I think its that, three dynasties later, the masses still identify with the Weilu.
They got mythologized and put on a pedestal
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.
They got mythologized and put on a pedestal
- Location
- France
I'd hate this TBH. LQ is absolutely not ace right now. She could make herself ace, but considering the way Cultivation works she'd be making herself asexual by surgically removing bits of her soul ("Cultivation is directed self-mutilation" has been a constant theme), and that's sort of yikes? I feels rude to say ace people are lacking something, they're just different.
Also, LQ making herself ace because of trauma feels like letting the trauma win. I know this isn't the healthiest way to envision recovery, but fuck it - this is a Cultivation web serial and I want the protagonist to overcome all obstacles, dammit !
- Location
- USA
Who said it was for Ling Qi? And not Ling Qingee. >.o
I'd actually be super hype if mom finds love again.
Edit: What if Ling Qi's dad was a low level Zheng?!
- Location
- Finland
Unlikely.
While Zheng may be known for care free attitude towards sex, they are also known for being quite frank about that, instead of stringing people along.
Not impossible of course, there are always bad actors, but, i really have zero reason to assume that instead of, well, almost any other option.
So Sixiang then? No need to bother with silly human cultivators when best Muse is right there being their best Enby self
*raises finger*
*lowers finger*
Hmm…
Huh…
That's a disconcertingly good point.
kfrar
Aspiring Encyclopedia
- Location
- CA
To take a probably-joke seriously: Sixiang is a cool character, but hopefully any romance arc with Ling Qi will be about her expanding her world rather than circling the wagons. As Meizhen's whole arc demonstrates, part of growing and maturing with respect to interpersonal relationships is realizing that you will hurt and be hurt, and sometimes it won't really be anyone's fault, and finding a way to accept all that. Going with the safest possible choice would feel like a serious failure on her part to grow and develop as a person.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
She's not ace though - or at least not unless she deliberately leaves that on her Way. We know that she likes the abs.
Setting yourself up for a possibly ugly breakup with the person who lives inside your head is not 'the safest possible choice".
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psst...
Dont confront the Shipers about their fantasy, better they concentrate on impossible machup then, a bad one Like Bao, (or turtleboi).
- Location
- the internet
Turtleboy isn't a bad matchup! Its just...extremely unlikely we'll ever see his muscles. He's like LQ, always shy and always gonna be covering up. Completely.
He's been described as stocky. But I'm sure there's muscle there. Alas.
Winter's Knights: On my Way to the Top
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Winter's Knights: On My Way to the Top
Ling Qi nervously fidgeted with her flute checking and double checking everything was in place and clean for the thousandth time. She took a breath and held it for several seconds before slowly letting it out. Doing her best to follow the breathing techniques Zeqing had taught her Ling Qi couldn't ignore the pang of hurt in her chest at the thought of her former mentor. Her eyes couldn't help but drift over to Hanyi sitting close by, softly humming scales to herself and ignoring the soft chatter from the other bands in the green room.
Her mind drifted back to those final moments in the hospital. Hanyi crying for her mother to not leave. The hiss of oxygen being pumped to Zeqing. The grip of her mentor's hand, weak when it had seemed so strong just a few days ago, as she had asked Ling Qi to look out for Hanyi. Ling Qi was still amazed that the opera singer had been battling cancer the entire time she had known the woman and had only seen the barest hints of it until then. Hanyi was still so young but had been through so much but then again who hadn't in this little band of there's?
Thinking about that Ling Qi looked over to the other young member of their group Zhengui. The boy had a large pair of headphones on, bopping his head to whatever beat he was listening to. Ling Qi couldn't help but feel proud of him. One parent in the grave and the other behind bars, bounced around foster homes and yet here he was competing for a multi-record deal. She was really glad she had done that outreach program with Bai Meizhen, otherwise she would have never met Zhengui.
Ling Qi watched as he pushed his half-fiery red half-verdant green hair back, knocking his headphones off, and began gesturing wildly as he hissed out his verses under his breath. His eyes caught something though and he suddenly stopped, blushed, and put his headphones back on and turned his eyes to the ground. Looking over to where Zhengui had been looking a moment ago Ling Qi saw the familiar face of Bai Cui turning back to the rest of her band, Snake Bite.
The trio of punk girls was certainly intimidating. Big black boots, leather jackets, pierced lips and glares that could and had sent people scurrying for their lives. Ling Qi's eyes bounced between the black haired drummer, Xiao Fen, to Bai Cui, the bass player currently with her green hair in a plaited braid, before settling on her best friend Bai Meizhen with her long white hair flowing freely. Bai Meizhen met Ling Qi's gaze before offering a slight smile and small wave.
Ling Qi smiled and waved back. Bai Meizhen may have been the most intimidating looking in her band and she was honestly terrifying but Ling Qi knew that was just the white haired girl's outer layer protecting the soft and gentle heart at her center. Well, gentler. Meizhen's smile slipped a bit though and Ling Qi felt a weight added to the back of the sofa she was sitting on.
"Heya, gloomy girl! Gan just told me we're on in ten." Sixiang said, somehow lounging on the narrow back of the sofa. Ling Qi turned to give Sixiang a look, she did not want the rainbow haired raver to break anything here. They just gave her a smile and then waved at Meizhen who awkwardly waved back before turning to talk with Xiao Fen.
It was still a little upsetting to Ling Qi that Sixiang and Meizhen weren't on the best of terms. She couldn't blame her former roommate for that though. Their first meeting having Sixiang on their kitchen table with a passed out Ling Qi on top of them was certainly not the best first impression. The fact that Ling Qi and Sixiang had met at what Sixiang described as 'the most poppin rager of the year' certainly hadn't helped. For someone so punk, Bai Meizhen could be surprisingly straight-laced in certain areas.
Ling Qi suddenly felt her own hair smack her in the face and spluttered, turning to a giggling Sixiang. "What was that for?" She asked with a glare with no real heat behind it.
"Your mind had started to drift away, was just doing my part to keep you here." They said with another giggle. Ling Qi just stared at them before nudging the living rainbow of a person with her elbow. With a "Eep!" and a thud Sixiang rolled off the couch back and onto the floor of the green room before popping back up and posing as if they were a gymnast that just stuck their landing.
With a roll of her eyes at her friend's antics Ling Qi stood up, nudging Zhengui as she did. "Come on, we're going to be on in a minute." She said to him and Hanyi, heading towards the green room exit. She got a "Coming, Big Sis" from Hanyi and a "Got it, Big Sister" from Zhengui before they fell into step behind her.
Just as she was about to exit Ling Qi caught sight of Sun Liling and the rest of her band Bloody Jungle. The lead guitarist of the thrasher band was already flipping the double bird towards Ling Qi's group while the bassist Dharitri blew a few kisses with an overly saccharine smile that was probably going for cute but went straight to creepy for Ling Qi. Before Hanyi could even finish her strangled "Why you?!" Ling Qi already had a hand on her shoulder and ushering her through the door. A brief nod of acknowledgement between Ji Rong, Bloody Jungles drummer and occasional rapper, and herself and then she was out of the room with Sun Liling's laughter cut off as the door shut.
Ling Qi rubbed Hanyi's back a few times, trying to get the girl's temper down before they got on stage. "Remember Hanyi, what did Zeqing say about those sorts of situations."
"If they're crass beat their ass." The platinum haired young girl deadpanned. Ling Qi sighed as Sixiang snorted trying to contain her laughter and Zhengui chuckled under his breath.
"No Hanyi, if they're crass show them class. We have better things to do than get into stupid fights." Honestly, she had no idea how Zeqing thought Hanyi could grow into what she called a 'proper lady' while also fully supporting her daughter's desires to get into the hip-hop rap scene. Then again Ling Qi didn't think the opera star would have helped her refine her flute playing as much as she did. It had also surprised Ling Qi how quickly Zeqing had been able to list off a dozen different songs in a dozen different genres that had featured the flute heavily just to prove a point.
'It wasn't about the instrument or genre, it's about the emotion behind it.'
"Nah, I like the kids version better. Gives me an excuse to deck annoying frat boys." Sixiang said before bouncing around and throwing punches as if they were shadow boxing.
A boisterous call from a mountain of a man broke up their little discussion. "What's this I hear? Do we have some rabid fans that need to be shown the door?" Gan Guangli nearly shouted, which was normal for him considering he didn't seem to understand the idea of inside voices.
"Nah, just Sun Liling trying to start crap again." Zhengui offered to the part-time MC and full-time bodyguard in explanation. "And Hanyi was quick to take the bait." He added after a beat which got him an angry hey and pout from the girl in question.
Gan Guangli shifted his attention to Ling Qi, with pleading eyes and said, "Please do not start any more fights Miss Ling."
"Hey! I don't start any fights Gan Guangli, I just-"
"Finish them!" Everyone else, including Gan Guangli, interrupted her before bursting into laughter.
Ling Qi huffed and folded her arms. "Apologies, apologies Miss Ling! Cai Renxiang just wants to ensure that Winter's Knights has as spotless a reputation as possible." Before she could respond to that statement though, her manager's bodyguard held up a hand telling her to wait while his other pressed an earpiece more firmly into his ear. "Sorry to cut this short but Xuan Shi's set is just about done. Wait for your cue and don't forget to double check your equipment once you're out there. The stage hands are good but mistakes happen. And remember to project as much as you can, the more mics that pick you up the better. And remember to smile it helps give the right-"
"Okay, thanks mom! Go do your job now!" Sixiang teased Gan Guangli before shooing him away. Gan Guangli just raised his hands and shrugged with a chuckle before opening the heavy metal door next to him. The soft beat and soothing tones of Xuan Shi's lofi tracks washed over them along with the gentle murmur of the crowd as the large man stepped through. As it closed they could only hear the occasional bass line thump.
Taking a look around at her bandmates, her family, Ling Qi took a fortifying breath. "Alright Winter's Knights we've done these songs a hundred times by now. Our set is going to be amazing and we've already got the contract with Cai Renxiang. But do we want to settle for less when we can take it all?"
"No way, Big Sister!" She could see the determination burning in Zhengui's eyes.
"I'm going to be the best anyways so why wait to get there?" Hanyi offered with a haughty sniff and tilt of her head.
She felt Sixiang hand land on her shoulder and give a soft squeeze. "Behind you all the way Ling Qi."
Ling Qi felt a bit of her trepidation begin to lift. Everything was going to work out, she had her family with her. She heard the roaring of the crowd and then faintly the voice of Gan Guangli through the heavy metal door.
"Let's hear it one more time for the master of those lofi beats! Xuan Shi!" The crowds cheering picked up once again and as the door opened it was basically a wave of sound that smashed against them. Ling Qi was so surprised that she didn't notice Xuan Shi himself before he spoke up.
"Ah, Winter's Knights. Always a pleasure to see you. I wish we had time to talk but I shan't hold you up. Good luck." He said to them before bowing and walking away. Xuan Shi was an odd one with his archaic speech and odd garb of bamboo hat and high collared coats. He was a good person though and Ling Qi gave him a wave goodbye.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming out to the Argent Battle of the Bands once again! And an extra special thank you to the wondrous Cai Shenhua for being one of our judges tonight! Without her generous patronage many of the bands you've seen would not be here-" Ling Qi tuned Gan Guangli's vamping out for the moment, he was just buying time for the stage hands to swap equipment out. They were just waiting for their cue to start coming out. She didn't have to wait long. "-introduce our next band Winter's Knights!"
Ling Qi threw the metal door open and held it while the rest of the band started to hustle out waiting for the MC to call their name.
"First off, they know how to give you a show, sweet as an angel, we have mix master Rainbow Devil!" Sixiang wildly waved to the crowd as they crossed the stage to applause and cheers. They took up their station at their mixer, light fx board, and sampler setup, already double checking that everything was to their liking. "Next, they spit hot fire but their bass line keeps you going. It's Refreshing Fire!" A big smile crossed Zhengui's face, giving a little cheer of his own as he ran to his synth and drum machine. "She may be cute but get to close and you could lose some fingers, give it up for Lil' Frost on the mic!" Hanyi strode out, eating up the adoration of the crowd as she stood by her mic. "And lastly, bringing us that good music on the flute, it's the Great Qi!"
Ling Qi hurriedly walked over to her seat, forcing a smile and wave to the crowd. As she settled in her eyes quickly searched the crowd vainly hoping to see her mother even though she knew Qingge was at home probably putting Biyu to bed. What she did see was the judges table setup right next to the stage and two of some of the most well known and terrifying people in the industry.
Cai Shenhua. CEO, President and Majority Shareholder of Palace of One Entertainment. Her short midnight black hair styled in a manner to fan around her head drew the eye to her beautiful face set with a deadly stare and eyes that seemed to glow with an inner light. A gauzy white dress, most likely her own design, clung to her amazonian build and hid just enough to be considered proper. Seeing the imposing woman made it easy to believe the rumors that when the former model and fashion designer had launched her hostile takeover of the company she currently owned that board members' heads had actually rolled. That and the rumor that she had single handedly ran the company for a year after firing everyone in it were just conspiracies though. Mostly.
The man sitting beside her may have been two and half times Cai Shenhua's age but still exuded a sense of energy as he stood straight and tall. Seeing his slightly thinning but spiked white hair, long well kept beard, and immaculate black suit it might surprise people to see the lightning bolt tattoo striking out from under his shirt and across the vast wrinkles on the side of his face. Even more surprising was that this was Yuan He, father of hip hop and THE OG.
It was an open secret that when Ogodei had united the various Emerald Seas gangs under the banner of the Cloud Barbarians it was Yuan He and his gang that had finally killed him. After that the corrupt and scared cops had finally started to step in and help clean up the mess. The police tried to pin the blame for everything on Yuan He and the gangs instead of their own corruption and laziness but couldn't get anything to stick. With him in the public eye so much it was hardly surprising when he released his first album and became an instant success. Not when his songs were so good they held nine of the top ten song spots for months. Fast forward two decades and Yuan He used his money and influence to revitalize the Argent School of Musical Arts and became its president and headmaster for longer than Ling Qi's been alive.
And these two titans of the industry were going to judge Ling Qi to see if she was good enough to get a record deal.
No pressure.
Looking to the rest of her bandmates she got nods from each of them, signaling they were ready. Ling Qi took a breath and licked her suddenly far too dry lips. Bringing her flute up to her lips the stage lights dimmed at Sixiang's command. Beginning to play on her own Ling Qi felt like this was some sort of classical recital, the heavy thump from Zhengui's bass line dispelled any thoughts of that though. Hanyi's crystal voice soon came over the speakers, Sixiang making sure all their sounds were balanced as they started the light show.
"You call me ice queen but I'm a princess
One look at me and you obsess
Stuck in your spot
While I rise to the top
Give me everything you got
I'll give nothing back
Cuase I'm on my way
On my way to the top"
Ling Qi began to lose herself to her own playing, pouring her emotions and memories into the song through her flute. Old memories of running from home, scrabbling for anything on the street, having to look after herself and no one else. How it all turned around.
She had decided to take a chance. Busking on a street corner with her flute and hoping to make enough to feed herself for a day or maybe two. She barely remembered the woman that had given her a card and a few large bills and told her to go to the address to audition in a week. The fear she felt when she went to scope the place out to make sure it wasn't some sort of abduction scheme. Her wonder at seeing the Argent School of Musical Arts for the first time.
Her sheer disbelief when they had admitted her.
The confusion and joy she felt when she reunited with her mother and found out she had a sister.
All of it came out, one note after the other and became something beautiful.
Her musings were cut off though when she heard a small pause in the baseline. Ling Qi looked over to Zhengui as the brief pause was soon filled with a sample of his live playing by Sixiang. Ling Qi made a note to herself that they still needed to practice that hand off for live shows as Zhengui started to rap.
"Yo yo yo, I'm comin' through
Whether you're a Bai, a Zheng or Xu
Emerald Seas is where I grew
Gotta rep those green trees
Gotta get that green, nothin ever free
Anythin' in my way I'll burn it down
Burn myself
Rise from the ashes like the phoenix do
Learned that from my good friend
Xiulan from the Gu
I'm on my way, on my way
I'm on my way, on my way
To the very top"
Hanyi came back in on the verses but Zhengui kept his hands on his mic, the song was almost over. After one more line from Hanyi Sixiang cut out the baseline entirely soon followed by Ling Qi stopping her own playing. It was just Hanyi's voice now.
"Cause I'm on my waaaaay-"
Zhengui added his own vocals now.
"I'm on my waaaay-"
Ling Qi took a breath and joined in.
"On my waaaay-"
A pause, a beat and then all together.
"Because we're on our way to the top!"
The stage lights cut out. The roar of the crowd is drowned out by the roar of blood in Ling Qi's ears. One down three to go, she thought to herself.
A.N.
@yrsillar Omake for the Omake throne. Hey everybody, lets have some apocryphal Band A.U! Not only a Band A.U but a Modern and School A.U to boot! Got to twist those plot points in somehow. Please blame @Lady_Story @ActionKermit @barty @Elsecaller for putting this idea into my head over on the discord. I now spread my cursed thoughts unto you. In this A.U I was also thinking the Bai are definitely a Triad/Yakuza/Mafia/Crime family.
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Lady_Story
Humble Teller of Stories, Villainess of Legend
- Pronouns
- She/Her/They/Them
Thank you for the omake! This is definitely a good one! @ApeofLight
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- They/Them
That was a great choice and I love Sixiang getting to explore this side of themselves and inspiring similar in LQ.
Transference isn't uncommon. Vulnerability shown to therapists make for easy crush fuel...
Wingthem. Might be my new favourite term.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
OMG yes pleaz mor?
Seriously though, I LOVED the way you characterized the spirits, and remapped all the relationships. This was really well done.
- Pronouns
- He
The first two lines of Zhengui's rap at the start of his set are a nod to a Robin Williams standup routine
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Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So...
you're trying to convince me...
that I shouldn't say certain things...
because you think that Bao Qian is a bad matchup, and it's important that we not get involved with him? Is that what you're saying?
For some reason, I do not find your argument compelling.
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The word I would use to describe Bao Qian's feelings toward Ling Qi is... Intrigued.
I could also say fascinated or infatuated, but those have the wrong connotations.
At first Bao Qian approached Ling Qi with the idea of forming a typical noble marriage agreement. What else would he want when he didn't even know her?
But now he does know her and, as Bao Qingling said, he is completely off-balance.
In a good way.
Ling Qi has such a different Outlook on life, like she calling her spirits family. Many of his tactics don't work, and he doesn't understand much of her. And he finds himself drawn to that. He wants to understand.
Of course, he still believes that they are the perfect couple from a marital bussiness perspective.
But I would say that he now also looks for Ling Qi to develope actual affection for him. Of course this is just a guess. I can't say for certain.
Also, when did Bao Qian put his life at risk for Ling Qi? I can't remember anything like that.
I could also say fascinated or infatuated, but those have the wrong connotations.
At first Bao Qian approached Ling Qi with the idea of forming a typical noble marriage agreement. What else would he want when he didn't even know her?
But now he does know her and, as Bao Qingling said, he is completely off-balance.
In a good way.
Ling Qi has such a different Outlook on life, like she calling her spirits family. Many of his tactics don't work, and he doesn't understand much of her. And he finds himself drawn to that. He wants to understand.
Of course, he still believes that they are the perfect couple from a marital bussiness perspective.
But I would say that he now also looks for Ling Qi to develope actual affection for him. Of course this is just a guess. I can't say for certain.
Also, when did Bao Qian put his life at risk for Ling Qi? I can't remember anything like that.