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

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So, how do we think Jinzha will help Gan achieve rank three or higher in the tournament? Our first hint of GG's spirit came from Xiao Fen at the start of Month 6th:

yrsillar said:
Her 'student' looked briefly rebellious before relaxing her stance. "...[Gan Guangli] has found a spirit. It's exact nature is hidden, but it seems the immaterial type. I suspect the details will be in the missive for your liege.
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So we can be pretty sure that Jinzha is similar to Sixiang in the type of spirit, something that is immaterial and won't provide a separate body (probably) in combat but will instead seek to assist in other ways. Given that the spirit is of the Rising Sun, and given the information Sixiang just shared on that, I can see Jinzha focused pretty heavily on self and group buffs.

Which, as Ling Qi said, fits GG really well. He can already suplex trees, so it would fit that if he can get his hands on an opponent they will be having a bad time. If Jinzha is giving buffs to GG, that makes it all the more likely that he will be able to dish out the pain when all the chips are down. With Jinzha's help, I think that Gan Guangli will have a good shot at matching Duchess Cai's expectations, but I feel concerned about the esoteric fighters that he will have to face. Han Fang's stealth and Lu Feng's puppet abilities might be a problem for Gan Guangli, but hopefully he has done some better introspection on himself and figured out his toughest fights and what he needs to be capable of to overcome them. After all, none of the others are under as much pressure as him to reach a certain rank, and pressure can be a great motivator if you are up for the challenge.
 
[X] Because she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be part of that. (Tech alteration route)

What is the hearth without the walls of the home?
 
Thor's Twin said:
So, how do we think Jinzha will help Gan achieve rank three or higher in the tournament? Our first hint of GG's spirit came from Xiao Fen at the start of Month 6th:



So we can be pretty sure that Jinzha is similar to Sixiang in the type of spirit, something that is immaterial and won't provide a separate body (probably) in combat but will instead seek to assist in other ways. Given that the spirit is of the Rising Sun, and given the information Sixiang just shared on that, I can see Jinzha focused pretty heavily on self and group buffs.

Which, as Ling Qi said, fits GG really well. He can already suplex trees, so it would fit that if he can get his hands on an opponent they will be having a bad time. If Jinzha is giving buffs to GG, that makes it all the more likely that he will be able to dish out the pain when all the chips are down. With Jinzha's help, I think that Gan Guangli will have a good shot at matching Duchess Cai's expectations, but I feel concerned about the esoteric fighters that he will have to face. Han Fang's stealth and Lu Feng's puppet abilities might be a problem for Gan Guangli, but hopefully he has done some better introspection on himself and figured out his toughest fights and what he needs to be capable of to overcome them. After all, none of the others are under as much pressure as him to reach a certain rank, and pressure can be a great motivator if you are up for the challenge.
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I think along those lines, but a hole filler. Gan is cream of the crop when it comes to direct head to head confrontations, he needs coverage for stealth, deception, and enemy buffs. Apply some Revealing Light to it?
 
My fundamental concern about an equal relationship with Zhengui is that:
1. He isn't our equal right now.
2. He will inevitably fall behind us as Spirit Beasts just don't cultivate as quickly as humans.

We might be able to fix 1 but 2 is going to eventually overwhelm all our efforts. If we want the relationship to be between equals, what happens when he's late Cyan and we are Violet?

And, more generally, the vast majority of our family throughout our life is going to be Green while Indigo/Violet is perfectly reasonable for us to accomplish given our current talent and protagonist-ness. Do we continue to have a relationship with people who are not and could never be our equals? What happens when some of our friends end up hitting roadblocks in their cultivation and stop while we continue? Do we leave them behind?

I just don't think equality is firm ground to build relationships around here. Pretending that those relationships are between equals... well Ling Qi could really hurt someone if she doesn't recognize her power over them, even before cultivation comes into it.
 
Insert Tally!
Adhoc vote count started by EternalObserver on Oct 31, 2020 at 11:38 AM, finished with 167 posts and 100 votes.
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I'm the only one who would like to vote for this hypothetical option? 😅

[jk] Because she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be part of that. ( Combination technique route )

I like more what that answer implies emotionally, but on the other hand I would like more to see the combination techniques...
 
Thor's Twin said:
So, how do we think Jinzha will help Gan achieve rank three or higher in the tournament? Our first hint of GG's spirit came from Xiao Fen at the start of Month 6th:
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Last we heard Gan Guangli was head and shoulders above his competition in more ways than one. I remember Han Jian or Han Fang being surprised that he managed to reach G3 at all in the outer sect. Gan Guangli is probably the favorite to take the top spot in this tournament, and if he can't at least make rank 3 he kind of deserves what he gets. For instance, you mentioned Han Fang, but Han Fang only just broke through to the 3rd realm. Have faith that our boy can handle someone that he has at least a 2 stage cultivation advantage on.
 
[X] Because she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be part of that. (Tech alteration route)
 
JohnnieBoy123 said:
My fundamental concern about an equal relationship with Zhengui is that:
1. He isn't our equal right now.
2. He will inevitably fall behind us as Spirit Beasts just don't cultivate as quickly as humans.

We might be able to fix 1 but 2 is going to eventually overwhelm all our efforts. If we want the relationship to be between equals, what happens when he's late Cyan and we are Violet?

And, more generally, the vast majority of our family throughout our life is going to be Green while Indigo/Violet is perfectly reasonable for us to accomplish given our current talent and protagonist-ness. Do we continue to have a relationship with people who are not and could never be our equals? What happens when some of our friends end up hitting roadblocks in their cultivation and stop while we continue? Do we leave them behind?

I just don't think equality is firm ground to build relationships around here. Pretending that those relationships are between equals... well Ling Qi could really hurt someone if she doesn't recognize her power over them, even before cultivation comes into it.
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....this is just wrong, Ling Qi has an "equal relationship" with Hanyi by treating her as a little sister with her own desires and responsibilities.

Getting railroaded into the mom route because of the entire narrative and the characters (and a bunch of the voters) shouting at Ling Qi to "Get over your discomfort and accept being a mom even if you don't want to despite Zhengui already saying being a little brother is fine if we decide to treat as one instead of half-assing it " is bad enough, doomposting about how "equal relationships" are bad and will ruin everything because of not being able to grok equal doesn't have anything to do with power levels just makes it worse.
 
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[X] Because she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be part of that. (Tech alteration route)
 
memoryofglory said:
Last we heard Gan Guangli was head and shoulders above his competition in more ways than one. I remember Han Jian or Han Fang being surprised that he managed to reach G3 at all in the outer sect. Gan Guangli is probably the favorite to take the top spot in this tournament, and if he can't at least make rank 3 he kind of deserves what he gets. For instance, you mentioned Han Fang, but Han Fang only just broke through to the 3rd realm. Have faith that our boy can handle someone that he has at least a 2 stage cultivation advantage on.
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Well, LQ and CRX are supposed to be in the tournament, and I am pretty sure he can not defeat either. So 3rd place
 
Blademaster said:
Well, LQ and CRX are supposed to be in the tournament, and I am pretty sure he can not defeat either. So 3rd place
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... Wrong tournament. GG need to get a good place in the Inner sect placement tournament at the end of this year. The thing we fought in at the end of FoD and happens once a year.

LQ and CRX need to win the Inter sect tournament that happens in the middle of next year. This one is between the different sects in the ES and it is kind of vague on the type of tournament it is... more of a competition really.
 
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1986ctcel said:
....this is just wrong, Ling Qi has an "equal relationship" with Hanyi by treating her as a little sister with her own desires and responsibilities.

Getting railroaded into the mom route because of the entire narrative and the characters (and a bunch of the voters) shouting at Ling Qi to "Get over your discomfort and accept being a mom even if you don't want to despite Zhengui already saying being a little brother is fine if we decide to treat as one instead of half-assing it " is bad enough, doomposting about how "equal relationships" are bad and will ruin everything because of not being able to grok equal doesn't have anything to do with power levels just makes it worse.
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She doesn't have an equal relationship with Hanyi. Remember the warning not to play music unless Ling Qi can muffle it? Or how Ling Qi looks over Hanyi's finances to make sure Hanyi isn't being taken advantage of? Those aren't the actions of a peer. She gives Hanyi a great deal of latitude but Hanyi is definitely her lesser.

The spirit whose relationship with her is the closest to equality is Sixiang.
 
JohnnieBoy123 said:
She doesn't have an equal relationship with Hanyi. Remember the warning not to play music unless Ling Qi can muffle it? Or how Ling Qi looks over Hanyi's finances to make sure Hanyi isn't being taken advantage of? Those aren't the actions of a peer. She gives Hanyi a great deal of latitude but Hanyi is definitely her lesser.
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Those are actions of big sister/little sister, which is what I at least mean by equal
 
Blademaster said:
Those are actions of big sister/little sister, which is what I at least mean by equal
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I'm not talking about the kind of familial relationship she has with her spirits. That sort of big sister/little sister relationship is unequal. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the long term but... Ling Qi is going to be immeasurably wealthier than her spirits, she's legally their superior (society considers them her property), and she will almost certainly have immense political influence that they can't ever hope to match.

Given those factors, how could Zhengui and Hanyi ever be her equals? Ling Qi is maturing emotionally, eroding the only advantage that Sixiang has over her but Ling Qi actually has more emotional maturity than Zhengui and, to a lesser extent, Hanyi.

There's also cultivation but, even before that, Zhengui (if we take him as a sibling) is the little brother that became a farmer while his older sister became a cabinet secretary. Trying to draw comparisons between them is a terrible idea that will only end in pain. Its far better to have the relationship defined in terms of making sure that everyone's emotional needs are being met.

Edit: Let's take it the other way. Zhengui finds some cheat and tomorrow becomes White! Congratulations! What happens to their relationship then?
 
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Our spirits are not going to be our equals in power, the eyes of the law/society or authority.
We can treat them as equals, but they are never going to be unless they become independent of us, and that is not going to happen anytime soon.
And that's fine.
But just because we are in a parental/elder sister role does not mean we don't/can't respect them and provide them with as much autonomy as we can.
 
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The issue is, Ling Qi has been running into a persistent problem - she doesn't value the same kinds of things as her spirits and friends. She tried giving them help in the wrong thing, and they felt useless or weak. She tried giving them space in the wrong thing and they felt abandoned. They try to help her and only get themselves hurt.

The crux of it is, Ling Qi is simply not in a position to make an informed decision about her course unless she actually hashes out what they value, and what she values. Understanding makes more sense at this phase, otherwise both Ling Qi AND the players simply don't have the necessary insights into their character to determine what an action would do.
 
memoryofglory said:
Last we heard Gan Guangli was head and shoulders above his competition in more ways than one. I remember Han Jian or Han Fang being surprised that he managed to reach G3 at all in the outer sect. Gan Guangli is probably the favorite to take the top spot in this tournament, and if he can't at least make rank 3 he kind of deserves what he gets. For instance, you mentioned Han Fang, but Han Fang only just broke through to the 3rd realm. Have faith that our boy can handle someone that he has at least a 2 stage cultivation advantage on.
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Hmmm... I don't agree that Gan Guangli is the favorite to win the tournament. I think he's a top contender, but Han Jian is going to be a problem for GG I feel. The likely stage difference will help GG, but Han Jian has his own potent spirit companion that will be a problem, and with the Argent Arts combining really well with his armor's ability to generate soldiers on command, I feel that Han Jian is going to be a really difficult match up.

Lu Feng, as well, is going to be tough simply through the information we've gotten from Han Fang's side stories that Lu Feng has been able to match Han Jian a couple of times. In addition, we know that GG has struggled against Lu Feng before, and if Lu Feng gets a spirit beast of his own that might prove a difficult fight.

Included in this roster of possible difficulties is Xiao Fen and Chu Song. But, ultimately I think that three of the top four are going to be GG, Lu Feng, and Han Jian. With that line-up, I feel that GG will have a difficult round of four. So while I am confident that GG will succeed in at least getting second, especially with Jinzha to support him, I do think that it will be a struggle.
 
We still don't know what GG's armor's special ability is do we? It should have a thread from CRX's dress so it should be on par with our dress.

[X] Because she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be part of that. (Tech alteration route)
 
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