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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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With the mention of iron, of ice, of damaged body parts cast off in the process of cultivation, it sounds like the Gale Princess may have been of the Mountain People, and some kind of deviant cultivator rejecting their methods, and their conclusions.

Looked at in a more geo-cosmological sense, she'd represent the rejection of stasis and the progression of the natural forces causing the climactic shift towards warming, and retreat of the ices, that was occurring in the Wall.

But forget that, we're here to learn how to break people from the best tutors around: the broken echoes of the Hui!
 
yrsillar said:
That is a matter of some debate; depending on the region in question, the sources are unclear which version came…"
She waved Meng Dan off. "Nope. they are wrong."

He gave a put-upon sigh.

Ling Qi gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, only to almost pause awkwardly when she realized what she had done, but she completed the motion with only a split-second hesitation.

"Totally smooth Qi."
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God meng Dan is winning this so hard , she's over here brushing the back of his hand and touching his shoulders in public in front of people . Good for them , the chemistry is on point once more
 
weeblypanda said:
BROTHER NO! This follower of the One True Husbando (Xuan Shi) begs that you return to the Path and reject this interloper!
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Xuan shi deserves to live his one piece adventurer dreams and meet a nice foreign princess . Lq is already damn near kissing this man (meng Dan ) who also happens to be her coworker now and will be in her proximity far more than xuan shi . Gonna be hard … uhhh for the mans to catch up when he shows up again in 4-5 months with a courting gift and lq is straddling another man and twisting his hair while giggling .
 
Mr.rodent said:
Xuan shi deserves to live his one piece adventurer dreams and meet a nice foreign princess . Lq is already damn near kissing this man (meng Dan ) who also happens to be her coworker now and will be in her proximity far more than xuan shi . Gonna be hard … uhhh for the mans to catch up when he shows up again in 4-5 months with a courting gift and lq is straddling another man and twisting his hair while giggling .
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I expect Xuan Shi to be showing up rather soon, all three suitors are officially announcing their suit tomorrow IICR.
 
Lena27 said:
I expect Xuan Shi to be showing up rather soon, all three suitors are officially announcing their suit tomorrow IICR.
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Their families are . Xuan shi himself isn't showing up . We still have the rest of this events, shu yue stuff , some city scenery stuff then straight to ith diplo arc .

After that iirc we have war prep , uhhh I think bq phantasm side quest , and other plotlines as well
 
Mr.rodent said:
Xuan shi deserves to live his one piece adventurer dreams and meet a nice foreign princess . Lq is already damn near kissing this man (meng Dan ) who also happens to be her coworker now and will be in her proximity far more than xuan shi . Gonna be hard … uhhh for the mans to catch up when he shows up again in 4-5 months with a courting gift and lq is straddling another man and twisting his hair while giggling .
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All of our suitors are honestly pursuing us, they deserve better than Ling Qi deciding that they should be dating someone else, especially if that 'someone else' isn't even a character, merely a vague hypothetical. We've got to choose someone in the end, but "You're cool but the voices in my head think you'd be cuter with Li Suyin/Xia Lin or whoever" feels pretty insulting. Let's not hand out consolation prizes that are both unwanted and not ours to give.
 
memoryofglory said:
All of our suitors are honestly pursuing us, they deserve better than Ling Qi deciding that they should be dating someone else, especially if that 'someone else' isn't even a character, merely a vague hypothetical. We've got to choose someone in the end, but "You're cool but the voices in my head think you'd be cuter with Li Suyin/Xia Lin or whoever" feels pretty insulting. Let's not hand out consolation prizes that are both unwanted and not ours to give.
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In no way is ling qi doing that though ? The reason I specifically said he should live out his one piece adventures is becuase that's how the plotline of one of his favorite books in story goes . Yes lq will have to make a decision and that decision is in the end gonna be up to readers of course but I do think it's fair to say in story currently lq is currently vibing /connecting romantically the fastest with meng Dan .

Now xuan shi isn't of course out of any race whatsoever , he's extremely popular as a character , and goodness knows readers will hold onto a character when their ship is practically on fire and almost sunk ( sorry bao Qian ) .

There's been more talks in the discord about this but xuan shi suffers from many issues that meng Dan hasn't or doesn't , not as character flaws but in timing and narrative issues . It's harder for xuan shi to be involved in the current narrative arcs becuase at the end of the day he's an outsider to the emerald seas , and really is only currently involved as much as a side character for lq / the romance plotline . If these were polar nation side quests we were focused on he would have more room to work with

This leaves him very vulnerable from disappearing off screen for significant stretches of time (bao qian had similar issues ) feeling like he's making little to no progress , whereas meng Dan is not only tied to crx and thus inherently far more involved in the same plotlines qi is , he's someone who will constantly get "screen time" and has that advantage to grow him as a character and have him and qi connect faster .

I could go on more but I prefer discord for these types of talks generally and I gotta get ready for work .
 
Mr.rodent said:
In no way is ling qi doing that though ? The reason I specifically said he should live out his one piece adventures is becuase that's how the plotline of one of his favorite books in story goes . Yes lq will have to make a decision and that decision is in the end gonna be up to readers of course but I do think it's fair to say in story currently lq is currently vibing /connecting romantically the fastest with meng Dan .

Now xuan shi isn't of course out of any race whatsoever , he's extremely popular as a character , and goodness knows readers will hold onto a character when their ship is practically on fire and almost sunk ( sorry bao Qian ) .

There's been more talks in the discord about this but xuan shi suffers from many issues that meng Dan hasn't or doesn't , not as character flaws but in timing and narrative issues . It's harder for xuan shi to be involved in the current narrative arcs becuase at the end of the day he's an outsider to the emerald seas , and really is only currently involved as much as a side character for lq / the romance plotline . If these were polar nation side quests we were focused on he would have more room to work with

This leaves him very vulnerable from disappearing off screen for significant stretches of time (bao qian had similar issues ) feeling like he's making little to no progress , whereas meng Dan is not only tied to crx and thus inherently far more involved in the same plotlines qi is , he's someone who will constantly get "screen time" and has that advantage to grow him as a character and have him and qi connect faster .

I could go on more but I prefer discord for these types of talks generally and I gotta get ready for work .
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You said he 'deserves to meet a nice foreign princess,' but he doesn't want to meet a nice foreign princess. He's made his choice and it's disingenuous to pretend that it wouldn't be a serious blow to him to lose here and that his real fated love interest is surely just over that next hill.

Meng Dan's constant presence in the story comes off as a negative to me, not because I don't like him, but because it's a constant reminder that even if we don't pick him he's always going to be included in arcs going forward. If we don't pick Xuan Shi the best Xuan Shi fans can hope for is a 'Journey to the East' style side story, if we don't pick Meng Dan he's not vanishing any more than Gan Guangli or Xia Lin. Even if I liked him more than Xuan Shi, which I don't, I find it basically impossible to imagine liking him so much more that I'm willing to take Xuan Shi's screentime out back behind the shed to be shot just to get a 10-15% increase in screentime for a guy who's already an uncontested staple character.
 
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Yeah. Honestly, I think it's going to be really hard for anyone to compete with Meng Dan if we don't see major changes. Meng Dan has fantastic chemistry with Ling Qi, is very well tied into the story and our interests, and has also benefited heavily from timing - he mostly got to flirting with Ling Qi after she'd gone through the tribulation and was able to actually engage with it.

Everyone else has kind of suffered there, regardless of how well they'd compete (or fail to compete) with Meng Dan. Sixiang is the other character that has good chemistry, but it feels like they've kind of been sacrificed on the altar of tribulation to allow Ling Qi to have relationships. Moreover, I don't feel like they're really a good fit for where we've taken the story. We've gotten heavily into the politics of the Emerald Seas, and so we do kind of want to engage with the politics of our marriage. Sixiang would fit much better in the Sect route, where they'd fit very neatly into us trying to stay back from noble politics as well as the Jiao apprenticeship. I'd still like romance with Sixiang, but I don't think they're really marriage material. They're more (gender-neutral) mistress material really.

Xuan Shi has gotten more interesting and appealing over time, but honestly I just don't think the relationship works as well. The more we poke at it and the more development he gets, the more I think they shouldn't get together and both him and Ling Qi could find better options.

Bao Qian then has really suffered the most from timing and the story. He tried to court Ling Qi far too early, and while he handled it well it sort of created significant issues for the development of our relationship. He's then been pushed to the side, and the thing that was supposed to draw him and Ling Qi together - music - has instead completely failed to generate chemistry or engagement due to Ling Qi refusing to engage with music and practically forgetting that she's a music cultivator. Even if he also hasn't really managed to achieve much in the way of chemistry, the story has not been helpful to him here.
 
Erebeal said:
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I agree 100%

Except you forgot to mention Shen Hu who has had the best romanceable chemistry with LQ from the very beginning. He may be currently presumed dead, outfitted with a cool robot arm and sent out to destroy LQ by Jan Renshu but this is a minor obstacle to their coming marriage with 14 very sleepy andor hyperactive children.
 
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Erebeal said:
Xuan Shi has gotten more interesting and appealing over time, but honestly I just don't think the relationship works as well. The more we poke at it and the more development he gets, the more I think they shouldn't get together and both him and Ling Qi could find better options.
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Counterpoint: Xuan Shi has better Pokemon, so he wins. Yinhui is fine, but she's not as cute as Xuanji or as fun to bully as Kongou.
 
Ling Qi: @Luo Yaling, your cultivation seems really dangerous with the way you keep losing bits of yourself!

Also Ling Qi: *merrily goes off to learn from teacher embodying lack of self*

Luo Yaling: So, Meng Dan, you have a thing for schizophrenic girls?
 
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Erebeal said:
Sixiang is the other character that has good chemistry, but it feels like they've kind of been sacrificed on the altar of tribulation to allow Ling Qi to have relationships.
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Your mileage may vary on this perspective. Personally I've only started to warm back up to Sixiang as a character with the recent arcs having them with their own body and personhood independent of Ling Qi. I personally would like them to *never* have the kind of dynamic they had Pre-Summit Tribulation, because I think Sixiang occupies a very annoying spot in the narrative where Their presence and commentary intrudes where it should be *Ling Qi* thinking and making observations about the surroundings and people. When They're doing the Invisible Commentator bit, having no physical presence in the surroundings and completly free to say whatever, it undercuts every scene the talk in and I generally don't like the way it disrupts scenes.
 
I think everyone is getting a little carried away here. Has Meng Dan been hitting it out of the park so far? Yeah but we haven't even seen Xuan Shi get started. People are just assuming he can't beat this chemistry thing going on but LQ and Xuan Shi have a foundation of friendship to build a relationship on. She knows Xuan Shi much better, has known him for a while and has always instinctively known he wasn't like the men she feared because he's Xuan Shi.
I'm going to at least wait and see him court LQ before I rule him out. He went halfway around the Empire chasing his favorite stories, which definitely have a romantic element to them. Xuan Shi definitely has some romance in him and, now that LQ has agreed to courtship, I don't think he'll be as shy as before.
 
Lena27 said:
I think everyone is getting a little carried away here. Has Meng Dan been hitting it out of the park so far? Yeah but we haven't even seen Xuan Shi get started. People are just assuming he can't beat this chemistry thing going on but LQ and Xuan Shi have a foundation of friendship to build a relationship on. She knows Xuan Shi much better, has known him for a while and has always instinctively known he wasn't like the men she feared because he's Xuan Shi.
I'm going to at least wait and see him court LQ before I rule him out. He went halfway around the Empire chasing his favorite stories, which definitely have a romantic element to them. Xuan Shi definitely has some romance in him and, now that LQ has agreed to courtship, I don't think he'll be as shy as before.
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Oh no my argument wasn't that xuan shi couldn't be romantic . Like you said the boy is a romantic at heart . My argument is that currently he doesn't squeeze in the narrative well. He doesn't fit many of the upcoming arcs , only has so much permission to act as an independent here , and thus risks basically not being able to catch up becuase he's NOT on even footing here . Ling qi admitted to herself that while she didn't feel the same spark for xuan shi as she currently does meng Dan that the potential is there .

If we were focused more on polar nation questlines at the moment or negotiations, becuase of xuanji xuan shi could step in and have screen time . But as of now , due to bad timing for him , he's somewhat forced to stay in the background doing ..stuff . Similar to meizhen ,though meizhen prob has more room to act right now and in the current upcoming war arc .

Now ,again I'm not saying he lost the race or any such nonsense , he's a very very popular character with lots of love for him , I'm saying he's just in a bit of a awkward place atm . It's even more awkward becuase of how well meng Dan has been doing lately too that when he does get screentime eventually it would be odd if he suddenly just got rubber banded in lqs heart with one or two actions for that crush meter . He basically needs time to cook but the other party is already starting to set his table if you catch my drift .

memoryofglory said:
If we don't pick Xuan Shi the best Xuan Shi fans can hope for is a 'Journey to the East' style side story
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As for this I don't think this is true at all . Again xuan shi is a very well liked character , and even if he loses the shipping war , in the very short term of the story I believe he'll stick around . At the very least he has a very big tie in with the polar nation plotlines that meng Dan and others don't .

As for long term , I can't really say . I don't know where the story is gonna go , maybe if we don't pick him he travels around while we're doing our province tour with crx in our cyans. Maybe he comes with for the exploration factor . At the end of the day he's lqs friend and has no incentive to really go home and do stuff like xiulan did . Without the awkwardness of courting I'm sure they would still remain close and he could even befriend more ppl himself and have his own plotlines . I don't think he's going anywhere story wise .
 
It would be kind of chill if we got 'dating' arcs with each of them, where it was understood that she was entertaining suites from all of them but we get story arcs with each one that lets them be highlighted. Give them all time to cook, basically. I think it could be cool to see how each of them work when the vibes are romantic, and if we can have and resolve conflict well.
 
Mr.rodent said:
Their families are . Xuan shi himself isn't showing up . We still have the rest of this events, shu yue stuff , some city scenery stuff then straight to ith diplo arc .

After that iirc we have war prep , uhhh I think bq phantasm side quest , and other plotlines as well
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Well the courtship plotline makes him relevant--did the story at point specifically say Xuan Shi wouldn't be at the wedding? His clan is presenting the suit, why wouldn't he be there with them when its about him and Ling Qi?
Glau said:
It would be kind of chill if we got 'dating' arcs with each of them, where it was understood that she was entertaining suites from all of them but we get story arcs with each one that lets them be highlighted. Give them all time to cook, basically. I think it could be cool to see how each of them work when the vibes are romantic, and if we can have and resolve conflict well.
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Yes! That sounds great!
 
Glau said:
It would be kind of chill if we got 'dating' arcs with each of them, where it was understood that she was entertaining suites from all of them but we get story arcs with each one that lets them be highlighted. Give them all time to cook, basically. I think it could be cool to see how each of them work when the vibes are romantic, and if we can have and resolve conflict well.
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We're kinda heading toward that for Bao Qian, actually. We're due to help him get some spring or summer spirit in the environs of the Fantasia (the huge forest that's the haunt of the Emerald Dreamer). Incidentally, that's very probably also the arc where we're finally getting a new flute.
 
Lena27 said:
Well the courtship plotline makes him relevant--did the story at point specifically say Xuan Shi wouldn't be at the wedding? His clan is presenting the suit, why wouldn't he be there with them when its about him and Ling Qi?
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It's more just announcements by the clans at large rather than direct announcements by the individuals iirc . Bao qian and xuan shi aren't here and it would be odd for them to suddenly show up , do the announcement and then just leave without us interacting at all with them afterwards which isn't on the agenda of events planned .

Also if they could be here for announcements they should have been able to be at the parties . Again it would be a weird writing choice
 
I'm hoping that music will tie in with the political efforts personally. A "song of the people" kinda deal. Something which refines the national identity of ES and includes the recent development on choice and multitude, highlighting the strength of diverse perspectives pointed in the same direction. It's far from LQ's current style (which is basically just nature be naturing) but it'd be make for a tighter narrative and actually let music play a role. It'd also jive with her ability to buff and understand others; she could use them as sounds in the orchestra, etc.

It's been a long ass time since there was any major focus on music though, I agree. It'd be nice to have a musical competition in the capital or something analogous.
 
Erebeal said:
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Yeah I agree with a lot of this. I think the story structure has kind of screwed Xuan Shi and Bao Qian a bit. Bao Qian in particular got it bad, he got relegated to Hanyi's manager which meant he was offscreen doing that for large swaths of time.

Xuan Shi isn't quite as bad, but since he's not in CRX's retinue he gets less screentime basically by default.

I'm a dedicated Xuan Shi stan, but I do think his on screen chemistry hasn't been as good. A lot of it is personality, he's not as assertive and confidant as Meng Dan.

Fingers crossed we get some good Xuan Shi moments in the war arc. (Sorry BQ fans I don't think he can make a comeback.)
 
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