I'm pretty sure she's currently running an Art that makes her look like the military type whether or not she is.
If she was an independent cultivator, I'd take the Arts she's using as indicative, but...
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
If she was an independent cultivator, I'd take the Arts she's using as indicative, but...
- Location
- foraging for beans
She's a personal favorite of, and shares a family name with, the very military focused General Xia. She's also in the elite personal guard of the Cai at a fairly young age. Sometimes things really are what they seem, and LQ's observations of her body language point so far to her being fairly "military" in attitude.
Trying not to make people uncomfortable by being less formal than they expect or potentially want is being friendly in its own way.
Last edited:
Is that the first time we've had the official Cai sigil described? Sure is... something.
Arts and Ways and Clans being the way they are, she almost certainly is the military type. Not as much as she appears, since as I've mentioned the appearance is purposefully cultivated, but regardless.
If Xia Lin is what she appears to be, a soldier version of CRX, then maybe the friendly option wouldn't be best. As an example I can't imagine if we'd tried to introduce ourselves to CRX using the friendly way it would have worked the way slowly ingraining ourselves did. Because CRX, and likely Xia Lin, don't function like that. Xia Lin being comfortable in formality is the friendlier option and I think a spar would do far more to help us get to know each other than a meeting with our rowdy spirits that she may not know how to deal with.
Manipulation can be sincere, that's basically our whole stick. We manipulate people into being our friends all the time but manipulation is considered a dirty work so we don't think of it that way.
LQ's observations of her body language are explicitly called into question this update, and as a scion of a heavily militaristic family (which is what "in the elite personal guard of the Cai at a young age" means) I'd expect her to have been raised to act the part regardless of her personal interests.
Doesn't mean she's not militaristic either, of course - especially since, whatever else she may be, she's clearly capable of keeping up with the Cai's elite guard.
I wonder how Xia Lin and Xia Ren are related. Daughter? Granddaughter? Given that they look alike, possibly no further away than than.
"I'm sending my daughter with you." <----- Way to put the pressure on from all sides, eh?
"I'm sending my daughter with you." <----- Way to put the pressure on from all sides, eh?
- Location
- foraging for beans
I mean, maybe she isn't. But it's much better to assume that the scion of a heavily militaristic family, who has also been admitted into the Cai's elite guard at a young age (which is a separate thing from being a Xia scion), is a military type and is therefore more personally comfortable with military-type formality.
In my personal experience, it's better to accommodate people's expected comfort zones than to just assume you know what they're OK with. And all the evidence we have points towards a person comfortable with formality, not an informal family introduction.
Last edited:
i wanna go business casual or something
so friendly i guess?
so friendly i guess?
- Location
- Spain
If we introduce her to our bonded spirits righht away, we will be exposing her to Zhengui, Hanyi and Sixiang.
Zhengui is a pretty accomodating frend, and will likely provide no conflict.
Hanyi has been doing her best to be more formal lately, but she's still a bit of a brat. If she decides she doesn't like Xia Lin, she might just act petty and bratty to her. It feels like the Xia are part of the imperialest faction, which is not who Hanyi's song catered to, so odds are her faction and likely her do not approve/ appreciate Hanyi's songs, which may cause soe tensions between them.
Sixiand seems to be fairly uncomfortable around these Cai-approved, unfeeling steel warrior types. I don't think she will be confrontational, but Six is not hiding her mild distaste, and she might try to tease and provoke some emotional reaction from this very professional looking girl, who will likely not appreciate having a moon spirit trying to make her feel awkward, even if it is just playful teasing.
Introducing the spirits to her when we still don't even know her may backfire spectacularly. Plus, if we spar with her and impress her with our power, maybe she will respect us a little as expedition leader. Being too informal right off the bat may lead to her thinking something like "This person is going to be commanding me? Is she even worthy of being Lady Cai's successor's aide?" Let us prove that we are worthy and that we can act professionally, while also taking this chance to gauge whether inroducing her to the spiit family we have will work well, or not. Plus, she may have a spirit of her own she'd like us to meet. Lt's see if she brings them up first.
Zhengui is a pretty accomodating frend, and will likely provide no conflict.
Hanyi has been doing her best to be more formal lately, but she's still a bit of a brat. If she decides she doesn't like Xia Lin, she might just act petty and bratty to her. It feels like the Xia are part of the imperialest faction, which is not who Hanyi's song catered to, so odds are her faction and likely her do not approve/ appreciate Hanyi's songs, which may cause soe tensions between them.
Sixiand seems to be fairly uncomfortable around these Cai-approved, unfeeling steel warrior types. I don't think she will be confrontational, but Six is not hiding her mild distaste, and she might try to tease and provoke some emotional reaction from this very professional looking girl, who will likely not appreciate having a moon spirit trying to make her feel awkward, even if it is just playful teasing.
Introducing the spirits to her when we still don't even know her may backfire spectacularly. Plus, if we spar with her and impress her with our power, maybe she will respect us a little as expedition leader. Being too informal right off the bat may lead to her thinking something like "This person is going to be commanding me? Is she even worthy of being Lady Cai's successor's aide?" Let us prove that we are worthy and that we can act professionally, while also taking this chance to gauge whether inroducing her to the spiit family we have will work well, or not. Plus, she may have a spirit of her own she'd like us to meet. Lt's see if she brings them up first.
I wish we could introduce our spirits AND spar. Friendly because there is no harm, at the end of the day she is a professional and won't let her opinions interfere with the mission. Spar because I want to know where we're at compared to an elite soldier of the province.
Last edited:
I'm for going formal. Six themself said the moon has many faces, so we shouldn't think we have to go one way as the true to character way. We can be professional without channeling Meizhen, whom herself is trying to not be so aloof and frosty. It's easier to start formal then go casual then start casual and go to formal.
Plus it seems like introducing spirits isn't necessarily something one does right when you meet somebody barring entering somebody's home. How long did it take us to intro Zhengui and Hanyi to Renxiang? Did we ever actually get the names of Liao's spirits from them?
Plus it seems like introducing spirits isn't necessarily something one does right when you meet somebody barring entering somebody's home. How long did it take us to intro Zhengui and Hanyi to Renxiang? Did we ever actually get the names of Liao's spirits from them?
Last edited:
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
As far as I can remember this is the second scene where Ling Qi is doing stitching. Last time she was working on a snowflake design. This time she is working on a snowflake design. I expected better Ling Qi. It's been almost a year and you have a muse of creativity. Is your entire stitching portfolio snowflakes?
- Location
- United States of America
Good thing each snowflake is unique!
- Location
- CA
[] Keep things formal between you, show her around the Sect and discuss the mission and expectations, perhaps have a spar?
I think the thing to keep in mind is that Ling Qi and Xia Lin are not social equals in this exact situation, regardless of whether they would be if they met on other grounds. Right now, Ling Qi isn't acting as Ling Qi, she's acting as Cai Renxiang's Retainer, and Xia Lin is a subordinate assigned to work under CRX on Duchess Cai Shenhua's behalf. Sure, Xia Lin is working on Xia Ren's behalf, but in this specific case I'd strongly suspect Ling Qi-as-proxy outranks Xia-Lin-as-proxy. (This is probably also why Xia Lin was assigned as adjutant, as someone who doesn't have "excess" cultivation: CRX is in charge here.)
And that being the case, Ling Qi has a larger degree of latitude to dictate the conversational pace and mode than usual, and Xia Lin has less than her. Which means that being friendly gives Xia Lin rope to potentially hang herself socially, and that's stressful to deal with even if it's not something Ling Qi is seeking to take advantage of--Ling Qi doesn't yet have a province-wide reputation for preferring certain social mores, which means that Xia Lin isn't going to want to take chances.
So in this situation, being formal lets Xia Lin be more comfortable, because it ensures that matters stay in a familiar ground while she's getting to know Ling Qi and preparing for the situation. I'm inclined to place more preference on her comfort than ours when we're the ones who have the power.
I think the thing to keep in mind is that Ling Qi and Xia Lin are not social equals in this exact situation, regardless of whether they would be if they met on other grounds. Right now, Ling Qi isn't acting as Ling Qi, she's acting as Cai Renxiang's Retainer, and Xia Lin is a subordinate assigned to work under CRX on Duchess Cai Shenhua's behalf. Sure, Xia Lin is working on Xia Ren's behalf, but in this specific case I'd strongly suspect Ling Qi-as-proxy outranks Xia-Lin-as-proxy. (This is probably also why Xia Lin was assigned as adjutant, as someone who doesn't have "excess" cultivation: CRX is in charge here.)
And that being the case, Ling Qi has a larger degree of latitude to dictate the conversational pace and mode than usual, and Xia Lin has less than her. Which means that being friendly gives Xia Lin rope to potentially hang herself socially, and that's stressful to deal with even if it's not something Ling Qi is seeking to take advantage of--Ling Qi doesn't yet have a province-wide reputation for preferring certain social mores, which means that Xia Lin isn't going to want to take chances.
So in this situation, being formal lets Xia Lin be more comfortable, because it ensures that matters stay in a familiar ground while she's getting to know Ling Qi and preparing for the situation. I'm inclined to place more preference on her comfort than ours when we're the ones who have the power.
Xia Lin seems to me like the kind of person who knows what she wants, to be a perfect soldier, and is happiest when doing that. This vote is between being professional and friendly but I think we can already guess which of the two Xia Lin herself would choose. In my mind she would choose to be exemplary and prepare for the mission rather than go about trying to make friends. What we need to do then is let her be professional but in the future try to convince her that professionalism and friendship aren't mutually exclusive rather than that friendship should be prioritized at the cost of professionalism like the second vote implies. Choose formality now so we can sneak in friendship later.
With CRX we're trying to help her be more human because we've noted how unhappy she is with her mother's influence but Xia Lin seems content, eager even, and that means we shouldn't try to change her or brute force friendship when she knows what she'd rather do. Lets meet her half way and build from there because I don't trust our ability to befriend her with our perception blocked.
Last edited:
- Location
- The Space Between
There is a problem with uniform cultivation in that it requires all to follow the same paths even if they are hypothetically unique. If the unit is to be a machine, it is possible to carve each individual snowflake into a gear that is as uniform as is practical in the context of the whole machine.
Developments and outcroppings that branch too divergently mess up the mechanism and must be pruned. Exact standards. Metal logic. Make use of individual talents, but only within bounds of designed Machine. Machine should be able to train and flex into new shapes if elements advance in useful ways. Integration of new powers and unique paths should be possible, but require training/crafting to accommodate and become-proficient-with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I expect this cog to be military, teeth and metal. As we know about the militarily inclined, they tend to have certain kinds of personalities. Sun Lilling, Ji Rong, Kang, Wang, Sword-Boy pre-asskicking, Xiulan, Meizhen. These personalities are built for confrontations, and some revel in it while others use it for a variety of real-politk purposes.
She is a talent. She has won incredible honor to be a Sergeant in the White Plumes, and now assigned as the attache for an external diplomatic meeting.
Showing her happiness on her face? That's interesting and unexpected. Xia Ren may perform her duty, but I would not expect joy in such.
Xia Lin finds joy? What path has she taken? What insights has she learned? Who is Xia Lin?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am going to be voting for Friendly for a few reasons.
1: It's sincerely how we feel. We are a pretty friendly person, ever since we got here we've been unerringly friendly to those we wish to befriend. Xia Lin could be a friend.
2: It introduces our spirits in a co-equal peer way that is absent in the formal version. We are "Traditionalist" in that sense, and if that's going to be an issue we need to see that sooner rather than later.
3: It is almost certainly not Xia Lin's preference. We do know that the informal action (from Xia Lin's end) will be with:
A Scion of Bai's White Caste
The Loyal and Talented (Commoner) Second Retainer to Heiress Renxiang, who is of similar cultivation to Xia Lin
A Fire-Wood Tortoise ?XuanWu?
An Ice Spirit Child?
?An attractive Moon spirit of the Dreamer?
and potentially Cui, if Meizhen deigns to join our escapade or if she (hilariously) completely does not react to our informality and behaves as if we're acting 100% normally.
This is an extremely high pressure Diplomacy situation, and an entirely friendly one (but she might not know that). This is a good opportunity to push Xia Lin in a way that we would most need to worry about on this Diplomatic Envoy.
Can Xia Lin roll with extremely strange/stressful Diplomatic interactions well? Or should we keep a handle on her, in a diplomatic sense, to make sure she does not cause an incident of some kind.
We can assume Xia Lin will be an exemplary military asset. I expect her military competency to be stronger than ours. A spar will give us both a strong measure of one another in regards to conflict. But this is a peace-mission. We should get a measure of how she reacts to high-pressure surprise diplomacy. Friendliness does that better than formality
Developments and outcroppings that branch too divergently mess up the mechanism and must be pruned. Exact standards. Metal logic. Make use of individual talents, but only within bounds of designed Machine. Machine should be able to train and flex into new shapes if elements advance in useful ways. Integration of new powers and unique paths should be possible, but require training/crafting to accommodate and become-proficient-with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I expect this cog to be military, teeth and metal. As we know about the militarily inclined, they tend to have certain kinds of personalities. Sun Lilling, Ji Rong, Kang, Wang, Sword-Boy pre-asskicking, Xiulan, Meizhen. These personalities are built for confrontations, and some revel in it while others use it for a variety of real-politk purposes.
She is a talent. She has won incredible honor to be a Sergeant in the White Plumes, and now assigned as the attache for an external diplomatic meeting.
Showing her happiness on her face? That's interesting and unexpected. Xia Ren may perform her duty, but I would not expect joy in such.
Xia Lin finds joy? What path has she taken? What insights has she learned? Who is Xia Lin?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am going to be voting for Friendly for a few reasons.
1: It's sincerely how we feel. We are a pretty friendly person, ever since we got here we've been unerringly friendly to those we wish to befriend. Xia Lin could be a friend.
2: It introduces our spirits in a co-equal peer way that is absent in the formal version. We are "Traditionalist" in that sense, and if that's going to be an issue we need to see that sooner rather than later.
3: It is almost certainly not Xia Lin's preference. We do know that the informal action (from Xia Lin's end) will be with:
A Scion of Bai's White Caste
The Loyal and Talented (Commoner) Second Retainer to Heiress Renxiang, who is of similar cultivation to Xia Lin
A Fire-Wood Tortoise ?XuanWu?
An Ice Spirit Child?
?An attractive Moon spirit of the Dreamer?
and potentially Cui, if Meizhen deigns to join our escapade or if she (hilariously) completely does not react to our informality and behaves as if we're acting 100% normally.
This is an extremely high pressure Diplomacy situation, and an entirely friendly one (but she might not know that). This is a good opportunity to push Xia Lin in a way that we would most need to worry about on this Diplomatic Envoy.
Can Xia Lin roll with extremely strange/stressful Diplomatic interactions well? Or should we keep a handle on her, in a diplomatic sense, to make sure she does not cause an incident of some kind.
We can assume Xia Lin will be an exemplary military asset. I expect her military competency to be stronger than ours. A spar will give us both a strong measure of one another in regards to conflict. But this is a peace-mission. We should get a measure of how she reacts to high-pressure surprise diplomacy. Friendliness does that better than formality
[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.
Ling Qi is in her best when friendly and sincere, and we have Meizhen with us, so no need for more coldness. Though I am tempted by the spar
Ling Qi is in her best when friendly and sincere, and we have Meizhen with us, so no need for more coldness. Though I am tempted by the spar
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
Eh, good chance.
We dont really know enough yet to know how the matchup goes though, all we know about her build is her weapon.
If shes a duelist/commander I think we have good odds.
If she's a straight duelist or a controller ala CRX she probably edges us.
- Location
- At the end of the world
We do actually have balanced arts: WHR and Moss
- Location
- Upon the back of the Great A'Tuin
[] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.
The way decisions like this have been handled in the past, this will determine how we treat her far into the future. I would prefer to try and foster a friendly relationship, even if it takes some time to get used to.
The way decisions like this have been handled in the past, this will determine how we treat her far into the future. I would prefer to try and foster a friendly relationship, even if it takes some time to get used to.
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
So I'm leaning friendly.
Our reputation right now is as a standoffish prude. Tempering that with some "you wanna meet a Xuan Wu?" indesretions could benefit us.
Our reputation right now is as a standoffish prude. Tempering that with some "you wanna meet a Xuan Wu?" indesretions could benefit us.
No, that isn't our reputation. Not that we have much of a reputation outside the Sect, but that's not even our reputation in the Sect.
Varder
Tired Cultist
- Location
- Hell
How do you know? As far as I can see, Ling Qi is uncomfortable around her.