One more thing, thinking about the past and future stuff makes me think about this scene:
View: https://youtu.be/caxiX38DK68?si=HjYA0-3MrC8YCDGA
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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.
One more thing, thinking about the past and future stuff makes me think about this scene:
View: https://youtu.be/caxiX38DK68?si=HjYA0-3MrC8YCDGA
- Location
- Colorado
You're missing a bracket, the vote won't count.
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] I would wield it to put them on the defense, to be miserly with their power and resources, and loathe to expend anything that is theirs.
[X] I would wield it to put them on the defense, to be miserly with their power and resources, and loathe to expend anything that is theirs.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
Both options are pretty good, but I think what ultimately convinced me is bringing Yan Renshu up as an example, and I kinda want to see him mald even more.
Both options are pretty good, but I think what ultimately convinced me is bringing Yan Renshu up as an example, and I kinda want to see him mald even more.
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
I think it's the wrong decision from a meta, pure power perspective. But I have to agree it will probably lead to more enjoyable spectacles to read about.
I think it's the wrong decision from a meta, pure power perspective. But I have to agree it will probably lead to more enjoyable spectacles to read about.
[X] I would wield it to put them on the defense, to be miserly with their power and resources, and loathe to expend anything that is theirs.
While I see the benefits of encouraging opponents to make unforced errors with glory seeking, to stand when they should be running and to commit when they shouldn't, I still think that encouraging them to be overly cautious and ponderous works better for Ling Qi so she can potentially set up for a knock out punch.
Not that leading opponents on a merry chase wasting time and resources out of position wouldn't be both useful and entertaining, I just personally feel that it's more thematic this way.
While I see the benefits of encouraging opponents to make unforced errors with glory seeking, to stand when they should be running and to commit when they shouldn't, I still think that encouraging them to be overly cautious and ponderous works better for Ling Qi so she can potentially set up for a knock out punch.
Not that leading opponents on a merry chase wasting time and resources out of position wouldn't be both useful and entertaining, I just personally feel that it's more thematic this way.
[X] I would wield it to put them on the defense, to be miserly with their power and resources, and loathe to expend anything that is theirs.
She can still bait people out tactically by just Ling Qi-ing at them if need be, this is a strategic way of forcing concessions, disrupting cohesion, and avoiding collateral damage. Other way is setting enemies up to explode, to burn out in glory and fervent dreaming. This is winter, this is the long cold. Husband close your precious things. Huddle by the fire. There are things in the dark that will take, take, take, and the only way you can survive is to stay still, stay silent, and hope they will be sated on your neighbours. Our themes are all about reinforcing and rewarding our own connections, while denying those connections to our enemies, and this plays into that.
She can still bait people out tactically by just Ling Qi-ing at them if need be, this is a strategic way of forcing concessions, disrupting cohesion, and avoiding collateral damage. Other way is setting enemies up to explode, to burn out in glory and fervent dreaming. This is winter, this is the long cold. Husband close your precious things. Huddle by the fire. There are things in the dark that will take, take, take, and the only way you can survive is to stay still, stay silent, and hope they will be sated on your neighbours. Our themes are all about reinforcing and rewarding our own connections, while denying those connections to our enemies, and this plays into that.
Lots of great arguments for both, but I think option two will lead to more interesting and dynamic fight scenes. Also getting a hotheaded hero to overcommit is peak villain aesthetic.
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
Another part of the villain aesthetic is having the "taunt the hero to come at them with all he's got" gambit blow up in their face and yell This Cannot Be as they get stomped.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
SoldAnother part of the villain aesthetic is having the "taunt the hero to come at them with all he's got" gambit blow up in their face and yell This Cannot Be as they get stomped.
[X] I would wield it to encourage glory-seeking, to make them willing to sacrifice what they should not for their dreams.
Ice and Steel
New
Xia Lin did not know what she had expected when she received this assignment. It was not this. Cai Renxiang's requirements were within expectation. Even if the heiress herself seemed to be suffering some minor cultivation deviation, such things were expected at this stage. To have no deviations or flaws in one's cultivation in the middling stages of the third realm was a near certainty of a brittle, untested way, or so the common wisdom meant.
Outside specific deliberately limited paths, anyway. She was quite familiar with those. She had been on such a track once.
Things had been much easier then.
Simpler. That was a better word.
The iron halls pressed down oppressively. The available angles of movement were few, and she could perceive that she lacked the potency to punch new ones through the iron. Straight lines, broken up by regular corners, minimal verticality, reinforced materials, sensory fuzzing.
The foreigners understood the defensive fortification theory. They were certainly no errant Cloud Tribe.
She still did not understand the purpose of sending her out. She should be guarding Lady Cai, even if it was meaningless, but the Baroness seemed to understand the foreigners, and she saw no problem presenting their lord with a lack of dedicated guard. She was not even being snubbed in favor of Gan Guangli; He was sent out, too.
She heard the sounds of voices, chanting and shouting. She felt the disturbance in the air from rising body heat and forceful exertion.
This was the barracks then.
She observed, arms held out at her sides, palms open, flush to her hips, unthreatening. There were a dozen-odd young women in the space, off to one side a small hall containing narrow rooms, cots, and storage. Here, a handful of tables, racks of equipment… and a cleared space in the middle of the floor. Recruits, mostly seeming in a fuzzy state of the second realm, whooped and clapped their hands. Dressed in light clothing, loose trousers and looser sleeveless shirts. Restwear.
…Indecent. She had to praise their body cultivation, however.
Another woman, who would tower over her by two heads, slammed into the wall beside the door with a rattling thump and slid to the floor, groaning.
The other woman, the one who had thrown her, rose to her feet, grinning fiercely. She was broad-shouldered, with upper arms of greater width than Xia Lin's own thighs and the odd pale skin the Emissary Ling Qi had spoken to had. Her hair was a similar shock of gold, the sides of her head shaven, and what remained on top tied back in a long braid. Her body was covered from the shoulders down with curving, patterned tattoos. Highly stylized, colored lines of glittering blue that culminated in whorling spirals at points across her body.
Her eyes flicked up and met the foreign woman's own gaze. The cheering had died down. They were quiet now. Even the woman slumped by the wall was looking up at her in shock.
Her knowledge of their tongue was rough. She was not specialized in learning such things.
"I greet you. Apologies for my interruption."
She caught herself and stopped herself from bowing or even inclining her head.
"A strange place for the retinue of an Emissary to come," the woman in the ring said. Xia Lin could not be clear on her cultivation. Something within the power of the third realm, but she couldn't accurately judge it. The power she held was too… networked. More like a web of connected formations than a single vital array.
"I say this too. The Emissary believes it is advantageous too…" She searched her lexicon for the right word "Mingle. Learn within our station. I come to where I feel… martial spirit."
The woman puzzled over the words, the rest of them whispering, speaking to quickly and in such low voices it was difficult to understand. "You come clad for war to a place of rest."
Ah. Unfortunate.
She could not entirely hide her grimace as she pulled in on her qi, and metal moved. Armored plates coming part with silvery ripples, folding in once twice, a hundred times, withdrawing from her limbs, from her body, flowing into the simple circlet of gleaming steel around her throat.
She disliked this. Too small, too soft. Stripped of all but the minimum of steel, nothing but a simple arming coat between her skin and an enemy blade. "This one did not mean to offend."
They were staring at her in complete silence now. The woman slumped against the wall beside her had scrambled back to her feet and backed away.
"Your steel is your /-god/ruler blessing/-" The woman in the center was unruffled.
Xia Lin furrowed her brow. She didn't fully understand that sentence. It seemed to be some reference to cultivation and spirit blood.
…Not inaccurate. She was the most successful among her great aunt's… projects. And this armor was forged by the Duchess. She nodded, glancing down at the tattoos again, the tattoos that were carved far deeper than mere ink under flesh, thrumming with the power of something distant, cold, and fierce.
She inclined her head.
"No insult then. /devotee/initiate/." The woman put on a warm smile and extended her hand. This ritual, Xia Lin knew.
She stepped forward, extended her own, and clasped the woman's forearm. It was difficult, even her forearm was almost twice as thick as Xia Lin's own.
The other woman's hand closed all the way around hers. That was significant pressure. She adjusted her own grip to match it. The grip tightened further. It would have been quite painful for a second realm's physique.
A strange quirk to the ritual. Ling Qi had not mentioned this. A judgment of strength? She matched the grip.
…Hm, enough pressure being applied to crack the stone. It seemed excessive, but she matched it. Crushing stone, mildly painful to a third realm. She matched it. Enough to punch through mortal steel. She felt her skin dimple slightly under the foreigner's fingers.
She matched it.
Her lips twitched upward a little. Now she understood. A mild hazing ritual common in units across the empire.
"I am Xia Lin, of Central Valley Xia clan, Sergeant among the White Plume Unit."
The grip tightened again; there was a slight visible flex of the larger woman's muscles. "Shalin. I am Liva of the White Sky, Captain among the Fangswatch Unit.
The grip would crush the bones of a less physically adept third realm. She matched it. Liva let out a short bark of laughter. However, she was concerned if it continued, there might be some harm done.
Liva released her, to a ripple of whispers. "I give welcome, though I know not what your Emissary expects you to do, with a pack of…
The word that followed seemed to be something about crushing ice and making trails. Something like 'groundpounders? The colloquial name given to infantry at times?
"Unless you'd like a round in the ring?"
Xia Lin blinked, considered. It could be risky if she harmed a foreigner or if they harmed her, as unlikely as that was.
"Rules?"
That silenced their observers again. Liva hummed.
"A contest to pin. No strikes. No active /God-Blessing/. Ten count or yield"
A pure grapple, no strikes, no active techniques or qi use. Yes, that would be mostly riskless. She inclined her head. "Accepted."
Liva finally paused, looking at her curiously, arms crossed over her chest. "You are certain? I will tell you, in agreed contest, my /god-blessing/ does not allow /deceitful victory/losing on purpose/. I must overcome if I can."
She puzzled her way through those words, and then, very slowly smiled.
"Accepted."
Outside specific deliberately limited paths, anyway. She was quite familiar with those. She had been on such a track once.
Things had been much easier then.
Simpler. That was a better word.
The iron halls pressed down oppressively. The available angles of movement were few, and she could perceive that she lacked the potency to punch new ones through the iron. Straight lines, broken up by regular corners, minimal verticality, reinforced materials, sensory fuzzing.
The foreigners understood the defensive fortification theory. They were certainly no errant Cloud Tribe.
She still did not understand the purpose of sending her out. She should be guarding Lady Cai, even if it was meaningless, but the Baroness seemed to understand the foreigners, and she saw no problem presenting their lord with a lack of dedicated guard. She was not even being snubbed in favor of Gan Guangli; He was sent out, too.
She heard the sounds of voices, chanting and shouting. She felt the disturbance in the air from rising body heat and forceful exertion.
This was the barracks then.
She observed, arms held out at her sides, palms open, flush to her hips, unthreatening. There were a dozen-odd young women in the space, off to one side a small hall containing narrow rooms, cots, and storage. Here, a handful of tables, racks of equipment… and a cleared space in the middle of the floor. Recruits, mostly seeming in a fuzzy state of the second realm, whooped and clapped their hands. Dressed in light clothing, loose trousers and looser sleeveless shirts. Restwear.
…Indecent. She had to praise their body cultivation, however.
Another woman, who would tower over her by two heads, slammed into the wall beside the door with a rattling thump and slid to the floor, groaning.
The other woman, the one who had thrown her, rose to her feet, grinning fiercely. She was broad-shouldered, with upper arms of greater width than Xia Lin's own thighs and the odd pale skin the Emissary Ling Qi had spoken to had. Her hair was a similar shock of gold, the sides of her head shaven, and what remained on top tied back in a long braid. Her body was covered from the shoulders down with curving, patterned tattoos. Highly stylized, colored lines of glittering blue that culminated in whorling spirals at points across her body.
Her eyes flicked up and met the foreign woman's own gaze. The cheering had died down. They were quiet now. Even the woman slumped by the wall was looking up at her in shock.
Her knowledge of their tongue was rough. She was not specialized in learning such things.
"I greet you. Apologies for my interruption."
She caught herself and stopped herself from bowing or even inclining her head.
"A strange place for the retinue of an Emissary to come," the woman in the ring said. Xia Lin could not be clear on her cultivation. Something within the power of the third realm, but she couldn't accurately judge it. The power she held was too… networked. More like a web of connected formations than a single vital array.
"I say this too. The Emissary believes it is advantageous too…" She searched her lexicon for the right word "Mingle. Learn within our station. I come to where I feel… martial spirit."
The woman puzzled over the words, the rest of them whispering, speaking to quickly and in such low voices it was difficult to understand. "You come clad for war to a place of rest."
Ah. Unfortunate.
She could not entirely hide her grimace as she pulled in on her qi, and metal moved. Armored plates coming part with silvery ripples, folding in once twice, a hundred times, withdrawing from her limbs, from her body, flowing into the simple circlet of gleaming steel around her throat.
She disliked this. Too small, too soft. Stripped of all but the minimum of steel, nothing but a simple arming coat between her skin and an enemy blade. "This one did not mean to offend."
They were staring at her in complete silence now. The woman slumped against the wall beside her had scrambled back to her feet and backed away.
"Your steel is your /-god/ruler blessing/-" The woman in the center was unruffled.
Xia Lin furrowed her brow. She didn't fully understand that sentence. It seemed to be some reference to cultivation and spirit blood.
…Not inaccurate. She was the most successful among her great aunt's… projects. And this armor was forged by the Duchess. She nodded, glancing down at the tattoos again, the tattoos that were carved far deeper than mere ink under flesh, thrumming with the power of something distant, cold, and fierce.
She inclined her head.
"No insult then. /devotee/initiate/." The woman put on a warm smile and extended her hand. This ritual, Xia Lin knew.
She stepped forward, extended her own, and clasped the woman's forearm. It was difficult, even her forearm was almost twice as thick as Xia Lin's own.
The other woman's hand closed all the way around hers. That was significant pressure. She adjusted her own grip to match it. The grip tightened further. It would have been quite painful for a second realm's physique.
A strange quirk to the ritual. Ling Qi had not mentioned this. A judgment of strength? She matched the grip.
…Hm, enough pressure being applied to crack the stone. It seemed excessive, but she matched it. Crushing stone, mildly painful to a third realm. She matched it. Enough to punch through mortal steel. She felt her skin dimple slightly under the foreigner's fingers.
She matched it.
Her lips twitched upward a little. Now she understood. A mild hazing ritual common in units across the empire.
"I am Xia Lin, of Central Valley Xia clan, Sergeant among the White Plume Unit."
The grip tightened again; there was a slight visible flex of the larger woman's muscles. "Shalin. I am Liva of the White Sky, Captain among the Fangswatch Unit.
The grip would crush the bones of a less physically adept third realm. She matched it. Liva let out a short bark of laughter. However, she was concerned if it continued, there might be some harm done.
Liva released her, to a ripple of whispers. "I give welcome, though I know not what your Emissary expects you to do, with a pack of…
The word that followed seemed to be something about crushing ice and making trails. Something like 'groundpounders? The colloquial name given to infantry at times?
"Unless you'd like a round in the ring?"
Xia Lin blinked, considered. It could be risky if she harmed a foreigner or if they harmed her, as unlikely as that was.
"Rules?"
That silenced their observers again. Liva hummed.
"A contest to pin. No strikes. No active /God-Blessing/. Ten count or yield"
A pure grapple, no strikes, no active techniques or qi use. Yes, that would be mostly riskless. She inclined her head. "Accepted."
Liva finally paused, looking at her curiously, arms crossed over her chest. "You are certain? I will tell you, in agreed contest, my /god-blessing/ does not allow /deceitful victory/losing on purpose/. I must overcome if I can."
She puzzled her way through those words, and then, very slowly smiled.
"Accepted."
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Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
I remember her being introduced as a Sergant back than, Am I missremembering it?
She was called captain when we came to Xiangmen and I tought to myself that we didn't celebrate her promotion or how strange it was that she skipped being Leutenant but I forgot to post that after.
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nah I did make a mistake there I'd already fixed it in the main story but I'd missed it here!
Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
How old is she that she made captain? I feel like she is too young to have done the time in grade to reach captain and still be a peer to CRX.
And this is the spicy bit:
And also this comment in this update:
Which we may connect to her concerns about Hanyi way back when:
And also this comment in this update:
My impression is that Xia Ren has been doing some kind of spirit-based weapon cultivator projects. Possibly trying to create half-spirit sword-blooded or something. And then she's tied to her armor similarly to Renxiang and Liming maybe, which could be framed as analogous to a god's (Shenhua's) blessing.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Some interesting details here about Xia Lin indeed.
- Location
- San Ramon, CA
Ling Qi: Has anyone seen Xia Lin?
Cai Renxiang: I told her to try and make some friends.
*Cut to Lin holding Liva in a chokehold*
Cai Renxiang: I told her to try and make some friends.
*Cut to Lin holding Liva in a chokehold*
- Location
- Colorado
The Duchess makes all the White Plume gear, and we know that even a thread of Liming outshines Xia Lin's whole panoply from the Hui corpse immortal fight. I'm not saying Xia Lin doesn't have some stuff going on, but we already knew about her armor. I sincerely doubt she's tied to it as close as CRX and Liming are, because that would imply all the White Plumes are the same.
Edit:
This is discussing her halberd when she was first introduced, it's absolutely no surprise that her armor is the same or being implicitly included under 'armaments' here.
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Also if anyone wants to know yrs gave us confirmation that Xia Lin is Bi. So she's an equal opportunity abs ogler
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