Why not just a circle?
It could be seen as a 0, because ling=0, right?
It could be the moon.
It could also be an opening, if we lean on the boundary theme.
I actually suggested something similar a while back, a white ring on a dark blue background. The ring being a way to write 'zero' and therefore the clan name, and the background being the clan colour, with the whole thing also evoking the image of the moon in the night sky. It's also a simple and recognisable design, which I think is pretty important; most flags and other heraldic emblems like Japanese mon aren't very complicated, and overly complicated ones typically don't look very nice.
Just to remind everyone the South (edit: why did I read that as North either way aurora still probably a bad idea) is terrified of the Aurora so that would be like a Bai subordinate having an image of the Red Jungle in their heraldry so unless we can figure out a way to symbolically show us fighting the Aurora in our Heraldry I'd suggest against this.
Edit: I'm personally of the opinion that the entirety of our family including our spirits should have a say in our Heraldry. Therefore we should wait until Dress-Chan has fully woken up.
Just to remind everyone the north is terrified of the Aurora so that would be like a Bai subordinate having an image of the Red Jungle in their heraldry so unless we can figure out a way to symbolically show us fighting the Aurora in our Heraldry I'd suggest against this.
Edit: I'm personally of the opinion that the entirety of our family including our spirits should have a say in our Heraldry. Therefore we should wait until Dress-Chan has fully woken up.
Minor correction, its the south aka Polar Nation that terrified of the Aurora. The north is basically the Empire which didn't really know the Aurora existed until recently.
Might I humbly suggest that saying I should never have children because I voted power because that's what Dress-chan wants is A. rhetorical overkill B. an excellent way to start a flame war and C. a good way to engender bitterness if my option loses, whereas before your post I was fine with Mystery possibly winning.
I also found this irritating. Also empowering children to follow what they're interested should be considered a good thing? It's curbing bad habits and tendencies that a parent should be worried about.
empowering children to follow what they're interested should be considered a good thing? It's curbing bad habits and tendencies that a parent should be worried about.
This is a literal baby. And even for older children, overindulgent parenting is unambiguously worse than helicopter parenting. If you've ever been around a small child, their interests change a lot ... and they have no sense of appropriate time or scale, either. I expect the infamous phase where two-year-olds spam "no" comes from the necessity of even permissive parents doing the same.
And, uh. Regardless of all that, "be a walking nuke" does not strike me as a tendency that a child should cultivate at its core.
It would be one thing if this were a "just for fun" crazy quest (reminds me of that famous "Who's your Daddy?" game on steam). But this is a serious quest, taking on serious issues and trying to play out the consequences. We become (IRL!) what we repeatedly practice (even online). And I have seen far too many families ruined by a lack of knowing how to say "no" to let this slide without remark.
This is a literal baby. And even for older children, overindulgent parenting is unambiguously worse than helicopter parenting. If you've ever been around a small child, their interests change a lot ... and they have no sense of appropriate time or scale, either. I expect the infamous phase where two-year-olds spam "no" comes from the necessity of even permissive parents doing the same.
And, uh. Regardless of all that, "be a walking nuke" does not strike me as a tendency that a child should cultivate at its core.
It would be one thing if this were a "just for fun" crazy quest (reminds me of that famous "Who's your Daddy?" game on steam). But this is a serious quest, taking on serious issues and trying to play out the consequences. We become (IRL!) what we repeatedly practice (even online). And I have seen far too many families ruined by a lack of knowing how to say "no" to let this slide without remark.
I really think you're taking this too seriously if your response to thinking that other questers are voting wrong is to tell them they're bad people and gonna make abusive parents. That is kind of insane, you know?
Spirits are people, not human. Zhengui engaged in combat when he was less than six months old in Forge. Hanyi is not bothered by war because Winter Spirits tend to be part Death in a way. Even the bird that is Xuan Shi's companion engaged in combat quickly after hatching.
Dress-Chan is armor, and has had some personality since we learned how to adjust our outfit. The stress eating episode clearly shows this as well. Young Spirits are not human children. This last chapter just shows coherence being present, rather than a difficult to parse emotional soup. Some of the difference is Ling Qi finally having the right 'ears' to hear.
Some ancient skywatchers spoke of the crescent Moon when the bottom seems to be lit as the "wet moon". They thought it looked like a bowl which could fill up with the rain and snow of the winter season. In Hawaiian astrology, Kaelo the Water Bearer rules from January 20 - February 18.
One idea for the ling clan heraldry
And would you say the same if this were one of SV's favorite social issues? Is it okay to be not-serious about those just because it's a quest on the internet?
Now, this is the kind of argument I can admire - if only it had come up before. It's the kind of argument that very much requires conscious consideration and discernment though, or it can very easily lead into very bad things. Thankfully we're all adults (or close enough) here, and have the capability to consider the deeper consequences even for uncomfortable subjects, unlike young children.
And would you say the same if this were one of SV's favorite social issues? Is it okay to be not-serious about those just because it's a quest on the internet?
No, because bigots make deliberate use of dogwhistles and "just joking" to cover deadly serious hateful rhetoric towards their targets, but I don't think there's a comparable tendency among the oh-so-vile group of...charitably, "people with overly lenient views on parenting?"
You can't just go "what if this thing was a different thing, wouldn't you treat it differently then?" That's not hypocrisy, it's just a reasonable response.
Power. Threads, the cord binding her dress into the system of her qi, instinctively sought the flows which circulated with her meditations on the nature of Power. It made sense. Her dress, the most powerful talisman she owned, even now, had always filled her with a sense of security. It was armor, fit to turn aside blades and blows, to deflect fire or lightning. In it, she was always prepared for a fight, for a threat. It was her wings, which could carry her away from any threat.
Things were never so absolute in reality, but for her time in the outer and inner sect, that was the feeling wearing this dress had given her. So she understood how those ideas would resonate. Choice, agency, was rooted in power.
And the way you chose to appear too, was an act of communication. And in changing how you were perceived, you opened or closed choices for yourself, this too was an act rooted in power. It was funny that her friend, Gu Xiulan, had long ago been the one to force her to see that appearance was another weapon in one's arsenal.
She really needed to write another letter. She was a bit worried about the gap in correspondence, though she knew there was some disruption going on in the Golden Fields.
Secure. Secure.
It was almost like a cat's purring, her dresses thrumming, even as the more outlandish affects of her outfit faded or shrunk. The high ruff brushed her chin, her sleeves shrunk becoming a little less dramatically swooping, and her heels thankfully sank back to the floor. She really didn't need to be any taller, thank you.
But a nice pair of high boots would not go amiss when they were outside. Especially if she was going to be flying again. She didn't need to be flashing her ankles at all and sundry.
Snug!
The wings on her mantle fluttered and the lights in her room wobbled and twitched in alignment, casting her shadow long against the wall. Ling Qi sighed, rubbing her fingers together through the supple satin gloves still covering her hands. They were rather comfy, and the faintly chiming jeweled bell charms hanging from the delicate silver chain wrapped around her left hand fit over them nicely..
Happy!
She could indulge a little.
Ribbons? Ornament?
She felt the fabric around her shoulders twitching, strips of fabric reaching for her hair.
"Later," Ling Qi said firmly.
Later!
This was going to take a little getting used to again, wasn't it?
***
Descending from the floor which held everyone's personal chambers at both a more sedate pace and a more mortal route, Ling Qi was a little bemused to see the staff near the meeting room still so on edge. Here she had an occasion to sooth startled nerves and apologize. There was no looming emergency, no sudden news of an incoming raid, their visitor was not some highly placed inspector who needed to be satisfied. Bemusement became sheepish as she realized the scale of the alarm and rumors she had sent rippling out.
But her quick passage had nothing to do with the wide area of avoidance around the meeting hall.
"Our honored guest sir Lin asked not to be disturbed, and the sensation emerged from the chamber…. No one has dared check in further," said a man who she was quite sure was the manor's majordomo under Renxiang, and whose name she really should learn. He wore simple white robes, lined in the Cai's crimson, and he bowed to her with exacting precision, awaiting her response.
Ling Qi observed the area, the dense dark qi which shrouded it like a bubble, containing the rose gold dawn that was Lin Hai almost completely… Her teacher was very forward, and a little inconsiderate.
"I will take care of all matters of hospitality here, it is merely our other security, provided by the Duchess, greeting their brother disciple," Ling Qi said. "If Lady Cai has not already been informed…"
"She is touring the preliminary construction by the lakeside," the man inserted helpfully into the pause she left.
"Then do send her a messenger informing her that her Mother's disciples are present for a visit," Ling Qi said.
"Thank you, Baroness Ling, this humble servant shall convey your words to the staff, and to our Lady."
He was a little annoyed with her for her mad dash through the manor, but he was far too professional to let it appear anywhere on his face or in his posture.
"Thank you for your prompt corralling of the rumors," Ling Qi said. "Now, I will attend to our guests. Please convey my well wishes to the staff."
It wasn't done to outright apologize to your staff, at least not ones whose relationship to you was impersonal, but there were ways to convey the intent through the web of imperial etiquette.
He bowed once more and left her to it. Ling Qi turned to the meeting room door and stepped inside.
Shu Yue sat across from Lin Hai at the table there, looking more human than they had at any point since the party they were introduced at. The strange proportions, lumbs and jagged spidery joints they had shown before her were nowhere to be seen. Instead their pale white face was an oval in a sea of black hair and robes that would nonetheless properly fit an extremely tall person.
Their hands were still very spidery and their fingers long, and were firmly clasped around Lin Hai's hand as they spoke and laughed together over the modest meal served to them before he had apparently dismissed the staff. She could, naturally, not hear a single word of it.
But Shu Yue's eye did flick toward her… only one of them rolling in its socket like that of a lizard, and the silence of the room dispersed. Lin Hai blinked, looking up as well.
"Ah! I do apologize Miss Ling, I was too engrossed to notice your arrival. I see the fit is quite good! I was somewhat concerned that I had not taken your measurement since your healing.
"I won't be shaped by such flames, not more than I can avoid," Ling Qi said
"A tempering cannot be avoided, but the flame cannot bring forth what is not in the ore," Shu Yue said, unwinding their fingers from around Lin Hai's hand as they turned to face her. "It is good that you are healing well."
"Thank you, Shu Yue," Ling Qi said. "Though I do wish that you had announced yourself, the staff outside were a little frightened."
Or not allowed themself to be felt at all, was the silent addendum.
For the first time, She saw something sheepish in Shu Yu's expression, long fingers scratching at their pallid cheek. "Ah."
Lin Hai chuckled warmly, leaning over and patting them on the shoulder. "My fault as well, friend. I should have warned you that your control was a little loose. But it was such a pleasure to see you again, it slipped my mind. Let us elders apologize to the young miss for the inconvenience."
He smiled up at her though his eyes were darting along the contours of her gown, obviously measuring the fit, not the physical one of course, but the spiritual.
"I will accept it, on my own behalf, and Lady Cai's," Ling Qi said, lowering her head. "And I thank you for your fine work. She is amazing.
"So she did fully awake when you put her on," Lin Hai said. "I suspected she would but the moment can never be fully certain. A happy birthday indeed!"
Ling Qi smiled. It was strange to think of it like that.
"Have you tried her alternate mode?"
Ling Qi blinked, looking at Lin Hai. "Her what?"
Her alternative mode, well battle mode you could say, but I find that uncouth," Lin Hai said.
Ling Qi looked down at her gown, eyebrows rising.
"Just awaken your domain, she should follow along," Lin Hai said brightly, leaning forward over the table.
Her dress rustled cheerfully.
Ling Qi breathed out, and mindful of the staff did not let her qi spill out too far. Mist drifted from beneath the hem of her gown crawling along the floor and shrouded her hands in soft, cool gray clouds…. And her dress changed.
The silk shimmered, took on a metallic tinge, the sweeping lower hem tightened, and split along the sides, slits rising to her calf as the slippers beneath transformed into supple boots plated, shod and riveted with silvery-steel. The same color bloomed out around the opening of her sleeve, silvery wire lace as light as clouds curling out like fractally spreading frost to guard her hands, and crawling up her arms to thicken fabric with subtly inserted thin and flexible plates of moonsilver alloy. Her mantle flared out behind her blown in an invisible wind, buoyed on her mist, like the dark wings of a moth.
And she felt her dress' qi and her mist alike spin and weave together a veil of mist and liquid shadow fluttering over her face, held in place by a circlet of silver around her brow. The greatest change maybe, was to the lowest layer, the shift which writhed against her skin into a form fitting dense meshed weave of black fabric from the bottom of her chin down to her ankles and all the way to her wrists as well. It was a snug feeling but not uncomfortable.
"There is still some room for adjustment, I am sure you want to decide what to do with your hair," Lin Hai said, looking pleased, but as great as my ability to weave and stitch is, metals are simply better for holding armor formations. The combination of Dusk Steel, Moonsilver, and Xiangmen Voidsilk is excellent, and I rarely have access to such quality."
She was only half listening to him, because she could feel her own qi roiling, a vortex of black wind and flashing silver, more potent than it should be. To her own senses she felt like she was a full stage above what she truly was in cultivation.
But she wasn't, it was… projection, like a beast puffing out its fur to seem bigger than it was, only…
"It is not like you to craft such an illusion," Shu Yue said clinically, head tilting a little too far to be comfortable on a human neck. "Only…Ah, I see."
"Possibility, potential, that's what it's drawing on, the same as my dreaming steps," Ling Qi murmured. "She can make it real, briefly, fractionally, can't she?"
Pride!
"Just so!" Lin Hai said, clapping his hands. It is draining, I'd not expect the dear to be able to do it often or long yet, but it is there, and she should be able to harden her own defense further against a limited number of blows, her abilities will develop and grow like any child, but I think you will find her most useful even now."
"Far more than that," Ling Qi said quietly. "What is her name?"
"She does not have one just yet. I think it would be best for you to decide something with her," Lin Hai said warmly.
[ ] Oh Boy SV time to get your naming on again!
'---' Living Gown
A simple four layered black and dark purple dress with a fur trimmed mantle, able to shift and transform into any style or shape freely and at will. An excitable young spirit dedicated to making her wearer stand out.
+2 to primary Armor Skill, +1 to Primary Movement Skill, -4 Qi upkeep
Provides flight at your speed, or negates any damage from a fall. Reduce the potency of any effect that would interfere with your flight by 1
Allows you or your dress to manipulate the direction and intensity of lights and shadow in your vicinity
Increase Trait Bonuses to +4 and +2
Allows you to temporarily appear to be one stage higher in cultivation than you are. Once per scene you may treat yourself as if you were truly one stage higher in cultivation for the duration of one stunt. At G8 this does allow you to be treated as C1, but this will cause the gown's active functions including dusk singer mode to shut down for the remainder of the scene.
Up to twice per scene your dress may fully absorb the force of an attack targeted at you. This does not affect the other targets of an AoE effect.
Some ancient skywatchers spoke of the crescent Moon when the bottom seems to be lit as the "wet moon". They thought it looked like a bowl which could fill up with the rain and snow of the winter season. In Hawaiian astrology, Kaelo the Water Bearer rules from January 20 - February 18.
