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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

I am confuzzled... Meizhen is "public"? Really? When she's close friends with both humans involved? Are spirits public now?

Frankly, I find myself thinking that Meizhen being present can only improve the situation.
 
CRX has made Ling Qi accounts of past families that got more and more decadent as their rulers learned to surround themselves by sycophant, so both Ling Qi and CRX herself are well aware of how easy it is for a Dynasty to being righteous and slowly become more and more corrupt as the generations pass and every 'advisors' is constantly lying to the ruler because they don't want to be replaced by bringing bad news.

In good part, Ling Qi herself is putting herself in a position where she has the opportunity to prevent such a thing from happening. They are still in private, in a personal moment. If CRX can't take bad news now and begins to prefer always hearing things that are easier for her... well, it's also something that Ling Qi must learn early.

[x] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[x] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

My thoughts is that the safe option is the stupidest choice we can make here. And one that has been made multiple times that led to shitty aftermaths. The bloody moon, where people pulled back traumatized us to an extent and still lurks around. The time where we could have revealed our crime to CRX and it was pulled back, leaving an emotionally wasted moment and something that has not been brought up again (something the safe voters said it probably would). If you look closely, it's the same argument. We have pushed to far today, or it's raw, or it's humiliating, or we can't say this. So far, I have seen no sign that bluntness is not the way to actually get through to miss blunt CRX. And we kind of need to, and there is no indication we will get this exact chance and waiting could harm her.

Now then another thing. The Meizhen's thing. Really? She can be wrong you know, and that has actually been a big part of the quest. Just because she thinks a subordinate shouldn't talk back the way we are (and the bai's history with vassals kind of speaks for itself) and she might be right doesn't mean what we are doing is not needed.

Lastly, people I think are giving Shenhua too much credit. She isn't some huge puppeteer, or at least not to the extent where literally everything happing to CRX is her goal. If she is that means CRX is right and there is nothing we can do to help her. Nor is she a Tsundere. I mean...really? The person who makes a habit of showing off her affection in public, of being as dominating and in control of any situation she is present in is Tsundere? The woman who harmed her child with her presence, then "outfitted" her with Liming afterwards? I don't think she is some grand evil. But she is fucking tyrannical, seemingly not that emphatic, controlling, and very direct. That doesn't mean people are not wrong about how she uplifts and gives people a chance to make of themselves what they want. But we have no where near enough information to make the assumptions people are making and her general actions towards CRX does not put her in a good light, at least as a mother.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

clutch and strive, Ling Qi—do not snivel
 
[x] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by Killer_Whale on Dec 12, 2019 at 8:27 AM, finished with 137 posts and 66 votes.
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[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

Remember how she recruited Ling Qi because of her steadfast loyalty to her friends? And that she said she intended to earn that same status? It's time to show that she's getting what she asked for.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
sergit said:
Oh goodness, now whenever we reject someone's feelings we might have to consider whether we're causing a domain snarl on them. And if our words to CRX risk causing one on her too... we might start gaining a reputation of "Professional Instigator of Cultivation Snarls".
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To be honest, if a few words are enough to trigger a snarl then the dude/tte already have a deep problem.
Besides, i could see the above as being a good reputation. As the previous chap shown us triggering a snarl early lowers it's impact, so any logical cultivator would want to have some trigger his (potential) snarls early.


TotallyNotEvil said:
So, is Renxiang growing into her own something she accounted for, and molded her so the probable ways in which she'd grow are desirable, or is she actually trying to buckle the rule by making a real Mini-Me?
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i'm going to go on a leg and assume she considers the inevitable slow down and stagnation CRX will experience while she is simply copying her way, and the follow-up struggles to discover her own personal way/Dao as inevitable and needed steps CRX must take of her own initiative.

If we're ignoring the cartoonish Stupid!Evil reasons of classic xianxia (or shounen like KilllaKill) then Shenhua might be pushing CRX in a direction not because she wants her to go that way, but because doing so will, eventually, make her grow up as a person/cultivator.



[x] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
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[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

I don't really get the issue. Shenhua would definitely have done things differently if she had wanted Renxiang to become exactly like herself.
 
Mhm, I kind of dislike both options:

[]Offer Encouragement. It was only a single art, and everyone knew that a cultivator could not perfectly copy another. Like Ling Qi's own problem, it was only a bump in the path.

As mentioned before, the sugarcoating here isnt doing her any favors and I dont think it is the message we want to give her.

[] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

This on the other hand, turns the positive encouragement too confrontational in my opinion. I dont think this is the way to answer someone who just trusted you enough to tell you a painful secret (which this obviously is to her)

guess only one thing to do:
[jk] let Bai Meizhen answer first. She is likely going to word this way better than Ling Qi. We can then build on her argument to offer our own support
 
yrsillar said:
Well I was hardly sure," Ling Qi huffed. "...Ah, I invited Lady Cai as well."

Meizhen raised an eyebrow. "I am surprised. I doubt she will come however. Cai renxiang is not one to change plans midday easily."

Ling Qi shuffled her feet uncomfortably, glancing to her side. Over at the hill Cui had swelled in size, at nearly fifteen meters long, the once tiny serpent flexed her coils with the air of one cramped from a large carriage ride. "...I may have been somewhat forceful in my invitation," she hedged, not Meeting Meizhen's eyes.

Despite that she could feel Meizhen's drilling into her. "...Ling Qi, what did you do."

"You had met her just before," Ling Qi replied, dodging the question. "She needed to get out of that office and her own thoughts."

Meizhen's stared her down, looking deeply unimpressed. "You are not raising my confidence with your avoidance, Ling Qi."

"I may have implied that she was failing to live up to her ideals by refusing help," Ling Qi mumbled, looking down. "...I'm right though," she added stubbornly. Somehow that only made the ache in her dantian twinge more.

Ling Qi was treated to the sight of the eternally elegant Bai Meizhen closing her eyes and reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Ling Qi, you cannot just speak to your superiors that way," she said in exasperation.

"It was all in private, I'm not a fool," Ling Qi replied defensively.

"Even so!" Meizhen declared in a huff. "Honestly, you are lucky that Cai Renxiang is so permissive with her direct subordinates. You take the lessons of Argent Mirror much too far."
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I will never ever get tired of seeing us cause Best Snek to become exasperated with our antics. Just seeing her normally elegant facade crumble when she hears we did something sily/dumb is too funny.

[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
Yeah know, I have to wonder if Shenhua gave CRX the exact number of arts required to get enough insight to go through the entire Green realm.
 
[] Offer Encouragement. It was only a single art, and everyone knew that a cultivator could not perfectly copy another. Like Ling Qi's own problem, it was only a bump in the path.
[] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.

I'm not overly fond of the options.

It's not clear if we're meant to be choosing between:
Aknowledge that divergence is inevitable, in an encouraging way.
And
Aknowledge that divergence is inevitable in an implicitly dismissive way.

Or

Encourage Renxiang to ignore the divergence as a minor aberration from Shenhua's path, which she will otherwise be emulating.
And
Aknowledge that this early divergence is not a minor abberation that will smooth out over time and that Renxiang needs to think seriously about creating a personal path which does not intentionally emulate Shenhua's path .

It feels like something of a false dichotomy.

Edit: maybe that's just me though, making the distinction is difficult.
 
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qwolfs said:
Aknowledge that divergence is inevitable, in an encouraging way.
And
Aknowledge that divergence is inevitable in an implicitly dismissive way.
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Why would that be a meaningful vote where Yrsillar noted that he couldn't really give us much help regarding the options without swinging the vote one way or the other?

qwolfs said:
Encourage Renxiang to ignore the divergence as a minor aberration from Shenhua's path, which she will otherwise be emulating.
And
Aknowledge that this early divergence is not a minor abberation that will smooth out over time and that Renxiang needs to think seriously about creating a personal path which does not intentionally emulate Shenhua's path .
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This, on the other hand, is much more fitting a choice for what we've been told.
 
[X] Ask her if that is really so bad? The Third realm was where cultivators set the foundations which guided the rest of their road. Of course divergences would appear.
 
yrsillar said:
I may have implied that she was failing to live up to her ideals by refusing help," Ling Qi mumbled, looking down. "...I'm right though," she added stubbornly. Somehow that only made the ache in her dantian twinge more.
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Hmm, this part got me thinking. Ling Qi believes she's right, that Cai Renxiang isn't well and needs help, but that is also exacerbating her own heart demon. I think this is because she is still, at least partially, convinced she made the right choice with the assassin. But she might not be, and if she wasn't right, what does that mean about her path forward?

I think a big part of this vote is that, what advice Ling Qi gives CRX here is probably going to apply to her as well. Is this just a minor incompatibility that just needs to be overcome, or do the implications of this fracture have a deeper meaning in the road of her life that she should really look at?

That just makes me feel stronger for the second option, but it is interesting.
 
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