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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] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.

I'm pretty split on what the play is here. As a tie-breaker I'm voting what I think will be more interesting for the narrative.
 
[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.
 
[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.

I think we'll be engaging in a formalish fashion regardless, this feels more like a decision on how we want to relate to Xia Lin: Do we want a professional relationship, kind of like we're doing with Bao right now? Or do we want to make a more personal one, with the downside that now we might be drawn into their problems/not get as much professional benefit?

I think expanding our friend circle is nice.
 
Candesce said:
We're also likely to see how Ling Qi deals with losing, since Xia Lin is much more the combat specialist
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I am not so sure. We won't have an easy win, but LQ is quite a combatant, and her tactics are very hard to deal with. And she already fought soldiers, at the underground expedition for example we faced many troops, as well in other places. And then there was sparks with pure combatants in the sect, like Ji Rong and that swordsman in our second duel whose name I forgot.
 
[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.
 
Blademaster said:
I am not so sure. We won't have an easy win, but LQ is quite a combatant, and her tactics are very hard to deal with. And she already fought soldiers, at the underground expedition for example we faced many troops, as well in other places. And then there was sparks with pure combatants in the sect, like Ji Rong and that swordsman in our second duel whose name I forgot.
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LQ's build is quite mean, but it's hard to estimate the outcome of a spar. Both would be fighting with a handicap, Lin without regiment support and LQ without her spirits. Combat-potential wise, LQ can at least hold her own against the monsters, whereas Lin is "best of our generation" in the most elite troop in the ES, so likely a formidable combatant. Don't know enough about her build to say for sure who has an advantage on that front; LQ is favorite against a lot of melee-primary variants though.
 
More pertinantly, Ling Qi dislikes losing, but she's actually pretty used to losing in spars because she keeps sparring with people like CRX and Meizhen, or Wang Chao who has several stages on her.
 
My issue is... I would actually really like to hear about the mission and what the expectations are for it!

Whereas I don't think Lin really cares about "seeing the sights" of the Argent Sect and I don't really care to see a narrative about it. It's not about friendly versus formal, it's that I'd like to get the lowdown on how we're actually going to run this mission, not waste time in a teahouse or something.
 
[X] Keep things formal between you, show her around the Sect and discuss the mission and expectations, perhaps have a spar?
 
Insert Tally
Adhoc vote count started by EternalObserver on Sep 30, 2020 at 12:42 PM, finished with 206 posts and 126 votes.
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can the narrative/social cabal show us how they crunch the words on this decision? thanks!

im thinking this is hopefully a rehash of the behavior from our first meeting with meizhen
 
Briefvoice said:
My issue is... I would actually really like to hear about the mission and what the expectations are for it!

Whereas I don't think Lin really cares about "seeing the sights" of the Argent Sect and I don't really care to see a narrative about it. It's not about friendly versus formal, it's that I'd like to get the lowdown on how we're actually going to run this mission, not waste time in a teahouse or something.
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We need to get a read on the people we bring, especially those close to CRX.
The way i see it, going friendly straight at the bet will get us a better reading on her as a person, while formality is designed to hide any potential personality issues.
Spar would give us a read of her as a fighter, but i think we can trust her to be atleast at our level, so that's not a major concern for me, her ability to act outside formal society is.
 
T
Black Noise said:
LQ's build is quite mean, but it's hard to estimate the outcome of a spar. Both would be fighting with a handicap, Lin without regiment support and LQ without her spirits. Combat-potential wise, LQ can at least hold her own against the monsters, whereas Lin is "best of our generation" in the most elite troop in the ES, so likely a formidable combatant. Don't know enough about her build to say for sure who has an advantage on that front; LQ is favorite against a lot of melee-primary variants though.
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That's exactly what I am saying. We won't win for sure, but neither will she. It would be very hard to foresee the winner of that fight
 
People also seem to be forgetting that Meizhen will be there with us as well. She's naturally more reserved in social situations. although she's worked on loosening up with her friends and being a bit more approachable in general, it will be nothing like our version of informality. Since Meizhen is there in all her Bai-like grace, us being informal will make us stick out like a sore thumb and/or make Meizhen uncomfortable.
Also people seem to be giving the options a very western, euro-centric interpretation. I've said it before, ill say it again--this is a Xanxia story. A fantasy world inspired by Eastern/Asian culture in a feudal society, in which being formal means being respectful and informal means being disrespectful.
Her take on us being formal will be either 1) we're purposefully putting her off balance to get a reaction and test her or 2) we're just weird. Or 3) we're just disrespectful for no reason sometimes
All the people who think that informality will actually start this relationship on a positive note are mistaken. Eventually she'll learn that LQ is just unique. However, we know LQ has the capability to be more formal and respectful. Making her uncomfortable isn't actually the friendly option.
Being formal would respecting this girl's boundaries and accommodating what she's familiar with. The natural course in this instance would be to start out formal and loosen up over time.
They have plenty of time to do that, to get to know each other in a more casual way later.
Of course they wouldn't be stiff and formal with each other forever, this is just literally their first conversation.
 
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Lena27 said:
People also seem to be forgetting that Meizhen will be there with us as well. She's naturally more reserved in social situations. although she's worked on loosening up with her friends and being a bit more approachable in general, it will be nothing like our version of informality. Since Meizhen is there in all her Bai-like grace, us being informal will make us stick out like a sore thumb and/or make Meizhen uncomfortable.
Also people seem to be giving the options a very western, euro-centric interpretation. I've said it before, ill say it again--this is a Xanxia story. A fantasy world inspired by Eastern/Asian culture ,in which being formal means being respectful and informal means being disrespectful.
Her take on us being formal will be either 1) we're purposefully putting her off balance to get a reaction and test her or 2) we're just weird. Or 3) we're just disrespectful for no reason sometimes
All the people who think that informality will actually start this relationship on a positive note are mistaken. Eventually she'll learn that LQ is just unique. However, we know LQ has the capability to be more formal and respectful. Making her uncomfortable isn't actually the friendly option.
Being formal would respecting this girl's boundaries and accommodating what she's familiar with. The natural course in this instance would be to start out formal and loosen up over time. Of course they wouldn't be stiff and formal with each other forever, this is just literally their first conversation.
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All three are true.
And that's fine, we need to see how she reacts, either we manage to adopt her into our circle of friends, even in temporary basis, or not, we can go back to formality later.

If we had more time, i might agree with going slow, but we need to get a read on her fast, and get her used to us just as fast.
Also, yes, this is Xianxia story, and Ling Qi is in it, she is not going to just go straight to nicknames and fistbumps and yo mama jokes.
There are no trap options, both are valid approaches with upsides and downsides.

Anyway, i suspect the friendly option will still be fairly formal, but lot less stiff, and more inviting into our little circle.
We will be treating her not as a soldier we are testing, but as an ally we are welcoming.
 
You know what, screw it. Xia Ren deserves to have the full Ling Qi experience.

[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.
 
Valmond said:
All three are true.
And that's fine, we need to see how she reacts, either we manage to adopt her into our circle of friends, even in temporary basis, or not, we can go back to formality later.

If we had more time, i might agree with going slow, but we need to get a read on her fast, and get her used to us just as fast.
Also, yes, this is Xianxia story, and Ling Qi is in it, she is not going to just go straight to nicknames and fistbumps and yo mama jokes.
There are no trap options, both are valid approaches with upsides and downsides.

Anyway, i suspect the friendly option will still be fairly formal, but lot less stiff, and more inviting into our little circle.
We will be treating her not as a soldier we are testing, but as an ally we are welcoming.
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Whats the rush exactly? There's going to be plenty of time on the way to WS territory, it's supposed to be a long trip.
Its not like she's Meng Dan who may have ulterior political motives and who definitely has different loyalties. She's our bodyguard, she's not going to get in the way of politics and diplomacy. Xia Lin is our bodyguard, shes going to be loyal to CRX and do her job well. Why do we need to know everything right now?
 
Lena27 said:
Whats the rush exactly? There's going to be plenty of time on the way to WS territory, it's supposed to be a long trip.
Its not like she's Meng Dan who may have ulterior political motives and who definitely has different loyalties. She's our bodyguard, she's not going to get in the way of politics and diplomacy. Xia Lin is our bodyguard, shes going to be loyal to CRX and do her job well. Why do we need to know everything right now?
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Wat? Why would you expect her to not have ulterrior motives or different loyalties?
She is assigned to CRX,not joined of her own volition, her loyalty is almost certainly to her clan first, and possibly the province, first.
How much do we actually trust the general? Or their clan? Now i am certain they will not decide to suddenly turn around and kill us, but how much do we trust them to not fuck things up with outsiders with different customs?

The hurry comes from the fact that once we leave, it is way harder to replace her if she becomes an issue.
If she can't deal with us being friendly, showing her around and introducing her to some of the most important people in our lives, then we have a much bigger problem than her being upset.
 
Is there any actual confirmation that Friendly will make Xia Lin uncomfortable, or is it just speculation?
 
Lena27 said:
Whats the rush exactly? There's going to be plenty of time on the way to WS territory, it's supposed to be a long trip.
Its not like she's Meng Dan who may have ulterior political motives and who definitely has different loyalties. She's our bodyguard, she's not going to get in the way of politics and diplomacy. Xia Lin is our bodyguard, shes going to be loyal to CRX and do her job well. Why do we need to know everything right now?
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She is definitely there to participate in diplomacy. Probably not directly but she will be an advisor. Given that we were able to notice her smiling, I'm positive that a Peak Green ambassador can read her far more easily and completely.

Even if she is completely loyal and doing her best to be helpful, her prejudices and attitudes could still be a significant problem for our delegation. As such we need to know what those are.

Jensaarai said:
Is there any actual confirmation that Friendly will make Xia Lin uncomfortable, or is it just speculation?
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Just speculation based off people's reading of the context.
 
yrsillar said:
"Sergeant Xia Lin will be your adjutant," the General said shortly. "Her grace has determined that excessive cultivation and preconceptions would be counter productive on your task. The Sergeant is the best of my soldiers in the Young Miss' generation."
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I'm going to assume she'll be more open minded with this wording since it explicitly state's Shenhua herself doesn't want bias to color the expedition's success.
 
[X] Be friendly, show her around and introduce her to your spirits. They will be members of the party too.

I suppose this is the type of characterization I want to lead towards.
 
RebelYell said:
I'm going to assume she'll be more open minded with this wording since it explicitly state's Shenhua herself doesn't want bias to color the expedition's success.
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More open minded than what?
A centuries old imperial loyalist who sees non imperials as little more than animals?
Shenhua seems to want this to succeed, fairly sure the Meng want this to succeed, not sure what the Diao or the Xia want, beyond not seem to be sabotaging the mission.
There's a lot of room for internalized biases to fuck something like this up, even without centuries old people who are literally incapable of changing their behaviour due to cultivation on the wheel.
 
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