- Location
- The Space Between
Firstly
[X] Greed and Desire [Align offensive technique to Communication and Want]
Ling Qi already has a good sense of Isolation and a burgeoning sense of Community in terms that already slot pretty nicely into Lower Hui ideas. Sure, I think we disagree with the philosophy on some fundamental things right from the outset but that doesn't mean there aren't similarities.
Want is a huge divergence point though, and colors the rest of our understanding.
For us our understanding of Want is similar to being alive at all. Want is direction. Want is where people move towards for better and worse. To desire an elimination of desire is to want rudderlessness. It's a desire to lose all direction, which would preclude any that succeeded from proceeding on any path intentionally (without someone shuffling them along it). This, then, is a major difference from The Hui understanding and our own. To eliminate Want is to eliminate any desire (or ability) to Choose for oneself. All Choice becomes surrendered to whoever holds your levers (Hui).
Where the Pure Path asks for 3 reasons why people suffer, our understanding is more centered in the how we personally suffered. We suffered privation of mind, body and spirit on the streets. Hatred and Greed weren't reasons we suffered except in an abstract sense. We suffered from missing what was necessary for our health. If survival was greedy of us and we "wouldn't have suffered if we hadn't Desired (to live)" then we are a greedy girl and also screw the Hui.
While Ignorance/Delusion as a pain/weapon is certainly in line with our understanding of suffering (Isolation is privation of the soul, and Ignorance/Delusion can certainly Isolate you), I don't want to link Ignorance/Delusion with Isolation when I don't think there's a better descriptor for Privation of the Mind. I'd want to weaponize Ignorance/Delusion on their own merit, rather than attach them to the Blade we already know.
On top of that I think I want to see Want in our offense kit. Want is a direction, it can be shackled or redirected or contested by other Wants but for Thief of Names I think it's fitting. Want can be dangerous, and an excellent distraction/diversion/bribe while on a heist. A beast of Want shackled in the corner of their mind? Break the chains and slip towards other secrets while the beast rampages. An overwhelming Want is in charge of the compound? Give it a lead, and watch it scramble to a task that isn't catching you copying secrets. Something similar to drugging or making-drunk the guards as inhibitions on Want are weakened or removed entirely.
In fact that's probably an excellent synergy with a Want Offense in Thief of Names, the inhibition reduction brought on by drunkenness. A good connection to Sixiang's Muse put to Nightmare's Purpose of tripping up the plans of the mighty. It also connects to all the talk and interaction with Alcohol throughout this trip. Yeah I like that, I want Greed and Desire (Want) on their own merits. Whether the target's Wants are a secret to claim or whether they're simply exploited while we seek other secrets it's our card to claim and play.
I won't be unhappy with Ignorance and Delusion though. Can't really engage with weaponized Ignorance/Delusion if we never select options that offer such. I do think it muddies the potential of "The Three Privations" though by tying Isolation to Ignorance/Delusion in the very first exploration of such.
No I think the Hui were predatory/gross/superiority-complexed from the start (based on Dream Predator Spiders), the difference being that The Matriarch Ascended in such a way that Palace of One isn't inherently rotten. By "Pure Path" reckoning the world is flawed/rotten to begin with (thus including/excusing the Hui of the same, to some extent) and it'd be more correct to say Palace of One approached Enlightenment but turned back to help others achieve it (like a Boddhisatva) rather than achieve self-annihilating enlightenment. Or maybe it could be said that the Matriarch became enlightened and left behind Palace of One to assist others on their way. In either case she seems to have largely failed by Pure Path logic since the Hui had so few Ascensions (unless there were "ascensions" they were just more like how 1000 Princes would do enlightenment rather than Imperial).
[X] Greed and Desire [Align offensive technique to Communication and Want]
Ling Qi already has a good sense of Isolation and a burgeoning sense of Community in terms that already slot pretty nicely into Lower Hui ideas. Sure, I think we disagree with the philosophy on some fundamental things right from the outset but that doesn't mean there aren't similarities.
Want is a huge divergence point though, and colors the rest of our understanding.
For us our understanding of Want is similar to being alive at all. Want is direction. Want is where people move towards for better and worse. To desire an elimination of desire is to want rudderlessness. It's a desire to lose all direction, which would preclude any that succeeded from proceeding on any path intentionally (without someone shuffling them along it). This, then, is a major difference from The Hui understanding and our own. To eliminate Want is to eliminate any desire (or ability) to Choose for oneself. All Choice becomes surrendered to whoever holds your levers (Hui).
Where the Pure Path asks for 3 reasons why people suffer, our understanding is more centered in the how we personally suffered. We suffered privation of mind, body and spirit on the streets. Hatred and Greed weren't reasons we suffered except in an abstract sense. We suffered from missing what was necessary for our health. If survival was greedy of us and we "wouldn't have suffered if we hadn't Desired (to live)" then we are a greedy girl and also screw the Hui.
While Ignorance/Delusion as a pain/weapon is certainly in line with our understanding of suffering (Isolation is privation of the soul, and Ignorance/Delusion can certainly Isolate you), I don't want to link Ignorance/Delusion with Isolation when I don't think there's a better descriptor for Privation of the Mind. I'd want to weaponize Ignorance/Delusion on their own merit, rather than attach them to the Blade we already know.
On top of that I think I want to see Want in our offense kit. Want is a direction, it can be shackled or redirected or contested by other Wants but for Thief of Names I think it's fitting. Want can be dangerous, and an excellent distraction/diversion/bribe while on a heist. A beast of Want shackled in the corner of their mind? Break the chains and slip towards other secrets while the beast rampages. An overwhelming Want is in charge of the compound? Give it a lead, and watch it scramble to a task that isn't catching you copying secrets. Something similar to drugging or making-drunk the guards as inhibitions on Want are weakened or removed entirely.
In fact that's probably an excellent synergy with a Want Offense in Thief of Names, the inhibition reduction brought on by drunkenness. A good connection to Sixiang's Muse put to Nightmare's Purpose of tripping up the plans of the mighty. It also connects to all the talk and interaction with Alcohol throughout this trip. Yeah I like that, I want Greed and Desire (Want) on their own merits. Whether the target's Wants are a secret to claim or whether they're simply exploited while we seek other secrets it's our card to claim and play.
I won't be unhappy with Ignorance and Delusion though. Can't really engage with weaponized Ignorance/Delusion if we never select options that offer such. I do think it muddies the potential of "The Three Privations" though by tying Isolation to Ignorance/Delusion in the very first exploration of such.
No I think the Hui were predatory/gross/superiority-complexed from the start (based on Dream Predator Spiders), the difference being that The Matriarch Ascended in such a way that Palace of One isn't inherently rotten. By "Pure Path" reckoning the world is flawed/rotten to begin with (thus including/excusing the Hui of the same, to some extent) and it'd be more correct to say Palace of One approached Enlightenment but turned back to help others achieve it (like a Boddhisatva) rather than achieve self-annihilating enlightenment. Or maybe it could be said that the Matriarch became enlightened and left behind Palace of One to assist others on their way. In either case she seems to have largely failed by Pure Path logic since the Hui had so few Ascensions (unless there were "ascensions" they were just more like how 1000 Princes would do enlightenment rather than Imperial).
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