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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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Alright, I'm going to make a push for SCS 1 and TRF 1. I'm not sure how I feel about CDE, so I'll save that for later.

[][SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
This isn't saying that there is no peace or contentment, but that being empty won't bring peace and being still won't bring contentment.

Rather, constantly growing, changing, or even simply thinking about how to approach problems allows for peace and contentment. In knowing that you are actively trying to solve problems, or prevent them in the first place. It feels much more proactive than reactive, which is a direction that I want Ling Qi to go towards. To look at her family, or herself, or her friends, and ask "what should I do to make it better?"

Sometimes there is nothing to be done in a certain area to make it better, but that doesn't mean to sit around and just bask in that. Rather, begin acting in other areas to improve those so that eventually, you can go back and actually see areas to improve where before you couldn't.

I don't think that this is saying to act, change, move, think, and grow for the pure sake for those things, but rather that by doing those things you prevent stagnation, which it characterizes as death.

I do see that there could be some concern with Starless night and how this might interact, given the keyword stillness. The domain itself directly implicates that there is no contentment in stillness. I don't think that there will be a problem, however. Starless Night is about how to absorb attacks by reflecting the stillness of an infinite void. And hopefully, a person isn't content to be attacked. So even though there is stillness in the keywords, it doesn't implicate that being still will bring contentment.

Either way, I prefer Ling Qi being more focused on action, changing, and growing than on her being content in stillness. So if it is an either or (which I don't think it is) I would prefer this insight.

[][TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength
I like this insight because it plays well with the idea of past pains and struggles providing the impetuous for new strength and growth. This plays well with FVM and FSS insights which were about long arduous journeys and a cycle of endings and beginnings.

Edit: man, had to edit it because it posted before I was finished. Ah well.
 
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These two may have synergy with each other?

"Sable Crescent Step Insights

[][SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.

Thousand Ring Fortress Insights

[][TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength"
 
Hmm.

As expected, higher quality Arts come with more complex Insights. CDE is pretty basic and thus the insights are basic. SCS and TRF are both fairly complicated.

Now, from what I can see, SCS Insight 1 is good, but will almost certainly conflict with that new area defense Art we've gotten from the Cai Care Package--and considering how people are bitching and moaning about how we can't get that social art because it's not compatible with our domain, I think we should consider grabbing it to be a very perilous choice from the perspective of optimizing our gains. Especially as the Maths Cabal is ruthless in their tendency to excise any powers that don't give the maximum gain, even if it might make us stronger in the short and medium term.

SCS Insight 2, meanwhile, seems to be saying. "If you want something, go for it, don't let the fact that there's stuff in the way bother you" Which... Isn't inherently bad, though it can easily become such if not anchored down. Isn't it good then that we've gotten something to mitigate the downsides of that in this very vote?

In regards to TRF.

TRF Insight One measures closely with the stuff we've already assembled in our Domain, it ensures that Ling Qi is good at owning that which she does--to take that sense of self reflection on her faults and turn past mistakes and defeats into future strength. It's a very solid, very reliable Insight, as one might expect from such a well developed Art.

TRF Insight Two meanwhile is establishing a bottom line. "This far I shall go, and no further". It's the lesson that there are lines you will not cross--that one should hold tight to their roots and not surrender them just for immediate gain.

They're both things we want I think, but where options one in both case synergize the best with the lessons we've already internalized, I don't feel we're at the stage yet where every single Insight must lock together closely and tightly with every other one? So much as them needing to be compatible in groups and not actively conflicting in others.

And in that regard.

[][SCS] Darkness knows no barriers, and neither should your desires
[]{TRF] Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.

"Take what you must, fly as far as you can--but never abandon your roots. Never allow yourself to lose what you've already gained for the sake of the newest treasure. If you cannot have them both now, then simply become strong enough to carry as much as you want"

It's a re-visitation and re-validation of the "Wings and Roots" decision we made back in the Yellow Breakthrough, and I suspect that will have weight to it. As well as both of these choices helping restrain the downsides of the others. They're synergistic with each other and not incompatible with what we've already acquired. Nor do they seem to lock out any of our future advantages either.

CDE meanwhile... Well, you can definitely see the impact of Art Quality on Art Insights--and it shows how difficult it is for younger clans to go too high. While CDE has an illustrious pedigree and is high quality--it remains an elementary introduction to divination and investigation.

Which isn't to say it's bad or has no insight, but they exist to shore up weaknesses rather than form core building blocks of the Domain.

I would say of the two, I'm more inclined to "Ignorance is no better than blindness", but at the moment, I'm more inclined to just say 'Nah, it's not quite right' and pass on that.
 
Vanguard_D said:
First SCS is so LQ it hurts. Worth slotting in because it is kinda her already considering how driven she is.
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I agree that it is so very Ling Qi, but i don't think it is necessarily a good thing.
She is driven, to a point of obsession, and while that helps us now, being even more driven can become a problem once we leave the sect.
 
fictionfan said:
These stops us from being able to retreat. Hard no.
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It doesn't. It really doesn't. It explicitly acknowledges the ability to retreat. It merely says that for some things retreat is no longer an option. Which is only sane.

For example if someone were to threaten her family with death and she couldn't get them away, she'd stay and fight.

If anything I see it as the reciprocal of "so long as you have a beautiful thing to bring home": "so long as there is a home to bring it back to"

edit: actually, a better rephrasing of how I'm interpreting it would be "some things are worth fighting for."
 
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@AbeoLogos raised a good point about domain incompatibility with the new arts maybe happening due to some of these insights. In specific SCS 1 could make SNR incompatible, which makes me more leery of it.

@yrsillar after we slot, if we make some arts incompatible you would warn us before we have to do the Month 6 plan right?
 
Oh god this is sudden and at a slightly inconvenient time. FYI, I believe that only one insight is required for the next gated requirement, cannot precisely remember.

yrsillar said:
Sable Crescent Step Insights
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yrsillar said:
[][SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
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I like this a lot, but slightly mixed feelings about how it rejects content-ness. Because it's generally okay to feel content with what you have. Buuuuut, that maybe just isn't who Qi is, she's someone who is constantly pushing.

yrsillar said:
[][SCS] Darkness knows no barriers, and neither should your desires
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Really don't like. I don't wanna push her greed that far.

yrsillar said:
[][SCS] Do not slot Sable Crescent Step
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Better than SCS2, but I think I'm okay with the first one.

yrsillar said:
Thousand Ring Fortress Insights
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yrsillar said:
[][TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength
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Growing from past agonies, hella thematic, and connects very well to her years on the street.

yrsillar said:
[]{TRF] Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
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Puts a solid backbone in her spine, which I do like as a measure of Qi's growth.

yrsillar said:
[][TRF] Do not slot Thousand Ring Fortress
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I like the first one enough to be fine with slotting it, while the second one is super iffy.

yrsillar said:
Curious Diviners Eye Insights
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yrsillar said:
[][CDE] Ignorance is no better than blindness.
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I like the insight in general, but I don't think this fits Qi very well.

yrsillar said:
[][CDE] Be always watchful. Foes and treasures alike may hide in the gaps in one's perceptions.
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Don't like the paranoia, honestly.

yrsillar said:
[][CDE] Do not slot Curious Diviners Eye
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Probably what I'm going with.
 
Probably should consider that the insight will lock stuff out from now on. Like how TRF 2 is probably incompatible with our Wind Thief art we got from the Moon Quest.
 
Preliminary choices

[][SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.

[][TRF] Do not slot Thousand Ring Fortress

[][CDE] Ignorance is no better than blindness

Not only do I personally subscribe to the "stagnation is death" mentality, it fits with Ling Qi's absolute refusal to sit still or rest on her laurels

I honestly don't like either of the TRF insights enough to slot them. The first is kinda redundant and the second goes against Ling Qi's nature

For the last one, Ling Qi has been burned by her lack of knowledge badly enough that I can see the first one. The second is just paranoia
 
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[X][SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
[][SCS] Darkness knows no barriers, and neither should your desires

I feel like the first fits Ling Qi's freedom seeking aspect perfectly while the second feels self centered. Ling Qi is self centered but not in the unrestrained kind of way.

[][TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength
[X][TRF] Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.

Scars aren't a part of Ling Qi's philosophy, they're there but they aren't glorified. The second however is one of the very sentiments that connects her to others. Ling Qi would not have spoken to her mother had she not preserved that last bit of familial love to be revitalized.

[][CDE] Ignorance is no better than blindness.
[X][CDE] Be always watchful. Foes and treasures alike may hide in the gaps in one's perceptions.

Ling Qi has never had problems with being ignorant, she learns but she doesn't seek to understand the world, only her part in it. Her fearful and opportunistic nature however is perfect for her first divination art.

I'm aware of the moratorium.
 
Valmond said:
I agree that it is so very Ling Qi, but i don't think it is necessarily a good thing.
She is driven, to a point of obsession, and while that helps us now, being even more driven can become a problem once we leave the sect.
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Given FVM and her Advanced Insight im skeptical that thatll be a problem though. She'll be goal-driven, which is very important to push her personal growth and that of those around her, which has always been the direction that she's been going in.
 
Valmond said:
I agree that it is so very Ling Qi, but i don't think it is necessarily a good thing.
She is driven, to a point of obsession, and while that helps us now, being even more driven can become a problem once we leave the sect.
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That is actually the point of cultivation though. You work on some parts of yourself until you form a Way based on it.

And we did throw ourself on the deep end so not going in fully driven will hurt us a lot more in the long run as we climb up in cultivation and standing.
 
I mean if the lesson of our new defensive art is that stagnation is okay, then we weren't going to slot it in the first place.

We're approaching the point where we run into the punishing limits of how an off-key domain forces compromises on our build.

Thats why so many of us wanted to delineate a clear in-group/out-group distinction in it so that Ling Qi would have more flexibility in her Art build down the line.
 
[]{TRF] Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.

This is my favorite. There are things Ling Qi will not abandon. Her family, Zhengui, and the like. It's a great reflection of the wings+roots decision we made before.

I'm leaning towards not slotting the other two, because I think we should be more picky about what we are slotting.
 
[SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
I find the SCS ones sorta worrying -
The first seems not to be equating inaction to weakness/folly/stagnation. But that takes away the valid option of not acting in some cases where it would be wiser, because of a flat rejection of that option.

[SCS] Darkness knows no barriers, and neither should your desires
The second seems almost over-committed to not letting anything stop you from your desires, to the point of being dangerous too. Sometimes what you want, and what is actually what you need, or others need, or what is right (all ways of looking at things that CRX's vision of a better world, which we have been saying we support and want to help realize) are not the same. Getting what you want at all costs is a very dangerous way to live.

Overall I think we should probably skip slotting SCS, given the choices here. We love the art, but that doesn't have anything to do with whether we slot the insight or not.


[TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength
I like TRF #1 though - we go through a lot of hardship, and we've been suffering and having trouble dealing with some of the more serious levels of that recently. This would be a reinforcement that we keep making sure we learn from them, and grow from the experiences. Very positive, very in-sync with our path and way of living, something that will serve us well to internalize as we move forward (we're only going to run into ever harder things as we continue, and this will help us through them and not break).

[TRF] Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
TRF #2 I also thought was a little dangerous -- It's another absolute worldview sounding thing, where we greatly double down on stubbornness and become unwilling to change too much. Seems a little dangerous for someone who prizes flexibility and who most definitely still has a lot more to learn, and is still working to learn and establish a foundation to grow more.

On the other hand, It DOES allow for flexibility in branches and even trunk, just not roots, which probably would largely equate with other insights, domain core ("Home" and whatever we expand this to encompass), and the like though, so it's not nearly as restrictive or worrying as the SCS ones. Probably would help resist attacks and manipulation which conflict with our domain focus? Overall could still be a decent insight, and I may be overworried about the negative side of this insight.

I think we should probably slot one of these 2. My preference is on the first, but the 2nd might be worthwhile too.


[CDE] Ignorance is no better than blindness.
I think this one sound pretty good. It's also absolute, but it's about having information, which is generally better than not having. Admittedly there's the risk of this including things like friends' secrets, etc as mentioned by another already, but knowing them doesn't mean we do anything with it. It does risk our social ties though if we over-commit to this and they find out we dug too deep and are mad, which is something we've been trying to be smarter about.

I also know I have a personal positive bias towards truth and knowledge though, so overall IDK, and it seems like another possibly risky-but-not-as-bad-as-SCS-insights option that I'm not sure on.

[CDE] Be always watchful. Foes and treasures alike may hide in the gaps in one's perceptions.
So this taken to an extreme could mean paranoia, as already mentioned. However I don't think that's too worrying, when it's so broadly stated, and also when considering the absolutely insane level of subtlety and manipulations and tricks and overall mess that is high-level cultivator society and politics (which we'll be in a lot). It's a cliche, but it's one for a reason, "it's not paranoia if people really are out to get you" (or screw over your plans/hurt people/etc). I think that we know this, but we've been having trouble actually keeping up with the sheer level of politics we're starting to step into. Making sure that we're practicing CONSTANT VIGILANCE will probably be very valuable, and a big lesson that will be better to learn EARLY rather than the hard way later (which slotting an insight like this might help us avoid).



TL;DR: Overall, I advocate the following: (I know we're in Moratorium still, this is just what I'm suggesting to the thread)

[][SCS] Do not slot Sable Crescent Step
[][TRF] Each scar is merely another ring in the making, from past pain arises new strength
[][CDE] Be always watchful. Foes and treasures alike may hide in the gaps in one's perceptions.
 
Valmond said:
On the positive sense, it is about holding your ground.
But the negative part is about being immobile.

Roots mean you are stuck, and personally i don't like that idea.
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No? It means there are certain lines you will not cross.

kinigget said:
I honestly don't like either of the TRF insights enough to slot them. The first is kinda redundant and the second goes against Ling Qi's nature
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TRF 2 insight means that Ling Qi will never do something that goes against the very core of her values (like say "torture Meizhen and your family or else face our displeasure" as an example)

How is that against her nature to have ideals she considers important?
 
fictionfan said:
This stops us from being able to retreat. Hard no.
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Why? Why would you yank that out of context, twist it to the furthest possible extent, and only then decides to 'argue against it'.

It means having lines in the sand- it means knowing that the Weilu massacres were wrong, and refusing to be complicit. It means a refusal to let our natural tendency to unperson people remove all guilt and responsiblity we feel for killing people. It means having principles, even when they're hard, even when they hurt to follow through on because that's what having principles mean. For someone like Ling Qi- this is absolutely the sort of mindset she's been meaning to instill in herself but has had so much trouble with. Friends shouldn't be abandoned, family comes first, there are ideas worth fighting and believing in no matter the odds set against you. For a coward who desperately wants to find her own brand of bravery- this is incredibly attractive.

That's powerful, and something people like you or I can acknowledge the merit of in this day and age. Let alone in the context of this story.

In a vacuum, I'd probably go with TRF 1- but Ling Qi has already dragged herself out of the gutter after she convinced herself her mother betrayed her and she was truly on her own. She's a survivor through and through, having done whatever it takes to bounce back. And therein lies some of her issues. She doesn't want to entirely be that sort of person anymore but has nagging doubts the first time she meets opposition she can't meaningfully contest she'll fold over. TRF 2 does far more to address the risk of submission rather than recover of defeat like the first does- and I think she's far more concerned about the former than the latter.
 
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Caligstro said:
[SCS] There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
I find the SCS ones sorta worrying -
The first seems not to be equating inaction to weakness/folly/stagnation. But that takes away the valid option of not acting in some cases where it would be wiser, because of a flat rejection of that option.
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It is actually how LQ is like a person though, like when she met the sect lifer when she got her imperial writ, she cant understand being fine with not moving forward and bettering herself. Like the FVM insight it values an action based way of doing things. And as Domain parts work together you got to consider those also. So those two would probably interact in LQ continuing to work and be driven for the sake of her loved ones.

We got to take a stand on motions vs stillness at some point as we cultivate, so avoiding it is not really an option either.
 
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