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

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Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
 
LimitlessMemes said:
Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
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A forest fire will rejuvenate the land after it's done, but it doesn't care if you get immolated in the meantime and you sure as hell wouldn't like to be stranded in front of one.
 
LimitlessMemes said:
Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
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It's less that we think she's evil and more that she's heartless. She's ruthless and she's got a spare, so she can start making risky moves on the one she already damaged. What people think is that Shenhua's calculus doesn't really view Renxiangs long term well being and she'd do something risky if it suits her long term goals.
 
LimitlessMemes said:
Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
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It's known that Shenhua didn't mean to break CRX when they first met and that it was a mistake on Shenhua's part due to her Way.

However this doesn't really breed confidence that she has gotten better just that she is aware of the problem. Shenhua may well be trying to "help" CRX but the manner that someone just this side of a deity in power who has sacrificed a great deal of their ability to interact with others on a socially equal plane is not going to be a truly healthy relationship no matter how much the individuals involved are attempting to ameliorate their differences.
 
LimitlessMemes said:
Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
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Remember when Shenhua's mere curiosity was such a pressure Ling Qi started to ignore the court and reactions to her words to focus on simply enduring it? Renxiang gets far more than just curiosity by default.

That is the problem here. It doesn't matter what Shenhua's intentions are, just her paying attention to Renxiang is harmful. And the more invested, interested or focused Shenhua is the worse it is.
 
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strauss said:
Remember when Shenhua's mere curiosity was such a pressure Ling Qi started to ignore the court and reactions to her words to focus on simply enduring it? Renxiang gets far more than just curiosity by default.

That is the problem here. It doesn't matter what Shenhua's intentions are, just her paying attention to Renxiang is harmful. And the more invested, interested or focused Shenhua is the worse it is.
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I agree with you, that said I do believe that Shenhua is trying to do better e.g. she got the best 'midwife' available for Tienli's birth. That's not to say that her attempts to be better will succeed but I believe that she is trying (as much as her way allows it).
 
yrsillar said:
The child born in the dark knew better. That was the secret they had been given at the feet of the star. It was not enough to destroy the wicked. For they too were wicked in their way.

Their replacements would be better.
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I think that this quote is relevant to this discussion. Shenhua understands that she is a monster, a product of her time. She wants CRX to be better than her. Unfortunately she's still too much of a monster to stop hurting CRX. She's incapable of being gentle with her.
 
yrsillar said:
Cai Renxiang tipped her head acknowledging the words but not replying. "Most importantly, I and my retainers will be establishing our tentative fief's nearby to both show our confidence and share the risk this represents."

"This is important, the people of the Southern Emerald Seas are battered and rightfully wary. It is important that they know that we are not merely playing with their livelihoods," Ling Qi said.

"It is important that we not lose sight of our primary duty, which is toward our people. The folk of the foothills and southern woods deserve a true chance for peace, the time to grow in prosperity, and enjoy good health and comfort under the aegis of the Empire, as all of its people deserve," Cai Renxiang finished.
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Yrsillar, you use the word important like four times in a couple paragraphs that would sound weird in a spoken conversation.
 
yrsillar said:
will observe these barbarians and ensure that none of their savagery takes root
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Look here, you colossal dipshit. Your apprentice is a Jin and you talk about foreign savagery? You built your career on being good at internal repression and shoring up institutional collapse, and you talk about civilization?

Orkus Majorkus said:
Yrsillar, you use the word important like four times in a couple paragraphs that would sound weird in a spoken conversation.
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It would make sense in a political speech though, if you're deliberately hammering it in. That's how I read it.
 
I have heard several comments in the vein of "Sun Shao is a terrible (grand)parent, sold Sun Liling to the Goddess of the jungle". Can someone point me to the interlude where it happened? It seems I missed it.
 
Well, less sold Sun Liling, and more sold himself in exchange of the Jungle goddess doing something terrible to the unwilling Sun Liling.
 
I love the mind-rapey parallels between the Sun and Cai scions. They also both conveniently have access to a protagonist level retainer that's trying to keep them sane. Really shows the what if we made different decisions earlier in the quest.
 
LimitlessMemes said:
Maybe I'm being contrarian, but for everyone saying Shenhua is being terrible, I have to point out that we still really have no idea just what she is really doing or why. I'm still holding out for a twist. From what we've seen of Shenhua, she's brutal, but I don't think she's needlessly so. I wonder what is behind it all.

Unless there's been something from Shenhua's POV that I've just totally missed, which is certainly possible.
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Shenhua's not evil, she's just unabashedly herself and unable to enact any form of restraint, which are not good qualities in a parent (especially one of her power).

It's also worth pointing out though that a key part of her philosophy is that she and her compatriots are not good, they were shaped and molded by a world that was too cruel and had very adverse effects on them, and so they need to be replaced by something better. What she's doing here is both an example of the ways in which that is true, and a method for her to ensure that they are.
 
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