ic inbox, ryslig.

[daozhangs]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, XIAO.XINGCHEN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** XIAO.XINGCHEN has joined 018.07.154.55 <XIAO.XINGCHEN> You have reached Xiao Xingchen. <XIAO.XINGCHEN> I am often away from my laptop, but I will do my best to answer as soon as I'm able.

Comments

[daozhangs]

( once he commands a team of his own. it hasn't slipped xingchen's notice, that their collaboration seems conditional to scenarios in which xingchen is expected to defer. he doesn't hold it against him, of course - ever since they reunited in ryslig (and likely for more than a decade beforehand), jiang wanyin has always been first and foremost a sect leader. it stands to reason that now that he has once again found himself properly at war, jiang-zongzhu has once again forgotten how to address as his equal anyone who commands fewer than a dozen men. and given the recent clarifications regarding jiang wanyin's assessment of their respective cultivation levels, perhaps it should have been expected.

but xiao xingchen is not without his pride. they may yet be able to work together in this war, but he'll first need to figure out how that pride might be swallowed. )

These are all valuable things to consider. I'll need to reflect on the matter.

[legbreakings]

[ Oh, if only Jiang Cheng would have had the slightest inkling of the size of his fuckup, or that he had fucked up at all. But such a thing isn't even registering to him, and this can't be blamed on him texting while being taken back to base or any other distractions. He simply doesn't think about his words in the same way.

It is a matter of course to him that he would invite his husband once he comes to be in command and can make such decisions. Just as it is a matter of course that he would seek such power, that he would try to rise in rank and gain status for both of them to enjoy now that he is finally in a place well-suited to his skills. That his choice of words or his mannerism may come across very differently is not even a blip in his awareness. ]

Of course. It is not a decision you need to make today, just one worth thinking about. If I'm already in a position where my word holds weight, I will support you in whatever you decide.

[daozhangs]

You're an intelligent man who speaks from experience with both warfare and great personal loss. Your word holds weight regardless of your assigned position.

[legbreakings]

My word holds weight to you regardless of my position. That is because you hold me in higher esteem than I would expect of anyone else.

[daozhangs]

You should know by now that I hold little esteem for those who speak from experience with warfare. Were this a matter of my esteem, the criteria would have been quite different.

For instance, I made no mention of your deep capacity for empathy and compassion.

[legbreakings]

Don't threaten me like that, husband!

And all I meant is that you think highly of my opinion no matter the topic. You are biased. As am I towards you. Not that you aren't worth thinking so highly of.

[daozhangs]

I am biased. I am also more than capable of speaking from an unbiased perspective.

Do you deny the inherent value of insight provided by those with relevant experience? Or do you simply deny that your chosen god possesses the wisdom to recognize such value?

You are, of course, welcome to simply admit that I'm correct. Rest assured that it would remain in strict confidence.

[legbreakings]

Look who is in a fighting mood!

Fine, fine, I will admit to my insight. And yours. [ Best to cover all his bases. ]

Which isn't the same as admitting you are correct, just for the record.

The Fourth God in Ryslig appreciates our experience, so I would assume the E+L of this place does, too. I think you would do well doing what you did at home. Focusing more on helping people than on seeking glory on the battlefields. So maybe you won't enjoy the work I do much, though I would like to have you my by side at least part of the time. And I hope your insight will soon be appreciated, and you can rise in rank. I would like for both of us to do so. Happy now?

[daozhangs]

You implied it acceptable that the value of your contribution be determined by nothing more than the arbitrary rank assigned to you by the subordinates of a god whom you've never met. How very shocking that I'm just as willing to argue the matter as always I've been.

This answer is better. Yes, I am happier now. :)

Have you had the opportunity to learn more of your artifical talents? ( the ones granted by e&l. they had both intended to take any lulls in their time on duty to explore a bit more into the parameters thereof, but it's not unlikely that wanyin had lacked time or opportunity, if it was truly so busy. )

[legbreakings]

[ Pah! The nerve of his husband!

And yet, that change of topic has him intrigued enough he decides to grudgingly let him have this win. Grudgingly. ]

A little bit more, yes.

I have been trying to use the electricity together with Zidian, and I tried to teleport, but attempting to fit them into battle has been more of a distraction than a help. I'm still getting used to using my cultivation again at all, let alone with these new skills.

[daozhangs]

If I might offer a thought — Yunmeng Jiang had their sword forms, did they not? Perhaps at your next opportunity to train, you might work through such forms, but place in between them a moment of teleportation, or a flourish by Zidian. The unfamiliar amongst the familiar. I find that such a thing lends a sort of momentum which simply attempting the unfamiliar does not.

[legbreakings]

That is sound advice. I will admit I have focused just on adjusting to going through my sword forms with my cultivation reachable again, and studied my new powers separately.

[ A moment of hesitation, but this is his husband, and with whom else would he share such thoughts? ]

I will admit I have shied away from the thought of mixing one. Not wishing to taint Yunmeng Jiang's ancestral forms with such foreign, unnatural powers. But that is no way to go about learning to combine them, is it? And I will need to combine them on the battlefield.

fuck i swapped back to blindfold

[daozhangs]

Far be it for me to suggest that you disrespect those who came before. I only meant to suggest that these new techniques might come more easily in a context which otherwise feels like second-nature rather than they do in isolation.

Re: fuck i swapped back to blindfold

[legbreakings]

No. You are right. It is sensible. And we are at war so sensible is what matters. The things that protect lives rather than sensibilities.

It is just strange to think something was put inside our bodies to let us do these things.

[daozhangs]

You aren't incorrect. It is a little bit strange, now that I've considered it.

But I don't suppose it's any more strange than new skills which arise from monster parts grown unwillingly from our flesh, or from skills which seem to come from naught but the will of a magical being in exchange for coins which appear from the ether in our homes.

[legbreakings]

That's true.

At least we chose this, even if it all happened awfully fast. But they said there is no time to waste and I can't deny it.

It just reminds me of being a Simulacrum to have metal and machines inside me.