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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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Moratorium is over.

[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
Ultimately, I think I want LQ to be someone who treats her friends and spirits as ends rather than as means, taking their concerns seriously and respecting them as people, and I think this does that better than the other option: it directly engages with Sixiang's actual source of unhappiness rather than deflecting to another issue.
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
I think it's important to help Sixiang's current apparently suicidal feelings rather than focusing on the long term, here. When a friend of yours is suicidal because of /important reason/, you first focus on making them feel better, then deal with /important reason/.

Everything she would say there would still be honest, it would be just more focused on trying to actually help Sixiang feel better and the real reason Sixiang accepted to be Ling Qi's spirit.

[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]
 
[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]

The domain way analysis given earlier convinced me. Though I may have preferred the other option from a story perspective.
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
Kinda wanna talk to them about their actual troubles rather than leverage the bond to get them to stay. Feels less manipulative, though that could be an appropriately desperate plea. Loss of Zeqing could also easily factor into a more pragmatic approach in not wanting to lose anyone else but then her lessons led to LQ trying to acknowledge the desires of others. Either fits to be honest and I imagine both would make for impassioned scenes but this feels more sincere.
 
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[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]
 
Does a temporary high of shared laughter really fill the gnawing feeling of inadequacy? I, for one, do not think so!
Sixiang is not just a random being, Sixiang is a person and most importantly FAMILY to Ling Qi. A band-aid may help against the initial wound of the moment, but the band-aid doesn't do anything against the poison in her mind.
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
Grigori said:
Kinda wanna talk to them about their actual troubles rather than leverage the bond to get them to stay. Feels less manipulative, though that could be an appropriately desperate plea to get them to stay. Loss of Zeqing could also easily factor into a more pragmatic approach in not wanting to lose anyone else but then her lessons led to LQ trying to acknowledge the desires of others she'd want in her home. Either fits to be honest and I imagine both would make for impassioned scenes but this feels more sincere.
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It's not just 'to get them to stay', though. It's effectively suicide prevention here, as what Sixiang is against is living.

I think both are very sincere, it's just that one focus on making Sixiang feel better now while the other try to play therapist. I'd much prefer Ling Qi focus on making Sixiang feeling better rather than going 'Oh, she killed herself but that's OK, I tried to tell her that she could find her place'.
 
There is no good answer here. Either we make Sixiang hang out with us and probably not die or like a good friend we tell her that there are bad things going on that will happen and being scared is not going to be pleasant or impermanent.

Can we get some help because we are not qualified for this?
How about Xin or some other person that can tell us about the nature of life and how it is hard?
We don't have the experience here.

What are the odds Sixiang is going to die?
 
[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]
 
X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]
 
Arkeus said:
I think both are very sincere, it's just that one focus on making Sixiang feel better now while the other try to play therapist. I'd much prefer Ling Qi focus on making Sixiang feeling better rather than going 'Oh, she killed herself but that's OK, I tried to tell her that she could find her place'.
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I think this is very unlikely to happen, but that's an OOC argument. From Ling Qi's point of view, this might be a very real possibility, in which case the argument for the first option is a lot stronger. This overwhelms all the other arguments for me, which might be why I tried not to pay too much attention to it, but it isn't something that should be ignored.

[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]
 
Arkeus said:
It's not just 'to get them to stay', though. It's effectively suicide prevention here, as what Sixiang is against is living.

I think both are very sincere, it's just that one focus on making Sixiang feel better now while the other try to play therapist. I'd much prefer Ling Qi focus on making Sixiang feeling better rather than going 'Oh, she killed herself but that's OK, I tried to tell her that she could find her place'.
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Personal bonds feels like it'd go either platitudes or convincing them that suicide is wrong because it'd hurt LQ. Which it would but I'd rather Sixiang be convinced to live because they want to live rather than because of the pain their death would cause.

Also not sure how appropriate projecting suicide onto a muse's life cycle is
 
yrsillar said:
"Cai Renxiang our situations do not compare. However, I attempted to step into the role of my Aunt and even… even my Mother, this failed. It is only in stepping out of their shadows that I have begun to grow properly again."
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Yeah, that storm of acidic rain is a real piece of work, and I can't even begin to imagine what can be achieved by a Bai who cultivates Earth. I mean, we can see Shen Hu and what he does, and I feel that is just a pale reflection of what the Bai library holds.
 
[X] Their personal bond. They did not know each other as well as Ling Qi might like, but… Sixiang was her friend and her muse, they had shouted at the Bloody Moon for her, and helped her through so much. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on their personal relationship and growing friendship. More effective rhetoric, but downplays Sixiang's problems and may only be a stopgap. Higher chance of Positive Outcome]

[X] Sixiang's troubles directly. Ling Qi was no great philosopher, but she knew that ugliness did not preclude beauty. It was true that things were hard, and Sixiang was not violent by nature but… there was still worth in the waking world. [Ling Qi's arguments focus on Sixiang's problems with recent events and how to reconcile them with their nature. More likely to lead to a long term solution. Lower chance of Positive outcome.]

This really is a tough one. I'm approval voting since I can't decide. While the first would keep the Sixiang we know and love here, it would also be kinda manipulative and selfish. Our reason for it is to save Six from suicide but in-story, LQs reason would be the greedy part of darkness that was so like Zeqing. Covetous of the people you love, keeping them for your own wishes. I don't want to encourage that part of LQ, I really don't like it. Also there's a good chance that this band-aid solution will fall apart after Six sees more warfare.--and then itll be really bad bc we put off the problem. Basically I think theres a chance itll be even harder to solve later. On the other hand, Six speculated leaving is the closest thing they will experience to death. If their speculation is correct then this is basically suicide prevention...
 
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Grigori said:
Personal bonds feels like it'd go either platitudes or convincing them that suicide is wrong because it'd hurt LQ. Which it would but I'd rather Sixiang be convinced to live because they want to live rather than because of the pain their death would cause.

Also not sure how appropriate projecting suicide onto a muse's life cycle is
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While we can play philosophy on how death works for a muse, a good part of why Sixiang is freaking out right now is because she is afraid to live and die... so suicide is relevant enough at least from the PoV of Sixiang herself, and certainly Ling Qi would not think "well, she is a muse" if Sixiang commits goes on the next great adventure.

Yes, I'd rather Sixiang be convinced to live because they find an answer to their struggle rather than because they are reminded of the good times... but most of all, I'd rather Sixiang live.
 
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