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

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[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.

Because regardless of the wishes of Ling Qi there is a war arc in less then a year that will probably be under the command of Xia Ren alongside CRX, and that makes any understanding Ling Qi can get of the human parts of the General that can still make her unreasonable at times would be invaluable to facilitate [Communication]. In addition to [Communication] is the fact that Ling Qi is mission critical to the operation meaning the irrationality Xia Ren has from her humanity can't simply splat her, and it is rather Grinning for Ling Qi to pit herself against the Crucible to see where commonality ends.

Also at the end of the day Xia Ren is probably going to hit Prism as she is the obvious commander for the Horned Legion, the Emerald Seas will be lacking the current Prism on the border in a decade, or two at most, and the 12 Stars Confederation provides an external threat to the people of the Emerald Seas to motivate her to reach the next realm. So uh best for Ling Qi to start working out things in regards to the General as she isn't going to conveniently age out before CRX/LQ need to deal with Shenhua, and a failure to do so is pretty much an instant civil war.

Hopefully Ling Qi will do the glowing red eyes bit cause someone messed with the Moon. :V
 
Oliver_Twister said:
Let's not replay the Bloody Moon tribulation, when we decided to side with a higher power with values against ours and join a horde of violence out of fear.
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This is not a good argument, because both options can be interpreted as replaying the Bloody Moon tribulation. The problem is that the cause of that tribulation was that Ling Qi started and ended the scene with different beliefs. She was trying to sue for peace, only to fold when confronted with a power beyond her.

Ling Qi isn't trying to save Still Waters Deeping, and joined the effort to kill him specifically because he's fucking with her goals, so the tension you're talking about doesn't exist.
 
[X] She would skulk as was her wont, her nature. In the boiling mist and the burning labyrinth, she would be as a shadow, a voice singing unseen.
 
[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.
 
It should also be noted that we're cultivating Winter's Crown during this tribulation. Embodying fire kinda runs counter to that.

We're Cold and Winter that inevitably freezes the old to give space for new things to grow. This cultivation action improves our Winter trait. Embodying fire and steel kinda runs counter to that and messes up imagery, imo.

However, being ourselves means we stay the same. There are many times where LQ uses Cold and ice in the Liminal. Following our nature would be more conducive to our trait upgrade here.
 
[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.
 
[X] She would skulk as was her wont, her nature. In the boiling mist and the burning labyrinth, she would be as a shadow, a voice singing unseen.
 
No safety huh, well in that case might as well ride it out and stick to the conviction that brought us in here with the sovereign sword in hand.

[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.
 
[X] She would skulk as was her wont, her nature. In the boiling mist and the burning labyrinth, she would be as a shadow, a voice singing unseen.
 
Calling Xia Ren a fascist isnt right, she is a nationalist. Which, today is obviously the same thing as fascism, but thats not what Xia Ren means. The Emerald Seas as its own distinct thing, rather than just disparate, rival clans tided togeather by brute force is something Ling Qi herself has pushed, both is correspondence and in the play where she portraied herself as Tsu.

Xia Ren is a very extreme version, she is a direct reaction the the Hui keeping the Emerald Seas disunited, but she and Ling Qi shares a lot.
 
"Looks at the second option."
Skulking is Ling Qi's nature? The girl is as subtle as a dozen Zheng binge-snorting the finest cocaine on the continent!
She's not a manipulator in the shadows like Jiao. She's an avalanche coming to rock your world.
This entire summit is her doing, and anyone with eyes good enough to see Mt. Tai realizes that.
She goes on an investigation to check out tampered mail, and she ends up dramatically saving a Viscounty's capital city from being blown up by the Ith-ia.
She holds a play, and she casts herself in the role of Tsu, an incredibly controversial choice (remember, Tsu usually isn't directly depicted at all in ES plays).
She is the foremost lieutenant to the heir to the province, and she embraces her spirits as family. She has set her little sister on the path to becoming the goddess of coming winter for the entire southern Emerald Seas.

And there are many more examples like that. Ling Qi may be good at sneaking, but it's not her nature.
 
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My gut feeling is that there's no wrong option here. There were wrong options earlier on in the Summit, but this is a choice between dangers. There might be a choice that is harder than the other.

[ ] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.

This is the option that will directly aggravate old memories of subordination, most obviously the Bloody Moon Tribulation. We will need to guard ourselves from becoming overly swept up in Unity, Progress, Destruction. But at the same time our own son is a spirit of Destruction (and also Renewal). This could be a good chance to engage with Destructive Fire, with the risks being related to Xia Ren's relatively known Way. We have done plenty of things by-the-book, including a notable example where YRS expected us to not immediately bail on something and report it to our supervisors which was meant to be the introduction of the White Sky. (That was very funny, in hindsight).

There's resonance along the lines of Progress and along the lines of Destruction/Ending

[] She would skulk as was her wont, her nature. In the boiling mist and the burning labyrinth, she would be as a shadow, a voice singing unseen.

This is less known, because we know Still Waters Deeping less and I think we've had less stressors along the lines of "you are stuck as a shadow". We also know less about Still Waters Deeping's Way than we do about Xia Ren's. What sort of mysteries can we learn in the shadows? What sort of foul things lurk in the dark?

Well, we know Shu Yue is out there in the dark. It's possible that we wouldn't be tangling with SWD in-terms-of-identity-bleed but Shu Yue. Shu Yue does have a thread around our finger already, wouldn't be shocking if the attempt to be unnoticed while having some of Shu Yue's Qi pumping through us led to bleed through.

It's a bit more of a mystery box, I think. I'm unsure what the dark holds.
 
[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.

The Crucible is so antithetical to Ling Qi's Way that I think serious influence isn't a danger. I think the worst outcome here is that Ling Qi takes damage to Concepts Xia Ren opposes, and there's worse things. After all, the danger of hermit cultivation is that you're never tempered by conflict against that which you disagree with and that which calls you into question, such that you break against a blow someone properly strengthened could have withstood.

Hanging on the edge of the Crucible's raging heat and proving she can endure it will be a good thing for her, in the long run. Doubly so when Xia Ren will eventually be an enemy. When the power gap between them is closed and it becomes a conflict primarily of ideas, better that she already knows how to endure the flames.
 
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[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.
 
Anderein said:
The Crucible is so antithetical to Ling Qi's Way that I think serious influence isn't a danger. I think the worst outcome here is that Ling Qi takes damage to Concepts Xia Ren opposes, and there's worse things.
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That seems more reason to go with the other option really.

Besides, I think the shadows are a safer option since it's our turf. We are already risking ourselves a lot by being there, I don't really see what throwing ourselves into the fire will get us, apart of conceptual wounds and more worry from the family.

Also, I think many just want to share the killing blow in spectacular fashion. I just don't see the reasoning.

Besides we will temper what we willl get and also the shadow option may help us in an art if what they say up there is true, people were really mad about losing this kind of opportunities before.
 
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I do love how both paths to sovereignty feel like they come from an understandable origin before warping to such horrifying extremes.
 
[X] She would soar, one spark among the conflagration. Today she was a voice of fire and steel, better to embrace that.
 
[X] She would skulk as was her wont, her nature. In the boiling mist and the burning labyrinth, she would be as a shadow, a voice singing unseen.

I may change it later, but for now my vote is this one
 
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