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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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[] Speak of Zeqing as a musician, and the way that your style and compositions changed from interacting with her. [More impersonal, easier to talk about. May offer some insights into music skills from introspection]

first date and we are already pushing ourselves pretty hard.
 
Well, it's not a disaster. This is honestly... a pretty standard new-to-dating dinner, so far.
yrsillar said:
Ling Qi shrugged uncomfortably. "...It's a private matter," she said, because she didn't have an answer.
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Ouch, right in the dantian.

[] Speak of Zeqing as a person, and the insights you gained from interacting with her
I'd rather commit to the "getting-to-know-you" route, especially because it will help us understand him if it goes OK.

(btw, @yrsillar, the first option doesn't have the description on the same line as the vote, while the second one does. I think you should standardize it or the vote will get confusing.)
 
[] Speak of Zeqing as a person, and the insights you gained from interacting with her
[More personal, may be difficult to articulate. More open, may prompt more personal responses in turn and unpack issues regarding Hanyi.]

I dig this ship, and better to have problems about Hanyi show upfront than become a hidden landmine.
 
[] Speak of Zeqing as a musician, and the way that your style and compositions changed from interacting with her. [More impersonal, easier to talk about. May offer some insights into music skills from introspection]

Ling Qi is already making an effort by being here, let's talk about a subject that she will be comfortable sharing.
 
I think with things being so awkward right now, it would be best to find some common ground to talk about. Specifically, music. While it may be a bit impersonal, it is something both Ling Qi and Bao Qian can get into and have a discussion about.

As such, I think:
[] Speak of Zeqing as a musician, and the way that your style and compositions changed from interacting with her. [More impersonal, easier to talk about. May offer some insights into music skills from introspection]
Is the option I'll be going for.
 
We need to use Carefree Mantle. Why cultivate it if we aren't going to use it.
 
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I think that talking about Ling Qi's insecurities about being responsible for Hanyi in an already awkward atmosphere with more or less a stranger is going way too fast.
Also, both enjoy music and it seems like an interesting enough topic to me for the first date.
 
It is also interesting to see one of the consequences of LQ quick rise and pace here. Outwardly it seems like she has integrated into cultivator culture, so people assume that she knows more then she actually does.

It probably plays into her being seen as aloof, she does not have the time or inclination to ask about stuff. And asking is seen as a weakness, so instead she stonewalls people and comes of as incredibly rude. Poor girl.
 
To be clear here Ling Qi is not going to blurt out deep insecurities here, its just talking about zeqing the person will necessarily involve talking about Hanyi, which might prompt introspection.
 
Talking about personal stuff was pretty disastrous in this chapter while the only time it seemed they we're actually having a conversation were when discussing more distant interests. I think we should give Qian some topics that won't shut down on him.

Hearing Ling Qi's views on Zeqing's music is also something we've not really done before and it would reflect greatly on ourselves since we're cultivating with it. What are Ling Qi's views on Winter and Death?
 
ImperatorV said:
It seems Ling Qi's inability to interact is mutual here. Bao really has no idea what to do with her.
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I think it's that he's used to people who know what they're doing. He went in expecting a slightly irregular version of a noble date with an up-and-coming cultivator, and he got someone almost clueless and barely holding onto the little decorum she understands to keep from freezing up or running away. He's good enough at social to notice Ling Qi wasn't exactly enjoying herself the way you'd expect someone to on a date, and he tiptoed juuust gingerly enough through the conversation that Six was able to keep things going well.
 
yrsillar said:
Ling Qi didn't answer. Because she didn't have much did she? She wanted power of course and… maybe recognition, but there were few ways to word her lofty ambition that didn't sound…. Childish. "I suppose I want to establish a strong foundation for my family and support Lady Cai's efforts."

Bao Qian frowned. "It is fine if you do not want to reveal anything private, but surely you must have some ambition more personal than that? Something you want to do?"

Ling Qi huffed irritably. "Fine, I want to achieve the peak of cultivation. I want to rise to the Eighth realm on my own strength."

She expected polite laughter or perhaps a joke to break the awkward atmosphere. Instead, Bao regarded her curiously, as if waiting for her to continue. When she did not, he frowned. "But what do you want to achieve? Is there some matter of the spirits you wish to change? Some goal you wish to achieve that only the peak of temporal power can allow?"

Ling Qi shrugged uncomfortably. "...It's a private matter," she said, because she didn't have an answer.
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That's a filthy lie. She wants what any person born in the gutter and stepped on by those above them want. Not some lofty ambition, but something simple and primal. She wants to be free, to not be frightened anymore of others and that she will take her things or her life.

Simplified, Ling Qi wants what all people want:

To be safe, to be free, to be loved.
For those she loves to be there for her without holding her back, and for them to be safe as well.

She seeks power, because she knows how bad life gets when you have none. Grand ambitions will not enter her field of thought until she and those she care for are safe, and in a setting like this? They won't be safe until she can either tell the Emperor and the Empire to take a hike, or have good enough relations with it and those near her, that she needs not worry about their plotting.
 
I think that since we allready chose to go full social, it'll be better to talk from the heart. Ling Qi is not good at being impersonal or formal, which is why I voted for the informal option last vote, even though it lost (thankfully, the dice saved our relationship) and which is why I'll do it again here.

[] Speak of Zeqing as a person, and the insights you gained from interacting with her
[More personal, may be difficult to articulate. More open, may prompt more personal responses in turn and unpack issues regarding Hanyi.]
 
primemountain said:
That's a filthy lie. She wants what any person born in the gutter and stepped on by those above them want. Not some lofty ambition, but something simple and primal. She wants to be free, to not be frightened anymore of others and that she will take her things or her life.

Simplified, Ling Qi wants what all people want:

To be safe, to be free, to be loved.
For those she loves to be there for her without holding her back, and for them to be safe as well.

She seeks power, because she knows how bad life gets when you have none. Grand ambitions will not enter her field of thought until she and those she care for are safe, and in a setting like this? They won't be safe until she can either tell the Emperor and the Empire to take a hike, or have good enough relations with it and those near her, that she needs not worry about their plotting.
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Eh, its not a lie per se. Sometimes, things you know in your heart are hard to parse with logic and/or words, even to yourself.
 
Glad that Yrsillar clarified. I want to have that talk about our teacher as a person and having the possibility of the conversation shift towards our ward/daughter/little sis and the fact that Qi really has no idea of what she is doing just intrest me.

[] Speak of Zeqing as a person, and the insights you gained from interacting with her
[More personal, may be difficult to articulate. More open, may prompt more personal responses in turn and unpack issues regarding Hanyi.]
 
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