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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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My first thought is to go with Power. We don't want it for its own sake, but we need it. If we want to use it without harming others (and we do; there is a debate about it or something related almost every vote) and want that insight to be part of Ling Qi's Way, she needs to understand the concept.
 
yrsillar said:
[ ] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)

[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)
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The question is which of these most touches on her tribulation with Sixiang.
 
I think isolation might touch most on six- it was the power and domination questions, and the refusal to acknowledge them, that drove the wedge between. But it's Ling's continual pauses waiting for a response that will never come that have been driving home the emotional scars of the trial.

Ling was never really isolated as long as she had six. And now she doesn't- isolation is biting again.
 
[ ] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)

[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Hmm, I think talking to Xin about Isolation could be interesting, in that in many ways Isolation is what broke Jiao's Way. His Emperor was unable to retain the valuing of human relationships that made staying in the mortal realm appealing, and was unable to see what his departure would do to Jiao; I believe it was also stated explicitly in a past side story that Jiao was also unable to advance further because he was unwilling to sacrifice his love for Xin. This would also build naturally off of the previous conversation with Elder Ying. Xin would also likely have an interesting perspective on it on her own terms, given her existence as both the avatar of an aspect of the Moon and her own independent person; she has a much more mutable boundary between One and Self than most.

Talking about Power could likewise be interesting in relation to Jiao's history, but I'm not sure Xin in particular has too much to say about it as it pertains to her herself. If we were talking to Jiao I'd lean toward Power, but in light of the fact we're talking to Xin I'm leaning toward Isolation.
 
I was thinking Power, because it allows us to delve more into that issue of power imbalance-dynamics, something that will grow in importance, as we get more powerful and it might run into our fledgling Way. It's also to understand the mindset that a lot of the people we'll be clashing with have. Understanding enables better Communication, I would hope.
 
I think Power.
Our difficulties with Choice are all about power dynamics, of the inherently unequal choices between mere mortals and the heights of cultivation.
 
Isolation seems more relevant to our general cultivation path but power seems more relevant to our recent tribulation and issues with Sixiang. With Xin I'd rather explore the latter and consider it a more urgent focus.

Also relevant to romance in general which Xin as our moon aunt is a good person to talk with about.
 
It occurs to me that power is choice made in the context of affecting the people surrounding you, isolation is choice made in the context of not being able to affect the people around you.
 
[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Isolation is both our highest concept ( IV 5/8 at present), and the one most likely to cause a heart demon since in its current form it is somewhat antithetical to communication, and directly antithetical to community, both of which are major parts of recent events and choices we have made. A proper examination of isolation at this point, might allow us to start adjusting it into a form that can be balanced with the direction that we have been taking Ling Qi's cultivation.
 
[X] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)
 
Maladictus said:
[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Isolation is both our highest concept ( IV 5/8 at present), and the one most likely to cause a heart demon since in its current form it is somewhat antithetical to communication, and directly antithetical to community, both of which are major parts of recent events and choices we have made. A proper examination of isolation at this point, might allow us to start adjusting it into a form that can be balanced with the direction that we have been taking Ling Qi's cultivation.
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Except it's not. LQ is not a *pro* isolation cultivator. She is an anti-isolation cultivator philosophically. Isolation as she frames it is a bad thing, which is why she uses it as a weapon rather than drawing strength from it. In that sense it is a complement to community, as the fear of isolation is what serves as the motivator to build connections and acquire friends.
 
Maladictus said:
Isolation is both our highest concept ( IV 5/8 at present), and the one most likely to cause a heart demon since in its current form it is somewhat antithetical to communication, and directly antithetical to community, both of which are major parts of recent events and choices we have made.
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Concepts don't work like that.
Power is not about strength, Isolation is not about imposing itself.

Isolation for Qi's concepts revolves around the ways that isolation hurts people and thus why you should combat it. The How of which is answered by Communication.

Power likewise is not about strength, but rather the philosophy around the acquisition and use of strength.
 
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[ ] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)

[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Hmmm. Interesting vote. From a mechanical POV, Isolation is the better choice. Power is due to get a rank up this turn, from Power III to Power IV, so extra XP is meh. Plus like, since it's getting a rank up to IV, it'll have a lot of narrative exploration on its own. Isolation IV, on the other hand, is either (5/8) or (6/8), with the turn gains already added. So extra XP will push us closer to our first rank V. However, Isolation is one of LQ's core concepts, and we get XP for it almost every turn, so it's not really a worry compared to something like Power.

But that's only the mechanical part. Both options, again, tackle recent narrative beats. The Isolation option touches a bit on the idea of Multitude, the innate division between all things that makes that separates them. It also touches on things we've discussed with Elder Ying, so it's a natural progression of the conversion and arc.

The Power option also touches on recent narrative beats - mainly Power and Choice. It covers things more broadly in this turn. Our talk with Shu Yue about the meanings of Power and the worth of others and the tribulation with Brother Darksong. It makes sense too. But I feel like it's been touched on with Expression IV already. With Sovereignty, you don't have to command people. You can rather talk to them and convince them to take up your Way. Plus, with the recent Power rank and the lead-up to the Six convo, more exploration would probably make it more impactful.

With all this in mind, I think both work well. I prefer Isolation because we've already discussed how Expression can convince people to take up your Way instead of forcing or controlling them. Plus like, we're going to get a lot of Power Exploration already with its rank up to IV, so working on Isolation and hopefully pushing it to rank V this turn our n
 
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It's interesting...Power itself is isolating. The more powerful you become, the more you suffer from Isolation.
Maladictus said:
[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Isolation is both our highest concept ( IV 5/8 at present), and the one most likely to cause a heart demon since in its current form it is somewhat antithetical to communication, and directly antithetical to community, both of which are major parts of recent events and choices we have made. A proper examination of isolation at this point, might allow us to start adjusting it into a form that can be balanced with the direction that we have been taking Ling Qi's cultivation.
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I don't agree that its going to cause heart demon...
Erebeal said:
Except it's not. LQ is not a *pro* isolation cultivator. She is an anti-isolation cultivator philosophically. Isolation as she frames it is a bad thing, which is why she uses it as a weapon rather than drawing strength from it. In that sense it is a complement to community, as the fear of isolation is what serves as the motivator to build connections and acquire friends.
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Ah Erebeal beat me to it while I was writing. Thanks, Erebeal. :p

Anyway I think the concept of Power is most central to her tribulation with Sixiang, the issues she and Six have in their friendship. LQ could really use Xin's advice on that.

Oliver_Twister said:
[ ] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)

[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Hmmm. Interesting vote. From a mechanical POV, Isolation is the better choice. Power is due to get a rank up this turn, from Power III to Power IV, so extra XP is meh. Plus like, since it's getting a rank up to IV, it'll have a lot of narrative exploration on its own. Isolation IV, on the other hand, is either (5/8) or (6/8), with the turn gains already added. So extra XP will push us closer to our first rank V.

But that's only the mechanical part. Both options, again, tackle recent narrative beats. The Isolation option touches a bit on the idea of Multitude, the innate division between all things that makes that separates them. It also touches on things we've discussed with Elder Ying, so it's a natural progression of the conversion and arc.

The Power option also touches on recent narrative beats - mainly Power and Choice. It covers things more broadly in this turn. Our talk with Shu Yue about the meanings of Power and the worth of others and the tribulation with Brother Darksong. It makes sense too. But I feel like it's been touched on with Expression IV already. With Sovereignty, you don't have to command people. You can rather talk to them and convince them to take up your Way. Plus, with the recent Power rank and the lead-up to the Six convo, more exploration would probably make it more impactful.
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No. Her and Ying were talking about reaching the highest peak of cultivation, the nature of Power and how the more powerful you become, the isolated you are. The Power concept can totally fit with this narrative beat.
 
Maladictus said:
[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

Isolation is both our highest concept ( IV 5/8 at present), and the one most likely to cause a heart demon since in its current form it is somewhat antithetical to communication, and directly antithetical to community, both of which are major parts of recent events and choices we have made. A proper examination of isolation at this point, might allow us to start adjusting it into a form that can be balanced with the direction that we have been taking Ling Qi's cultivation.
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But it is compatible. Extremely so.

yrsillar said:
Isolation IV (5/8): As starvation is privation of the body, isolation is privation of the soul. Thus is born suffering. But, one has only two hands with which to reach out. Yet, others have two hands as well. The cold, sad street cannot be unmade by the efforts of one.
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yrsillar said:
Community IV (2/8): Family is only a knot of strong bonds, it is the small connections between people which build community. There was no line between love and obligation, not if both were true.
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We have internalized isolation but we have done so in a way that rejects it. We have been lonely but no more. We reject Isolation and use it as a blade for it is the worst thing we have suffered.
 
Lena27 said:
No. Her and Ying were talking about reaching the highest peak of cultivation, the nature of Power and how the more powerful you become, the isolated you are. The Power concept can totally fit with this narrative beat.
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Oh no, I agree with this. But that whole conversation started because LQ brought up a story Elder Ying told about Isolation. And, according to the vote, the Isolation option explicitly talks about the void between realms as one grows stronger. Power, on the other hand, is about the dominance needed to wield Sovereignty, not the disconnect caused by growing in Power. That's Isolation.

Edit: I'm pretty sure we'll explore both. Paying Respects is supposed to give both Isolation and Power XP. So I'm viewing this is vote as the option we'll give more narrative focus.
 
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yrsillar said:
Then, she saw it properly, and she felt her expression instinctively scrunch up in disgust. Lurid eye searing pink.
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Jiao is such a troll. As a reader, I love his character, but I hope I never meet him IRL. 😆
Weaponized? Armorized aesthetics? Contrapositive of stealth? Everyone must opt-in to not perceiving him or be attacked.
 
[ ] Speak on the nature of isolation, of the innate division between things, of the lonely void that grew with each realm. (Additional Exploration and XP to Isolation Concept)

I'm not sure it's the best choice, but I do find myself drawn to the idea of walking in on Jiao while lamenting high realm cultivators who lose touch with even their closest friends.
 
[ ] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)

Talking to Xin about Isolation sounds like it would be interesting, but I lean towards Power because they were just discussing LQ's nightmare tribulation and a false dichotomy of Power is what Brother Darksong tried to snare us with. Adding the perspective of a spirit that *isn't* tied to dreams or nightmares sounds worthwhile.

yrsillar said:
Ling Qi turned away, and followed Xin down the tree lined path at the edge of the plaza. When they were well away, she spoke "Were you the one who answered, when I begged for aid?"

Xin hummed, her somewhat garish dress blowing in a phantom breeze. "Not entirely. I felt it, but there are other spirits of the Hidden Moon then I. I am an archivist, defending knowledge is a part of who I am but gathering it is my core. You tapped into something else."

"Seeking and keeping," Ling Qi said.
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Hype for possible new Hidden Moon auntie sometime
 
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[X] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)
 
[X] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)
 
[X] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)
 
[X] Speak on the nature of power, of the innate ambition of dominance and command that underlies Sovereignty (Additional Exploration and XP to Power Concept)
 
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