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

[x] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

Definitely this.
While yrsillar does not do trap choices, in my opinion the other choice is as close as it gets.
It devalues the individual to an alarming degree and it is not only dangerous, it is wrong.

It is dangerous, because if no individual is great, than ultimately no individual does matter and why should then any individual be preserved? Anyone, after all, is replaceable and thus could if not should be sacrificed for the good of all. This is literally Stalin's and Mao's approach to collectivism, and I won't be surprised that it was the trap the Hui fell into.

It is wrong, because individuals objectively do matter:
Ghenghiz Khan, Christopher Columbus, Tesla, Edison or in our current time Musk, Jobs…
All these men changed the history significantly, the world we live in right now would be very different if not for them.
Even in this very story, where the tale is now came about very much because of individual choices Ling Qi made.
She could have decided to not talk to Bai Meizhen, and never have her for a friend.
She could have not reached out to her mother, and would have never met her or her little sister.
She could have remained in the sect, and never had a diplomatic contact with another faction or be CRXs left hand.
Basically Snowblossom, all the people there who are living and working together literally would have been doing something utterly different if not for the actions of Ling Qi, actions of an individual. The Snoblossom community would not have existed if not for the individual Ling Qi.

Community is important, but so, most assuredly, is the individual.
And this is the view I support. Community supporting an individual amplifies his achievements, improving life for all individuals in it, be they great or small, subtle or obvious, strong or weak.
The other option, on the other hand, says that the community has an inherent power needed to achieve a goal for the community, improving life for the community, and sees people only as parts of the community. This view organically leads to the insight that parts are always exchangeable.

I admit that an argument for how this option is Stalinism and Maoism and we must remember the great and influential deeds of Elon Musk has if anything only convinced me that this option must be better than I thought:

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. No individual is great in all. Power united is greater than its parts.

[x] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

For me the key is the callout to the small and the subtle: in this formation they are still important. I feel like the first implies that a union of only powerful individuals without any dead weight is just as good as including mortals.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

As I said in the Discord, I like digging through trash as much as the next fella, but Unity of Blades is not usually my first choice and that is basically what Option 2 is. By not caring about the uniqueness inherent in multitude, it's just "Apes together Strong".

We've got better options.

Rereading the options, I think the biggest difference is how the last sentence or two modifies the previous ideas. They define the "many forces" that the first sentence references.

In the first the many forces are the people great and small, whereas in the second the forces through which power manifests are the specializations that individuals excel in.

adaer said:

Rereading the options, I think the biggest difference is how the last sentence or two modifies the previous ideas. They define the "many forces" that the first sentence references.

In the first the many forces are the people great and small, whereas in the second the forces through which power manifests are the specializations that individuals excel in.

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Great insight, I understand it similarly.

The first "unity" option is about the people as individuals, where cooperation between them aided by the possibilities granted through the support structure of a community results in achievements greater than any could have created alone.

The second "parts" option doesn't see people as individuals but as sets of skills, where enough combined skills is needed for a community to function and improve itself.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

Never forget this all started when a Mortal girl looked at a Mid-Yellow murdersnake and said "she looks lonely".

Hmm, I think some people are misreading 2 as "nobody is great" rather than "nobody is great at absolutely everything" which I think is the intended reading.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

People mean more than their roles in their group. But greater diversity makes everyone better.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. No individual is great in all. Power united is greater than its parts.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

I'm not entirely convinced either way by the fusion vs combo argument; I just like explicitly acknowledging the small and subtle.

tenchifew said:

It is dangerous, because if no individual is great, than ultimately no individual does matter

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"Great in all.", not "Great at all."
In all ways (or Ways).

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.

Suddenly feeling a lot like a Wandering Inn Antinium crossover.

My read? "amplify in unity" is a wide-scale party buff. "Power united is greater than its parts" is a combo move.

I rather like party buffs.

[X] Power is the ability to act on or resist the world, it manifests through many forces. The great and the small, the subtle and the strong, amplify in unity.