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.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
I mean, I halfway feel like either result is going to nudge Jiao out of his malaise. He's not going to set back on his Way, but there's absolutely honor in teaching the next generation how to avoid the mistakes he made.
And also, Biyu will need a cute junior sect brother or sister to bully when she gets in here! We know what needs to happen.
And also, Biyu will need a cute junior sect brother or sister to bully when she gets in here! We know what needs to happen.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
After careful consideration I still feel like the second option is fits the needs of the situation more. Like it's tailor-made to pierce Jiao's armour of ennui and cynicism (if my hunch that he thought similarly when he was young is correct). Maybe the boundaries option could also help in getting him out of his funk, but I don't see how.
Plus it's correct in its assessment. Ling Qi is the only one on the Imperial side who could serve as an Emissary without a major chance of cocking it up. The necessary mentality is just that scarce on the Imperial side.
Plus it's correct in its assessment. Ling Qi is the only one on the Imperial side who could serve as an Emissary without a major chance of cocking it up. The necessary mentality is just that scarce on the Imperial side.
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
I believe this to be the more appropriate option in this scenario, designed to break him out of his indifference. Plus I like the optimism this choice entails.
I believe this to be the more appropriate option in this scenario, designed to break him out of his indifference. Plus I like the optimism this choice entails.
How long has it even been since Ling Qi has done anything related to her Liminal Carver trait?
She has barely done nothing besides a bit of gardening with Zhengui and some minor things at the Saline Grotto.
Bringing it up now, specially Ling Qi declaring it as if she had discovered her calling, just seems weird to me.
It would be more appropriate if we had already done the Garden of Mists project, but we didn't.
So choosing that option in the hope it would grant a boost to a facet of her skillset we haven't bothered to improve strikes me as cheap.
She has barely done nothing besides a bit of gardening with Zhengui and some minor things at the Saline Grotto.
Bringing it up now, specially Ling Qi declaring it as if she had discovered her calling, just seems weird to me.
It would be more appropriate if we had already done the Garden of Mists project, but we didn't.
So choosing that option in the hope it would grant a boost to a facet of her skillset we haven't bothered to improve strikes me as cheap.
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
That line of argument is circular logic. If you reject taking Formations actions because there has been nothing related to formations lately, and if you reject Formations choices because you hadn't taken Formation actions, thats just gaslighting ourselves into ditching it.
It's not circular logic. It's linear logic with a very concrete starting point: Garden of Mists.
For I'm-not-going-to-bother-to-check turns we have had an explicit option to advance Ling Qi in the path of formations. We didn't take it.
Not wanting to bother the formations master when Ling Qi hasn't put any serious effort to improve her formation skill isn't advocating for ditching that discipline all together.
As soon as we do Garden of Mists we'll unlock new ways to develop the art and formations in general. We'll also have many opportunities to implement Liminal Carver as we develop Snowblossom.
So we aren't going to drop formations unless we explicitly ask for it.
I maintain that it's an awkward fit at this juncture. Jumping into Formations and trying to squeeze something out of that last minute as we say goodbye to the Sect is very structurally weird. When we're more settled, when we're not literally diving headfirst into the start of a massive project, then it would make more sense, but as it is it'll be brought up once, randomly, and then left to languish until we can start establishing the fief more concretely.
It's unfortunate that the initial framing of this vote was so nakedly skewed to displaying the benefits of one of the options - something that, even after the text itself was changed, has persisted in the conversation. It's turned much of this debate from one that should have been a character moment either way to one with an option that people know contains a basically orthogonal shiny.
- Pronouns
- He
Orthogonal shinies are so shiny tho ;-;
- Location
- Sweden
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ooof. Okay, this was a fun vote. I'm somewhat disappointed in the discussions on Power. It feels pretty lacklustre, especially after all the arguments for it. At first, I thought Power IV was a bit awkward too, because it didn't solve the problem. That definition of Power still involves enforcing your will on others, and, as I said earlier, is solved by Communication since, well, you can convince others to take up your Way. But after reading @Glau 's take on it, I'm more receptive to it. It does tie into Protection, making it more cohesive too.
I'm really glad to see Jiao though. It must suck if he has to constantly stay in a human form to heal. He prefers his eldritch horror form. No wonder he's grouchy.
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
Onto the vote, I think option 2 is better. First of all, I want to use [Communication] on him, and it feels like the most impactful way to do it. Just- stab the grouchy old man in the heart, pearls, memories, everything. I want to see young Jiao and An. Or, better yet, I want to see LQ project visions of HER and Renxiang to Jiao, so that he'll get out of his funk. Rule of three and all that jazz.
Secondly, bringing up formations feels very random, IMO. We've not engaged with it in months, all the way since the festival with Zhengui. We've not done Garden of Mists or made any noteworthy uses of Liminal Carver. The only thing we have is practice geomancy mentioned offhand when talking to Shu Yue. However, option 2 is directly related to the summit and LQ's path of a reformer. It connects the goodbye to well, the place she's leaving to.
And lastly, well, Raising the Bastion is happening with Jiao, and this feels like the choice that'll be more conducive to it since it maintains the tension in the scene.
I don't necessarily agree that this is LQ being a hard woman making hard choices. Her context and situation are very different from Jiao and An's. She's not building her path around Renxiang. She's NOT a shadow, no matter how often she turns into one.
She doesn't have a grand vision or master plan, like Jiao, about the Empire or Emerald Seas. She just stumbled onto an opportunity to make sure people talked instead of fighting and took it. She's just a girl who wants to make the world a better place so that her family will be safe.
There's no one else who can do it because no one has the exact same circumstances and chances that gave her the opportunity. If there was another emissary in the Emerald Seas, it's possible that they would do this. But there's not, so LQ has to do it.
She's saying Jiao is right because being a reformer is a miserable path, just like she's said many times so far in this one update. But someone has to do it, and she's the only one in the position to do so.
At the end of the day, this is a character vote during Paying Respects. I'd rather vote for a big character moment that shows LQ thanking Jiao for his knowledge and advice rather than something that's tangentially related and calls back a route that's long dead. Both show character development, but I feel like option 2 showcases it more because it shows that LQ understands the enormity and difficulty of her path and is willing to walk it.
I'm really glad to see Jiao though. It must suck if he has to constantly stay in a human form to heal. He prefers his eldritch horror form. No wonder he's grouchy.
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
Onto the vote, I think option 2 is better. First of all, I want to use [Communication] on him, and it feels like the most impactful way to do it. Just- stab the grouchy old man in the heart, pearls, memories, everything. I want to see young Jiao and An. Or, better yet, I want to see LQ project visions of HER and Renxiang to Jiao, so that he'll get out of his funk. Rule of three and all that jazz.
Secondly, bringing up formations feels very random, IMO. We've not engaged with it in months, all the way since the festival with Zhengui. We've not done Garden of Mists or made any noteworthy uses of Liminal Carver. The only thing we have is practice geomancy mentioned offhand when talking to Shu Yue. However, option 2 is directly related to the summit and LQ's path of a reformer. It connects the goodbye to well, the place she's leaving to.
And lastly, well, Raising the Bastion is happening with Jiao, and this feels like the choice that'll be more conducive to it since it maintains the tension in the scene.
I don't necessarily agree that this is LQ being a hard woman making hard choices. Her context and situation are very different from Jiao and An's. She's not building her path around Renxiang. She's NOT a shadow, no matter how often she turns into one.
She doesn't have a grand vision or master plan, like Jiao, about the Empire or Emerald Seas. She just stumbled onto an opportunity to make sure people talked instead of fighting and took it. She's just a girl who wants to make the world a better place so that her family will be safe.
There's no one else who can do it because no one has the exact same circumstances and chances that gave her the opportunity. If there was another emissary in the Emerald Seas, it's possible that they would do this. But there's not, so LQ has to do it.
She's saying Jiao is right because being a reformer is a miserable path, just like she's said many times so far in this one update. But someone has to do it, and she's the only one in the position to do so.
At the end of the day, this is a character vote during Paying Respects. I'd rather vote for a big character moment that shows LQ thanking Jiao for his knowledge and advice rather than something that's tangentially related and calls back a route that's long dead. Both show character development, but I feel like option 2 showcases it more because it shows that LQ understands the enormity and difficulty of her path and is willing to walk it.
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
Varder
Tired Cultist
- Location
- Hell
I disagree. Ling Qi absolutely does have a vision for Emerald Seas, or at least a part of it. That's why we have the Summit. And she's slowly getting to the point of "hard woman making hard decisions", as demonstrated by this quote:
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
Which definition of hard (wo)man making hard decisions are we using? Because the one I'm familiar with is about bloodthirsty maniacs who take the easy way out by killing/destroying whatever the problem is rather than putting in actual effort/taking any risks. And I really don't see Ling Qi turning into that.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
[X] spoke. "I have already said it. Your words were true. But I do not regret it, because it needs to be done, and no one else would do it right."
It is true, after all. It is a thing that can fit easily enough into her Way... and it will touch him more deeply, I think.
The other just feels... kind of random and clinical, in a weird sort of way.
It is true, after all. It is a thing that can fit easily enough into her Way... and it will touch him more deeply, I think.
The other just feels... kind of random and clinical, in a weird sort of way.
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