I honestly feel that's the wrong solution. Keep in mind that for all this is a cooperative story, this is yours first and foremost. It's not your job to please everyone, it's to tell a narrative that you want to tell. You want him in the story? Keep him in the story. You want to write him out of the story, write him out.Yeah he's just such a toxic subject at this point that it's probably better to just write him out of the story
Mostly because he makes us seem less special.I honestly don't understand why people get up in arms about Ji Rong. He's just sitting over there being ptotagonist-y, and I actually really enjoy that
I really don't see anything wrong with Meizhen poking fun at Ling Qi's Ling Qiness.
The Ji Rong "issue" is a complex one that is in many ways more about the thread than your writing. People are annoyed by the memes, and how other people make him out to be more important than he is to the story, and people who keep going on about befriending him. They're annoyed because they look at how he got hammered last year by Xuan Shi and yet it didn't really seem to actually slow him down at all (though I'm on the side of the maths being fine there). They're annoyed by @TehChron's omakes kinda opening up those wounds again. They're annoyed (perhaps) because it feels like he should be a foil to Ling Qi but really isn't so it creates this kinda awkward feeling of "why is he here? How should we be relating to him?"
Ji Rong's going to spark complaints as long as he reminds people of those things. I.e. as long as he's allowed to be anywhere close to us. Tbh I suspect the best thing to do would just be to distract people with other characters doing stuff.
We... really should do this. It will bite into our cultivation, but politics is an important part of Ling Qi's life and refusing the initial invitation is asking to not be invited again. Getting a finger on the pulse of the eastern segment of the Emerald Seas would likely be helpful for Cai, and us, as well as opening up doors and possible friendships/alliances with the more eastern clans.""I sometimes get together with others from the east of the province to have a little hunt and discuss matters of the province. If you would like, feel free to join us as your time allows. Vassals of the Cai should get along after all," Luo Zhong said smoothly. "I would be honored by your presence."
"If time allows," Ling Qi demurred. If it hadn't been clear already, it certainly was now. She could no longer stay out of Emerald Seas politics.
Anyways, let's talk about fictional politics! Most of the fun of real politics, but with little of the angst and anger and devastating real-life consequences! Specifically:
We... really should do this. It will bite into our cultivation, but politics is an important part of Ling Qi's life and refusing the initial invitation is asking to not be invited again. Getting a finger on the pulse of the eastern segment of the Emerald Seas would likely be helpful for Cai, and us, as well as opening up doors and possible friendships/alliances with the more eastern clans.
This is important because we really don't have a block that we belong to at this point. We have some connections to clans in the middle and northern sections of the province, but this is the first time we can actually socialize with a specific group of people who represent a specific portion of the province and start entering their confidences. We have some similarities to the Luo, given our moon cultivation, and expanding on that connection will likely be helpful to us in the short and long run.
Furthermore, we are good enough with a bow not to completely embarrass ourselves, and we saved the bow for occasions just like this. It will demonstrate that we have some competence with more traditional weaponry, which will probably help our impression with some more of the staunch traditional nobles. Another benefit is broadening our understanding of the terrain in the area and possibly actually getting some of the cores to feed to Zhengui.
That would be exceptionally niceI've a feeling this won't be an AP event, and will instead be a "Minor Action" that we vote on during the course of a month.
Hmm, I edited for clarity because your response made me realize it was a bit too easy to misunderstand me as saying Ji Rong shouldn't be able to keep up.Not sure why you'd think that? He has his patrons, just as we have ours.
Well, partly that yeah, but also because other than occasionally fighting us, the dude doesn't really seem to have a role in the story.
Ling Qi is a privileged underling of a privileged scion of a privileged house, while Ji Rong is a mere underling of a mere scion of a privileged house.
We totes should. Not only getting in good with a count scion but his various viscont and baron entourage is a useful thing. That coupled with the Bao, Bian, and some up and coming barons like Ruan is a nice little starting point for us.Anyways, let's talk about fictional politics! Most of the fun of real politics, but with little of the angst and anger and devastating real-life consequences! Specifically:
We... really should do this. It will bite into our cultivation, but politics is an important part of Ling Qi's life and refusing the initial invitation is asking to not be invited again. Getting a finger on the pulse of the eastern segment of the Emerald Seas would likely be helpful for Cai, and us, as well as opening up doors and possible friendships/alliances with the more eastern clans.
This is important because we really don't have a block that we belong to at this point. We have some connections to clans in the middle and northern sections of the province, but this is the first time we can actually socialize with a specific group of people who represent a specific portion of the province and start entering their confidences. We have some similarities to the Luo, given our moon cultivation, and expanding on that connection will likely be helpful to us in the short and long run.
Furthermore, we are good enough with a bow not to completely embarrass ourselves, and we saved the bow for occasions just like this. It will demonstrate that we have some competence with more traditional weaponry, which will probably help our impression with some more of the staunch traditional nobles. Another benefit is broadening our understanding of the terrain in the area and possibly actually getting some of the cores to feed to Zhengui.
Well, partly that yeah, but also because other than occasionally fighting us, the dude doesn't really seem to have a role in the story.
I think it's more like "Ling Qi is special but not uniquely so". The central conceit is, in my mind, that all of these "a few in a generation" talents ended up in the same place.