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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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Oh this was good! Everything from the little hop she did to the reference to su ling's mom.

I like the spirit too. It's one I know, but I'm more used to driving through it than walking, and a car does keep you safe. Safer. Wisconsin always had a few people who died each year in those conditions when I was growing up.

Even so though,

[ ] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.

I think this is the one. We've got a communication build going, and I'm happier with undoing enemies than with just having death in the toolkit.

Plus, I think it will give this spirit more room to grow.
 
[ ] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[x] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.

Severance and despair with our regards to want is not a direction I would want to go. Much better to understand a souls want and then deciding what to do with it!
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
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[ ] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.

[ ] To Want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. In it's severance is despair. In despair lies death.

It's odd that the first mentions "understanding or undoing," while the second one just goes all-in on undoing. Removing the explicit "or undoing" would differentiate these Insights a lot more, especially since understanding an enemy already implies that you can use that knowledge against them. As is there's no reason to really pick the second unless you want to go all-in on assassinating high realms.
 
Ya I also feel like 2 is too close to a previous insight from Want: "Want is the purest expression of life, of choice, of will. To lack want is death by another name"
 
I mean, there's something to be said for a purity of focus. Retaining options is good, but when you're stabbing someone in the philosophy with your philosophy, sometimes you need a sharper point than they have.
 
yrsillar said:
Bo Qian knelt by their fire, which had not so much flared as…. Boiled over, soft gray wood smoke poured out of the charcoal to rise and form a smoky cover over the walls clinging with a sooty weight where it should have blown away. It should have been choking, but somehow the air she breathed was fresh and clear
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Typo.

yrsillar said:
He chuckled, flexing the fingers driven into the dark earth, the walls shuddered and settled, becoming somehow even more solid in her senses, a sort of hyper-real density that reminded her of the fortified walls of a castle. The sort of formation enhanced stone that even she would have difficulty passing through with her arts.
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yrsillar said:
"I can close the field within my walls to muffle us, but you will have to be outside for that," Bao Qian said dubiously.
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This is pretty neat. An instant fortress for the traveling merchant that would also make an excellent defensive hard point in a battlefield.

yrsillar said:
She pushed her feet against the ground and…

And nothing happened, they remained on earth. Ling Qi sighed, frowning down at herself, at the fine but still mundane silk and fur of her gown.

"Bao Qian, could you raise me up?" She asked. How annoying.

"Hah, Of course."

His fingers, embedded in the dirt, twitched and a circle of stone, a pillar, parted the dirt beneath her feet and sent her up, up toward and through the smoky ceiling of their little redoubt.
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Hah LQ has been spoiled with flight in Green by dress-chan. For a second I thought Bao boy would walk over and lift her on his shoulders or something.

yrsillar said:
[ ] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
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Between this, Eye of Grudges, and Thief of Names, LQ will soon enough be able to just look at someone and read their entire life history like a book.
 
The 2nd one is very scary and for an uncompromising, warrior ling qi. It's fully offensive, as opposed to the 1st, which makes it stronger at cutting. This ling qi ain't just that though.
 
For comparison:

Want IV (6/8): Her Want was to reach out, to grasp and hold and keep, Community and Home. Want is the purest expression of life, of choice, of will. To lack want is death by another name

Or merging that with the new options:
  • generalize: Her Want → To Want
  • replace: reach out → live
  • replace: hold and keep → strive
  • remove: Community and Home (as part of generalization)
  • loosely replace:
    • remove: Want is the purest expression of life, of choice, of will.
    • add: At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world.
    • "expression" ~ "foundation"/"root"/"threaded"?
    • "life" kind of moves up to the old "reach out"
    • "choice" ~ "bond"/"movement"??
    • "will" ~ "ambition"?
    • repeated "every" and "world" is part of generalization
  • fork:
    • Old: To lack want is death by another name
      • death is passive here
    • Option 1: Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
      • there's a whole "discern" clause added
      • death is weakened to "undoing"; "understanding" is an alternative
    • Option 2: In it's [sic] severance is despair. In despair lies death.
      • death is actively induced here, via despair
 
2 hours up

[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.

This looks like an internalization of the insight Shu Yue used to defeat Still Waters Deeping, so I'm for it. Also option 2 is yet another description of what "death" is in our philosophy and I think we have enough of those.
 
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I actually prefer
[X] To Want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. In it's severance is despair. In despair lies death.
 
Isolation is our sword, and it has gone unsharpened far too long. We're used to cutting off people from their warm, their senses, and their allies. Let's branch out into cutting people off from themselves.

[X] To Want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. In it's severance is despair. In despair lies death.
 
[X] To want is to live, to grasp, to strive. At the foundation of every bond, in the root of every ambition, threaded through every movement of the world. Discern the deepest want in a soul, and there find the key to its understanding or undoing.
 
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