Remove ads

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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
[] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
[] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power grants no meaning of its own.

Our heart demon was about reconciling our need for power and ever moving forward with our family not being able to keep up and how our pursuit of being strong may cayse despair to our family because we can get hurt shouldering everything on our own but we can't promise to hold back without slowing down, right? Or something like that?

So the first one would be something like "We are not slowing down by relying on others but cultivating a different kind of strength" and the second would be "I rely on others and spend time with them because I gather power to do that so it is fine slowing down for that", right?
 
It feels like we made the right choice last vote. It made Zhengui happy, it was Ling Qi taking her family's desires into account which is what started this Heart Demon in the first place. Whatever comes next for this arc I think we started it right.

I disagree with power being meaningless on it's own. The meaning of power is the ability to hold and accomplish, even if it isn't used actively it is the freedom of choice. Strength without use still sees you safe, influence restrained still sees you respected, and while some like Cai Renxiang would judge power by its purpose Ling Qi is a hoarder. Ling Qi wants to become powerful and make those she loves powerful but she doesn't want this for any specific reason, what power she can give them will let them do whatever they want or nothing at all and even then it still protects them. Power is a person's control over the world around them and isn't that enough to make it worthwhile to a young woman who once felt powerless? Meanwhile if power achieves nothing then it isn't power, power by it's very existence exerts itself and thus if power doesn't have meaning then it is instead the power of potential until meaning is found. Anything that serves you desires is power, and it can spring from many sources.
 
al103 said:
Second is better lesson, but I dislike wording. Sometimes being powerful is worthy thing by itself or at least by things unremovable attached to it. Some people just like to be strong or be free of shackless of weakness - they are not wrong in that, it's other things that may lead astray in such situation. "Many roads" choice in first one is safer in that regard.

PS. It's also bad wording, but something like "power by itself is not worth sacrifices to acquire it" would be closer to me than "no meaning".
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
No.
If you want power to be strong or 'free of shackles of weakness' then that is the meaning of that power. You want to be at least that strong and any more power that you get after you're free or 'strong' is meaningless.
And "power by itself is not worth sacrifices to acquire it" is completely different than the vote. It feels like you've read something into it that I think is different than intended, and then started complaining that the intended meaning doesn't match what you read into it. Its a lesson that seeking power for powers sake is pointless, not that seeking power for powers sake can have harmful repercussions.
 
Last edited:
I think the first one would be better. Our insights are as follows:

Insights
Regular:
  1. Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured. (Truth Community, Home)
  2. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings. (Cycles, Ending Creation.)
  3. Though a path might be hard and lonely, it has worth if you can present something of beauty to those you care for at the end. (Expression, Isolation, Want)
  4. There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end. (Power, Motion, Freedom)
  5. Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more. (Persistence, Courage, Growth)
  6. Even walking alone, footfalls echo beyond your hearing. (Community, Causality, Expression)
  7. The future changes with every step, never be certain you know what is coming (Causality, Mystery, Chaos)
Advanced:
  • One person's desires cannot, alone make a home nor a family. (Community, Power, Want)

And the root of our problem, iirc, was the conflict from our need to always keep improving and moving forward and how the further we go along that path the more distance we put between ourselves and those we care about because they can't keep up. So it is probably better to get an insight that cultivating our relations is also improving our strength and get a worldview that includes moving our clan forward so helping them also helps us.

Edit:
So basically and overly simplified:
1- Being true to yourself as a core value.
2- It is only over when you die.
3- Perservere regardless of how hard and lonely the path is, believe it will be worth it in the end.
4- Always keep improving and moving forward.
5-You can compromise in small things but not on your principles and core beliefs
6- Everything you do has consecuences, even if you don't see them
7- The future is yet to be determined

A1- You need to consider what those you care about want. One person alone is not a family.

So most of our insights are about always going forward and not stopping. Rather than a power concept that says, "Yeah well, there are some things you do need to slow down for" it might be best one that says "You are not slowing down, you are advancing in another way"
 
Last edited:
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power grants no meaning of its own.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
Hmmm, both of those are interesting and solid as people have said...

I think maybe I'm inclined to go with (1), because I kinda feel like the importance of a broader idea of power and social stuff etc. has been more built up here in the current narrative?

It's also honestly interesting, because I feel that in some ways (1) is an, or part of a, answer to the question posed by (2)? Like, if one begins to interrogate why LQ wants power, and whether or not ultra prioritising raw cultivation is the best way to achieve her goals, then you end up at (1) at least in part I think?

[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.

Option one feels like the more complete insight. Option two feels like it raises further questions and might cause another heart demon.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.

At first I was going to vote option 2 but a lot of people have made some really good arguments about option 1
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.

So our spirits can grow and we acknowledge them more, and be cause it ties itself with the importance we place in family. A family of one isn't called a family for a reason.

Don't get me wrong, the second lesson is interesting and I would've picked it in any other circumstances but this one.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power grants no meaning of its own.

Because this seems like the choice that has Ling Qi actually developing why she is acquiring power, and what ideals are something Ling Qi can believe in that are her own.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
Hmm... Not really sure what to vote for. Personally i like:

Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power grants no meaning of its own.

more, but i am not quite sure if it is the best for LQ. It is quite vague since it does not say what you need to give meaning to power, that is still left open.

Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.

This on the other Hand is short and simple. We just need to define the sources.

Im waiting a bit to See some more arguments.


By the way.... Am i the only one who really wants to read the servens pov of this party? And the invitation speach of mom...
 
This update was great, I love Zhengui.

Ling Qi: Worship my turtle son! He is your God now! :V

[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
Both interesting realizations.

[] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
This one very, very easily ties into a lot of what's been going on in the background through several of the past arcs. It also fits with our teamwork aesthetic, our having teammates, and the art cultivation project we're technically accomplishing while we're here(the PLR Joyous Toast one).

[] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power grants no meaning of its own.
This is a fine philosophical realization on its own merits. My critique of it is that it kind of falls prey to itself? Power grants no meaning of its own, but... the same thing is true of this realization. It's a resolution that meaning is important, but doesn't do anything to put us on the path of finding it. And unlike the "many [power] sources" we have lingering around the place, we don't have ready-available meanings/purposes. So it feels like this choice would naturally string us along; its an awkward fit for reaching a character arc conclusion, because the answer it represents is committing to finding a suitable purpose. Which should be a fairly long project. It's also one we're doing anyway, and doesn't actually rely on this insight.

I'm trying to think of how this realization ties into our recent arcs, and it doesn't feel as integrated. It's more concerned with future developments than what we've been doing in the last little while. That's not necessarily bad, but the future is already extremely overloaded with narrative obligations. I think the balance is strongly off. Tying our resolution of this arc to a pursuit of grand (or minor) purpose strings out these narratives where I'd like to tie them off somewhat, and it kicks the can down the road into a big pile of cans. Not a huge fan.

tl;dr: Conceptual development doesn't resolve its own answer, we don't have answers on hand, and those answers are valuable regardless but we were already looking for them.

Edit: you can also swing it towards the Joyous Toast thing, though, I guess. In that case it's the power of the crowd not having meaning of its own, the meaning being provided by the musician/artist that's being empowered. Not sure how that really works out with the narrative, though.

[X] Power III: Without Power one can hold nothing and accomplish nothing, but power may spring from many sources.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top