong fight, decisions about techniques are important, and we generally make them for good reasons. Moreover, as I noted, the "overconfident" plan that just tried to burst him down with HR actually lost quite decisively, with the main argument being over whether or not Mist would increase our dodge enough to justify its use. If, in this case, it was simply a communication failure on our part though then I would be happy to ask about how we could describe our plans more clearly in the future.

paebel said:

Keep in mind, Zeqing did tell us to spend time with our kin. Which is family.

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you are taking that part out of context though. For reference:

Ling Qi gave the younger spirit a sidelong look. "Would I need to make any preparations, teacher?" "You are as prepared as you can be. It is only your choice that remains," Zeqing replied simply. "But… not this day. I tire, and you should spend time with your kin."

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Zeqing clearly tells us that we are as prepared as we can be and she should know as she is the one who gives us the trial.

'But...not this day.' ends the topic of the trial and then she recommends us to spend some time with kin. So the trial and the kin statement are seperate ones.

@yrsillar any chance we could spend an action point in a monthly plan, to get an additional social action?

Killer_Whale said:

@yrsillar any chance we could spend an action point in a montly plan, to get an additional social action?

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The system is deliberately separated. AP do not translate into "writing volume" directly. Half the point of the new system was to avoid the minor bloat and pacing problems that ended up plaguing the last quest.

[X] The situation between Zeqing and Hanyi is deteriorating. You have mastered her lessons and her art. The time for a tribulation is here, and perhaps it can solve the terrible situation forming before your eyes.

Changing my vote due to being convinced Zeqing's statement about meeting with our kin did not come across as actual cultivation advice in the text.

Killer_Whale said:

@yrsillar any chance we could spend an action point in a monthly plan, to get an additional social action?

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That way lies only salt, analysis paralysis, and shutting ourselves in our room cultivating while everyone we love forgets we exist.

We switched to this for a reason.

naths said:

you are taking that part out of context though. For reference:

Zeqing clearly tells us that we are as prepared as we can be and she should know as she is the one who gives us the trial.

'But...not this day.' ends the topic of the trial and then she recommends us to spend some time with kin. So the trial and the kin statement are seperate ones.

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Yeah, you're right. Still seems like Ling Qi would be in a better mindset to handle the situation with Zeqing and Hanyi if she visits her family first though.

paebel said:

Keep in mind, Zeqing did tell us to spend time with our kin. Which is family.

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Zeqing said

I tire, and you should spend time with your kin.

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That is a social nicety, not a serious advice for her trial. Unless you believe that the High Cyan Ice Spirit is actually tired after watching Ling Qi play music.

Family time and insights are good, and I want them too, but right now I am too concerned for Hanyi. I mean, I don't want to fear monger but the worst case scenarios are 'Missing a turn of family time vs Hanyi getting eaten'. I really would like to avoid the later.

It's more that...

Well, the Zeqing/Hannyi thing is quite literally the same thing that Ling Qi and Qingge went through, just amplified through the nose because Spirits who represent Ideas, and thhis particular mythos is the one of the "Abandonment breeds Abandonment", since it's literally impossible for a 'New' Frost Matron to be born unless she's been abandoned by her mother.

Like, Ling Qi understands the idea, but her own story is one that leads to the second part of her own answer--and actually confiding in Qingge about it might give us some useful insights on the other half of the equation--the one of the mother who feels they're either strangling or abandoning their child.

Alectai said:

It's more that...

Well, the Zeqing/Hannyi thing is quite literally the same thing that Ling Qi and Qingge went through, just amplified through the nose because Spirits who represent Ideas, and thhis particular mythos is the one of the "Abandonment breeds Abandonment", since it's literally impossible for a 'New' Frost Matron to be born unless she's been abandoned by her mother.

Like, Ling Qi understands the idea, but her own story is one that leads to the second part of her own answer--and actually confiding in Qingge about it might give us some useful insights on the other half of the equation--the one of the mother who feels they're either strangling or abandoning their child.

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Except that Zeqing's problem is that she is torn between two conflicting desires, wanting to keep what's hers in her grasp and wanting to help Ling Qi/Hanyi grow despite the fact it would necessitate them leaving.

By contrast Qingge only had to deal with the fact that her child saw that living with her being so bad she ran away.

Their experiences and problems are not really comparable.

EDIT: I believe that if spending time with her family would help Ling Qi in the trial it would be by helping her better articulate what family (and home) means to her; possibly allowing for a more naunced insight for the trail. It just doesn't have any relation to Zeqing's own problem.

(The closest person who does is Ling Qi herself, since the shaken debuff shows what happens when you find a flaw in your way. Except that Zeqing is both further along the path and a pure spirit).

[X] You have not spent enough time with your family. The new help should be settled in, so spend some time with your mother and sister. In the wake of your growing insights, you need to think about what family truly means.

Sundancer said:

Family time and insights are good, and I want them too, but right now I am too concerned for Hanyi. I mean, I don't want to fear monger but the worst case scenarios are 'Missing a turn of family time vs Hanyi getting eaten'. I really would like to avoid the later.

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No, the worst case is we fail the tribulation and die while Hanyi still gets eaten. We might be technically capable enough to pass it but I really don't think we are in the best mindset yet.

[X] The situation between Zeqing and Hanyi is deteriorating. You have mastered her lessons and her art. The time for a tribulation is here, and perhaps it can solve the terrible situation forming before your eyes.

[X] The situation between Zeqing and Hanyi is deteriorating. You have mastered her lessons and her art. The time for a tribulation is here, and perhaps it can solve the terrible situation forming before your eyes.

[X] You have not spent enough time with your family. The new help should be settled in, so spend some time with your mother and sister. In the wake of your growing insights, you need to think about what family truly means.

[X] The situation between Zeqing and Hanyi is deteriorating. You have mastered her lessons and her art. The time for a tribulation is here, and perhaps it can solve the terrible situation forming before your eyes.