- Location
- Florida
Not like LQ has room to talk. Fire/grass turtle, when she's a Darkness/Wind/Water/Ice kinda chick
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.
Please, Ling Qi isn't a degenrate Zheng, she is associated with the Bai.
Peak civilization is to hiss imperiously at people and bite them if they don't do what you tell them.
Ling Qi has spirits happen to her, rather than the reverse. The only one she courted was Hanyi and THAT took place over an entire year
- Location
- Finland
And was more of a babysitting gig than "i gain a powerful ally" deal.
Gaining a powerful (kinda, sorta, potentially, eventually, hopefully) ally was just a happy side effect, i think LQ would have adopted Hanyi even if she could offer nothing in terms of combat support.
- Location
- scrabbling
I was imagining something more like those scarves or ribbons that female cultivators and deities have hanging/floating around their waists.
Turn 5: Arc 3-2
"Do you understand why I'm angry?" Ling Qi asked.
"No, I don't see what the big deal is," Hanyi complained.
Ling Qi sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. She sat on her bed, looking down at Hanyi, who knelt on the floor, looking recalcitrant. This wasn't a conversation that Ling Qi wanted to be overheard. "Hanyi, you can't just go around bothering people whenever you want, you could get me in a lot of trouble, you know?"
"That's why I challenged someone you already beat," Hanyi huffed. "She doesn't have any strong friends either. Big Sis is way too nice. You didn't have to give her anything."
Ling Qi grimaced. Even with the windfall she had gained from the sale of the mirror she had found in the Weilu tomb, giving up a green stone had been almost physically painful. It had however, finally seemed to convince the other girl that this wasn't some elaborate bullying plot. With her cooperation, Ling Qi could just pass the whole thing off as some friendly competition when the situation hit the rumor mills.
-1 Green Stone
"That's not a good reason Hanyi. When someone tells you they don't want to play you have to stop," Ling Qi replied with a frown. For a moment, she struggled to articulate her thoughts into words, how could she put this in a way that Hanyi would understand. A whisper of inspiration from Sixiang helped her organize her thoughts. "That is not the sort of image Lady Cai wants us to project, and I also do not want to be that kind of person," she chided. "It's not just a matter of strength. Reputation is important too. I trusted you to handle yourself well. That's why I let you go where you went. Now I don't know if I can do that."
Hanyi frowned at her still not looking chastised. "I still don't get it," she replied sulkily. "I was just playing. You didn't have any problem bullying those dumb stream spirits so your real little sister could play."
"That's.." Ling Qi began, only to shut her mouth with a click before she could finish the sentence. It was different. Those were just simple first realm spirits, no more intelligent than an animal, and Biyu was helpless. It wasn't the same but… would Hanyi really see it that way? The young spirit had a very stark and simple worldview. "Dealing with pe-humans is different," she finally said. "I know you might not understand well, but the ways we deal with each other are more complicated. It's easy to mess up. It wasn't a big deal this time, but in the future you could really end up hurting me. Please just ask me before you do something to a human okay? I promise I'll listen and try to explain what you should do. And if someone really hurts you or bullies you. I'll do everything I can to crush them, okay?"
Spirits above, she wished that she could pass the responsibility to Meizhen or Cai Renxiang, or even Xiulan. Someone who actually knew what they were doing.
"...Fine," Hanyi said after a moment, looking down. "M'sorry I got you in trouble," she added in a mumble.
Somehow, seeing Hanyi finally looking crestfallen and apologetic wasn't satisfying. Ling Qi slid off of her bed to kneel in front of Hanyi, her gown pooling around her knees as she tentatively rested her hands on Hanyi's shoulders. "Why Yu Nuan?" She asked softly. "I still don't really understand, why have you been doing this?"
Hanyi mumbled something unintelligible, not looking up. Ling Qi gently squeezed her shoulders and the young spirit spoke up. "I want to be strong. If it was someone you beat, I… I thought I could win. Even if I wasn't as good as you, I would still be keeping up. But I couldn't. I lost, and I shamed Mommas songs. I told her I would be strong and pretty and smart like Momma and I'm just NOT!" Her voice rose until she was practically shouting by the end.
"Hanyi, " Ling Qi began, but she was swiftly interrupted.
"I'm slow and I'm heavy and I'm still weak! That girl was right, I can't sing right, and I can't move right and… I'm nothing like Momma and I should have just stayed with her so she could still…"
Ling Qi pulled Hanyi into a hug, cutting off her increasingly hysterical words. "Hanyi, Zeqing wanted you to live. Everything else comes second to that," Ling Qi said, with complete conviction as the little girl in her arms trembled.
"It's not enough," Hanyi sniffed, her voice muffled by Ling Qi's gown. "Mommas gone. I have to-I need too be like her or…"
"Or nothing," Ling Qi replied firmly. "You are Hanyi, you aren't your Mother. But that's one of the reasons she did what she did was so that you could go out and be yourself, and not just Zeqing's daughter. You don't have to be just like her to make her proud."
She loosened her grip on Hanyi, allowing some distance to come between them again. Hanyi's eyes were reddened by tears and she was still looking down. "I can't compare to Momma though," she said. "If I'm not trying to be like her then…"
"I'm not saying you can't be like Zeqing, but you need to focus on your strengths, and build yourself up," Ling Qi replied gently. "You're an energetic and forthright girl, maybe you should accept that and..."
"I dunno," Sixiang said brightly, timing their interruption perfectly. "Do you really think she can turn being a stubborn brat into something productive?"
Hanyi scowled at the empty air. "Who asked you! If Big Sister thinks I can, then I can. Don't interrupt Ling Qi!"
Ling Qi sent Sixiang a silent thanks as she stood and offered a hand to Hanyi. "...Anyway, since the serious talk is done, there's no reason to hang around in this dull little cave. Will you take a walk with me Hanyi? We can talk about ideas for your composition."
Hanyi took her hand and rose to her feet. The young spirits smile was still a little brittle. "Yes! With Big Sister's help, I'll definitely make something good."
Ling Qi was careful not to let her relief show on her face. That had been a terribly difficult conversation. Silently, she lead Hanyi toward the door. Some nice music chat would be a nice break.
"Big Sister?" Hanyi drew her attention as they approached the door. For once, her tone and posture were almost shy. "Um… You said I should focus on my strength, but… what do you think that is?"
Ling Qi thought quickly, and opened her mouth to answer…
[] Her curiosity and desire to explore
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
[] Her pride and confidence
AN: Alright this ones kinda short, but was also a bit difficult to write, hopefully the content makes up for it? Thanks for your patience doods
"No, I don't see what the big deal is," Hanyi complained.
Ling Qi sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. She sat on her bed, looking down at Hanyi, who knelt on the floor, looking recalcitrant. This wasn't a conversation that Ling Qi wanted to be overheard. "Hanyi, you can't just go around bothering people whenever you want, you could get me in a lot of trouble, you know?"
"That's why I challenged someone you already beat," Hanyi huffed. "She doesn't have any strong friends either. Big Sis is way too nice. You didn't have to give her anything."
Ling Qi grimaced. Even with the windfall she had gained from the sale of the mirror she had found in the Weilu tomb, giving up a green stone had been almost physically painful. It had however, finally seemed to convince the other girl that this wasn't some elaborate bullying plot. With her cooperation, Ling Qi could just pass the whole thing off as some friendly competition when the situation hit the rumor mills.
-1 Green Stone
"That's not a good reason Hanyi. When someone tells you they don't want to play you have to stop," Ling Qi replied with a frown. For a moment, she struggled to articulate her thoughts into words, how could she put this in a way that Hanyi would understand. A whisper of inspiration from Sixiang helped her organize her thoughts. "That is not the sort of image Lady Cai wants us to project, and I also do not want to be that kind of person," she chided. "It's not just a matter of strength. Reputation is important too. I trusted you to handle yourself well. That's why I let you go where you went. Now I don't know if I can do that."
Hanyi frowned at her still not looking chastised. "I still don't get it," she replied sulkily. "I was just playing. You didn't have any problem bullying those dumb stream spirits so your real little sister could play."
"That's.." Ling Qi began, only to shut her mouth with a click before she could finish the sentence. It was different. Those were just simple first realm spirits, no more intelligent than an animal, and Biyu was helpless. It wasn't the same but… would Hanyi really see it that way? The young spirit had a very stark and simple worldview. "Dealing with pe-humans is different," she finally said. "I know you might not understand well, but the ways we deal with each other are more complicated. It's easy to mess up. It wasn't a big deal this time, but in the future you could really end up hurting me. Please just ask me before you do something to a human okay? I promise I'll listen and try to explain what you should do. And if someone really hurts you or bullies you. I'll do everything I can to crush them, okay?"
Spirits above, she wished that she could pass the responsibility to Meizhen or Cai Renxiang, or even Xiulan. Someone who actually knew what they were doing.
"...Fine," Hanyi said after a moment, looking down. "M'sorry I got you in trouble," she added in a mumble.
Somehow, seeing Hanyi finally looking crestfallen and apologetic wasn't satisfying. Ling Qi slid off of her bed to kneel in front of Hanyi, her gown pooling around her knees as she tentatively rested her hands on Hanyi's shoulders. "Why Yu Nuan?" She asked softly. "I still don't really understand, why have you been doing this?"
Hanyi mumbled something unintelligible, not looking up. Ling Qi gently squeezed her shoulders and the young spirit spoke up. "I want to be strong. If it was someone you beat, I… I thought I could win. Even if I wasn't as good as you, I would still be keeping up. But I couldn't. I lost, and I shamed Mommas songs. I told her I would be strong and pretty and smart like Momma and I'm just NOT!" Her voice rose until she was practically shouting by the end.
"Hanyi, " Ling Qi began, but she was swiftly interrupted.
"I'm slow and I'm heavy and I'm still weak! That girl was right, I can't sing right, and I can't move right and… I'm nothing like Momma and I should have just stayed with her so she could still…"
Ling Qi pulled Hanyi into a hug, cutting off her increasingly hysterical words. "Hanyi, Zeqing wanted you to live. Everything else comes second to that," Ling Qi said, with complete conviction as the little girl in her arms trembled.
"It's not enough," Hanyi sniffed, her voice muffled by Ling Qi's gown. "Mommas gone. I have to-I need too be like her or…"
"Or nothing," Ling Qi replied firmly. "You are Hanyi, you aren't your Mother. But that's one of the reasons she did what she did was so that you could go out and be yourself, and not just Zeqing's daughter. You don't have to be just like her to make her proud."
She loosened her grip on Hanyi, allowing some distance to come between them again. Hanyi's eyes were reddened by tears and she was still looking down. "I can't compare to Momma though," she said. "If I'm not trying to be like her then…"
"I'm not saying you can't be like Zeqing, but you need to focus on your strengths, and build yourself up," Ling Qi replied gently. "You're an energetic and forthright girl, maybe you should accept that and..."
"I dunno," Sixiang said brightly, timing their interruption perfectly. "Do you really think she can turn being a stubborn brat into something productive?"
Hanyi scowled at the empty air. "Who asked you! If Big Sister thinks I can, then I can. Don't interrupt Ling Qi!"
Ling Qi sent Sixiang a silent thanks as she stood and offered a hand to Hanyi. "...Anyway, since the serious talk is done, there's no reason to hang around in this dull little cave. Will you take a walk with me Hanyi? We can talk about ideas for your composition."
Hanyi took her hand and rose to her feet. The young spirits smile was still a little brittle. "Yes! With Big Sister's help, I'll definitely make something good."
Ling Qi was careful not to let her relief show on her face. That had been a terribly difficult conversation. Silently, she lead Hanyi toward the door. Some nice music chat would be a nice break.
"Big Sister?" Hanyi drew her attention as they approached the door. For once, her tone and posture were almost shy. "Um… You said I should focus on my strength, but… what do you think that is?"
Ling Qi thought quickly, and opened her mouth to answer…
[] Her curiosity and desire to explore
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
[] Her pride and confidence
AN: Alright this ones kinda short, but was also a bit difficult to write, hopefully the content makes up for it? Thanks for your patience doods
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2 hours until you can vote
Discard n in name for m
Let her become who she was always meant to be
The Ham-yi
- Location
- Leeds
[Q] Your ability to read social situations. It's nearly as good as mine
- Location
- Mooselandia
Deleted, forgot about the moratoriums
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Qi did well here. Hanyi understands more how she messed up, and Qi was able to support her through her grief and insecurities.
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
This is probably my favorite, though curiosity is a strong contender. I just don't want her to double down on pride.
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
This is probably my favorite, though curiosity is a strong contender. I just don't want her to double down on pride.
- Location
- The Temple of the Winds
seems to me this vote is basically a rehash of the previous one...
globalwarmth
ruining the weather.
- Location
- Polar ice caps
curiosity killed the cat
just what we needed andother prankster
pride comes before the fall
mmm I kinda prefer curiosity
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
I prefer pride because I don't want all our spirits to wind up too similar to each other and Ling Qi, Six already has the playful joy "niche" down with the Wind vote and Ling Qi has curiosity herself. Hanyi is the only one aside from Zhen to have "proud" as a part of her character and it's funnier to me when she lets that part of her character shine.
Plus a confident outlook is pretty nice
Plus a confident outlook is pretty nice
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- Location
- Canada
Well... she did pretty well yes, but Hanyi still doesn't actually get why what she did is considered wrong, which is only to be expected since as a spirit pushing around people smaller than you is just something you do, but LQ did manage to get Hanyi to properly open up about why she was so intent on badgering Yu Nuan which is important.
- Location
- US
[] Her curiosity and desire to explore
What I would have considered even without the choice. A great strength to have and one that Hanyi definitely exemplifies. While it could be said that curiority and the desire to explore is a standard quality for children to have, I think that Hanyi has grown yet held onto it. A very difficult thing to do as one matures. And even were it not so, Ling Qi couldn't go wrong encouraging such a quality in her.
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
While definitely a part of who she is, I hesitiate to say it's a strength. Let alone a strength to focus on. Although, the Grinning Moon (see Laughing Flight of the Wind Thief) speaks of the potential playful trickiness can hold.
[] Her pride and confidence
Well, I think this conversation kind of disproves that assertion. Maybe its something that will develop later down the line, but it seems to me that her confidence is a brittle mask worn to hide her pain and fears.
What I would have considered even without the choice. A great strength to have and one that Hanyi definitely exemplifies. While it could be said that curiority and the desire to explore is a standard quality for children to have, I think that Hanyi has grown yet held onto it. A very difficult thing to do as one matures. And even were it not so, Ling Qi couldn't go wrong encouraging such a quality in her.
[] The playful trickiness she sometimes showed
While definitely a part of who she is, I hesitiate to say it's a strength. Let alone a strength to focus on. Although, the Grinning Moon (see Laughing Flight of the Wind Thief) speaks of the potential playful trickiness can hold.
[] Her pride and confidence
Well, I think this conversation kind of disproves that assertion. Maybe its something that will develop later down the line, but it seems to me that her confidence is a brittle mask worn to hide her pain and fears.
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- Location
- Canada
Being proud and confident doesn't actually mean you can't have your moments of vulnerability and uncertainty, I'd argue it's important that you do have those moments actually
It is not. You chose your category last time, and now your choosing which part of it to focus on. The other choices would have had different subcategories
Ling Qi's own pride is her greatest attribute cultivation wise. It's what drives as much as fear does and if she can inspire a version of that drive from Hanyi's own, very different pride then the spirit might find purpose to become who she wants to be. As well as give good bonuses to her cultivation from her following Ling Qi's example.
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
It's not though?
Pride is "Look at how awesome I am", what Ling Qi has is ambition.
Theunderbolt
"Prepare for trouble..."
- Location
- USoA
Look real talk i just want Hanyi to follow the best possible role model in being a singer:
Yes, I'm biased
But can you blame me?
Can Hanyi carry the hopes and dreams of spirit kind though?
I lean towards pride. That's the thing that's going to push her to work hard keeping up with Ling Qi and Zhengui. All are fine though.