Remove ads

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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
Last edited:
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
Doramas said:
We already saw the laymen's dreams in this previous vote. Ling Qi has been thinking a lot about that pointview since the fight with the Hui corpse. And she will do so even more from now on, it's already an intrinsic part of her.

We are at Xiangmen, for crying out loud!

Let's take the chance to see the sophistication, luxury and opulence that we can only find here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ok maybe poor people party is not that great but, there is food and stuff.. ..maybe will Ling Qi get drunk again
 
so, ballroom with Fantasia or Street/pub celebration with Reverie?

[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
Picking at the themes in play:

[ ] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.

This is about beauty created to show off. Its about the creator making a statement. There to be looked at, but not touched.

But note that corruption yet clings to the feasting tables of the mighty.
Know that this beauty is stained with death.

Do not be blinded by radiance.

The primary concept involved here should be Expression.
Its got touches of paying the price to get to express yourself, and then paying the price of expressing yourself. Actions and Consequences.

[ ] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie

This is about beauty created to bring relief. Where people find comfort after a day of toil. This is art created for the masses, for the community to enjoy.

However, predators lurk in the shadows, and webs await their prey.
Delight masks suffering, it is but a transient comfort before reality intrudes again.

The primary concept involved here should be Community. But its embedded with Want, the desire for comfort in the revelers, the predators lurking within and without.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.

I like that Xia Lin keeps surprising me with how personable she is. Her initial impression was that of a perfectly uniform soldier but she keeps subverting some of that at ever opportunity she gets. The girl has so much in common with Ling Qi that she's probably one of the character in the story who is most alike our protagonist. I really like seeing them being really good, casual friends.
 
yrsillar said:
"I see my accusations were correct though. You are truly an example to follow, finding such contemplation in plum jam," Xia Lin said dryly.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I mean, burn aside, she kind of is? Ling Qi's tendencies for going on contemplative philosophical tangents based on whatever she's experiencing, whether it's conversations with other characters or just passively observing her environment, is arguably a part of what makes her so Talented considering how Cultivation is supposed to work at this level, with how essential Insight is. The fact that we advanced one of our Concepts right afterwards, in a way that was greatly catalyzed by her earlier musings on the food, pretty much speaks for itself.

[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
Let's go have some fun with the people; this connects more with the sort of people we will be ruling over which is important IMO.

[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
Since we get no pandemonium for now, I'd prefer this one:

[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
Last edited:
yrsillar said:
Creation Advances to I

Abundance abets creation.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
yrsillar said:
Creation advances to II

Abundance begets creation.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I love the difference in word choice between these two?

The first one almost feels accusing, like remnants of her pre-concept thoughts of art are still kicking around making her think she needs to blame something for all the "wastefulness".

I'm too inebriated to find good words for the second one but something something blah blah abundance means no longer having to fight for scraps and Expression etc.
 
[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
[X] Whirl into the glittering Gala of crystal and light, the great ballroom, under the dome of Xiangmen's crown. Ignore the tarry darkness still clinging beneath the tables, the scorch marks upon the beautiful walls. Witness Fantasia.
 
Hmm, not sure I can adequately put some of my thoughts into words. But a good starting point is probably to remember that this is actually a PLR project, because that's something we have some history with and can examine.

As an art, PLR has a bit of a rocky history. It's always been cool, but it's struggled to have a real identity or stake a meaning for Ling Qi. And in a lot of ways this extends to Dreaming Moon influences and opportunities we've had, in part because PLR is our official "Dreaming Moon" art, but it hasn't meant or done much for us. We saw similar with that Trickster King talky art we passed over for Wind Thief; it was very cool, but it relied on expertise we didn't have, and we didn't know if it could effect its promised coolness because of that. Likewise, we struggled to really connect with Sixiang for a long time, before things basically settled into simply enabling Ling Qi's priorities.

A common trend so far is really this: Dreaming Moon stuff has been consistently attractive, but it has failed to meet Ling Qi where she's at, which has meant a strong tendency towards sticking at that superficial level of understanding in holding patterns. PLR still doesn't really mean much to Ling Qi, in terms of her core ideals and beliefs. It's simply a thing she can do somewhat more competently than before. But what it is she thinks she's actually doing is something I don't think she could really answer, as things stand. And part of that is that because it's an art so emblematic of Dreaming Moon, it rests on a set of assumptions and perspectives that... Ling Qi hasn't opened herself to.

I guess what I'm getting at is a worry that option 1 will be a very fun lightshow, a pat on the head, a monologue about the high ideals of inspiration, and won't really mean anything to Ling Qi. That it won't demand answers from her in a compelling way. Is the gala going to be something she does, or will it be something she fully attends. There's a kind of passive rejection to letting loose and partying Ling Qi cultivates which isn't just funny wordplay irony here, though it is that, it's precisely a hindrance when it comes to an art like PLR, or a spirit partner like Sixiang. Ling Qi has shifted somewhat over the story, she's not 100% ironclad on this, but she has failed to actually immerse herself in revelry and that's troublesome.

In a sense, and more briefly, if she makes it through the event without at least questioning the boundaries of her person she entered it with, did she really come to it in the spirit of it?
 
[X] Dive unto the dim, warm halls, where bodies are packed, where revelry abounds, where the halls are scented with food and sweat and life. Ignore the crawling shadows, the webs spun in corners, the strained smiles. Witness Reverie

I feel like we need a taste of the masses.
 
AbeoLogos said:
Hmm, not sure I can adequately put some of my thoughts into words. But a good starting point is probably to remember that this is actually a PLR project, because that's something we have some history with and can examine.

As an art, PLR has a bit of a rocky history. It's always been cool, but it's struggled to have a real identity or stake a meaning for Ling Qi. And in a lot of ways this extends to Dreaming Moon influences and opportunities we've had, in part because PLR is our official "Dreaming Moon" art, but it hasn't meant or done much for us. We saw similar with that Trickster King talky art we passed over for Wind Thief; it was very cool, but it relied on expertise we didn't have, and we didn't know if it could effect its promised coolness because of that. Likewise, we struggled to really connect with Sixiang for a long time, before things basically settled into simply enabling Ling Qi's priorities.

A common trend so far is really this: Dreaming Moon stuff has been consistently attractive, but it has failed to meet Ling Qi where she's at, which has meant a strong tendency towards sticking at that superficial level of understanding in holding patterns. PLR still doesn't really mean much to Ling Qi, in terms of her core ideals and beliefs. It's simply a thing she can do somewhat more competently than before. But what it is she thinks she's actually doing is something I don't think she could really answer, as things stand. And part of that is that because it's an art so emblematic of Dreaming Moon, it rests on a set of assumptions and perspectives that... Ling Qi hasn't opened herself to.

I guess what I'm getting at is a worry that option 1 will be a very fun lightshow, a pat on the head, a monologue about the high ideals of inspiration, and won't really mean anything to Ling Qi. That it won't demand answers from her in a compelling way. Is the gala going to be something she does, or will it be something she fully attends. There's a kind of passive rejection to letting loose and partying Ling Qi cultivates which isn't just funny wordplay irony here, though it is that, it's precisely a hindrance when it comes to an art like PLR, or a spirit partner like Sixiang. Ling Qi has shifted somewhat over the story, she's not 100% ironclad on this, but she has failed to actually immerse herself in revelry and that's troublesome.

In a sense, and more briefly, if she makes it through the event without at least questioning the boundaries of her person she entered it with, did she really come to it in the spirit of it?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I think immersing oneself fully in a lunar revelry is a very bad idea anyway... IIRC, in Forge, the two times we were in actual danger is when we were tempted to attack Hanyi and in the revel, according to WOG
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top