[LP CYOA] 傳

[Kipeci]

You can be a bit more patient, it hasn't even been a full day since the last one.

 

[Baltika9]

Can't blame me for trying to seize the initiative, with the holiday schedules being what they are.

 

[treave]

Holiday? There is no such thing for post-graduate work.

 

[Baltika9]

I know the feeling. Still, my point stands: you're one busy motherfucker, can't account for all eventualities so, well, tried weaseling out another out of ya one before real life called again.

 

[Baltika9]

The Brazilian Slaughter, I'm pretty sure that if Yunzi wanted to harm/kill/coerce us, she would already have done so. She had Vahista, a man on equal with Zhang, right there, waiting on her command, and us dazed and powerless after eating the demon. This alone makes her worthy of the benefit of the doubt. Letting her run like a loose cannon while promising Yu a peaceful resolution is just dumb.

 

[Tigranes]

I'm definitely against telling everyone everything. We did it at the tournament and it worked out OK for us, but that time, we were just worried about possible ulterior motives on the part of Qilin et al. This time, we know for a fact that both of our interlocutors have motives that run directly counter to ours, and that at least one of them is very emotionally invested in it (and Yunzi could be too, given her enthusiasm about her betrothed, though we can't make presumptions on that yet). So the lesson is not the same here. There is no clearly expected benefit from this either, except for BROTEAM HAREM YEAH BABY.

B > C2, I can see, narrative-wise, some merit in forewarning Yu as I can totally see a situation where Changfeng works his blind obsession to her advantage or something like that, but I think we should be careful first and foremost. I don't think we need to actively distrust Yu or Yunzi, they've done enough to show us they are OK to travel with, but they've done nothing to make us think we can just tell them everything about how we may have conflicting interests.

 

[Nevill]

and Yunzi could be too, given her enthusiasm about her betrothed, though we can't make presumptions on that yet

Wait, what? I've read it as a complete lack of enthusiasm on her part. She does not look like she can't wait to be back in his arms.

There is no clearly expected benefit from this either

Depends on what you count as a benefit.

If Yunzi confronts Changfeng on her own and requires our assistance, revealing our identity in the process, things may spiral out of control. After all, she doen't know that we are working covertly, she doesn't know that Yu is unaware of it, and she doesn't know that Yu cares. Not letting it get out of hand is definitely a benefit in my book.

 

[Baltika9]

Enthusiastic about her new fiance, I don't think so:

“I am here to escort you back, O Holy Maiden. It was unfortunate that you were separated from us during the ambush at Wufushan, but we did all we could to find you again. Our Lord of the Light was rather concerned. He would much rather you did not consort with strange men.”

“And I thank you for your efforts, Vahista. However, the date of betrothal is still three years away. He need not concern himself with my actions just yet,” replies Yunzi steadily.

Vahista laughs loudly. “Oh, you misunderstand me. Our master knows that you will return to him in due time. It is just that he needs to understand the company you keep, and how it will affect his plans.” There is a sudden wave of killing intent from him. Your brows furrow – will it turn into a fight?

She definitely isn't happy about the dude and her arrangement. She most likely feels loyalty towards her new "family," after her separation from the Ashina, but definitely not to this guy. Her reaction just screams "I want to enjoy my last years of freedom in peace!"

We did it at the tournament and it worked out OK for us, but that time, we were just worried about possible ulterior motives on the part of Qilin et al. This time, we know for a fact that both of our interlocutors have motives that run directly counter to ours, and that at least one of them is very emotionally invested in it (and Yunzi could be too, given her enthusiasm about her betrothed, though we can't make presumptions on that yet). So the lesson is not the same here. There is no clearly expected benefit from this either, except for BROTEAM HAREM YEAH BABY.

None of them have any ulterior motives, though, Yu just wants to reconnect with the prostitute he fell in love in, and save her from whatever troubles afflict her (a moment of silence for our comrade in the freindzone ) and Yunzi jsut wants some asses to kick and some answers. Letting this serve out of control by pretending to be The Spymaster isn't such a great idea, Jing cannot into deep intrigue. Earnestness and trust ahve gotten him far more than LARPing Shulgi ever did.
In fact, the openness of their motives is what makes telling them the truth safe, there won't be any stabs in the dark. Yu will either turst us or tell us to stick it right here and now. And Yunzi, well, she'll be much the same with a yes or no answer.

As for relationships, well, they're both very shut-in individuals, if we want them to be close to us (on whatever terms you prefer) we'd be better off making the first steps. And they're definitely valuable people to have on our side.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Ok, I know I decided not to bother any more, but I can't but react to that "pretending to be the spymaster" thing. Spies do no tell every single person out there who looks at them funny just who they are working for and what are their goals. That's not being a spymaster - that's not being a stupid (and soon dead) spy. And these people are not our "bro-team", not our friends, they barely even qualify as people we met. And they both have motives for possibly betraying us. What, we have been with Yunzi for a grand total of 3 days is it now (and each time we met she started hitting us) and we know she is working for a hostile cult, but because she gives us tingles in our gonads that makes her a trustworthy person? And at least she has not openly declared herself a revolutionary and in love with the very person we are hunting for trying to kill us, unlike some other person we barely know. What the... ugh.

 

[Baltika9]

And they would want to kill us...why exactly if we are offering a reasonable solution?

 

[Zero Credibility]

That's one the fucking problems - you don't know if there is a possible reasonable solution. What if the WiB is still working against the Prince - we are ready to off her right there and then, it has been said so. You think that scholar is going to stand by and watch this happen? And Yunzi herself might decide to kill her anyway if we tag her along, reasonable solution or not. And she will share anything she knows about us with her fiance and their cult. You really don't see the possible conflict of interests between these people and our goals? Why the fuck did you declare these people of all a "bro team" or our friends? Based on what, feelings in our belly and our long acquaintances that lasted for all of, wait, let me check my watch. Ok, now I really give up.

 

[Nevill]

What if the WiB is still working against the Prince - we are ready to off her right there and then, it has been said so. You think that scholar is going to stand by and watch this happen?

You think if we don't tell him, then he is going to stand by?
At least he would let us try and reason with her, instead of going "you've tricked me, you wretched Imperial scum!!1!1" once the secret is out of the bag.

And Yunzi herself might decide to kill her anyway if we tag her along

And if we don't, she will magically change her mind? She is heading there, with or without us.

This is about minimiing the chance of an unwitting fuck-up. Right now you all have different agendas. If you don't even attempt to reconcile them, chances are, they will run against each other fairly quickly.

Why the fuck did you declare these people of all a "bro team" or our friends?

There is such a concept as fate in the universe of the LP. According to lady Ji, we were fated to meet Qilin at the mansion (and by extension, we were fated to save Yu), and as for Yunzi, we are destined to marry her because we have given an oath of eternal devotion before the stars and all that fluff.

Naturally, we don't know if anything comes out of it, but for me it is a strong incentive to believe it would, if only we won't try to actively subvert it.

 

[Baltika9]

That's one the fucking problems - you don't know if there is a possible reasonable solution. What if the WiB is still working against the Prince - we are ready to off her right there and then, it has been said so.

Of course we can't guarantee an optimal solution, we can't guarantee that in any of the choices here. The only safe bet is to ditch them both and go do our own thing with Changfeng. However, C3 at the very least puts us in a good position to work towards a good solution: we get both of them on the same page and lay our cards out on the table. If they don't agree with us, they will ditch us here and now (Yunzi is too straightforward to play intrigue and Yu will be outraged if he doesn't agree with us. With our 8 PER, we will pick up any hesitation). Let's review the other choices:

A&B- we just trail along with Yunzi and Yu, letting them bicker back and forth what will they do with Changfeng, if Yunzi accepts our offer in the first place, and that leaves us with absolutely no compromise between the two. Once shit starts going down, both will immediately take opposing sides and we will have to choose between one or the other. I don't like the idea of making either of them our enemies.
C 1&2- immediately biases us towards one or the other, so when shit starts going down and the truth comes out, they will feel betrayed and become our enemies on the spot.
D- Yunzi storms forward to the city on her horse (something we don't have) and gets there before us, getting a head start on the BDS and Changefeng. Needless to say, we're immediately working at cross purposes and might not even her alive.

There is no magic solution here to all the eventualities, we either take charge of the situation and bring these two to a compromise, as a leader does, or let the events unfold as they will. And considering the collateral damage that can occur if we do that, well, I feel more than justified letting these guys in on a little bit of the truth so that we can bring them together. In our condition, we can't really afford to make an enemy out of either and especially not Yunzi (whom you, Zero Credibility, are obviously tsundere for )
And I haven't christened them our BROS yet, though, but I want them to at the very least trust us and be dependable contacts in the future. And withholding crucial information because we ourselves won't trust them really precludes that.

Also, don't underestimate the power of lust and teenage hormones, Jing is a total charmer, in his own way, and Yunzi definitely is attracted to him, just as he is to her. I don't buy the "OMG THEY WILL KILL US!" thing, like I said, Vahista was just there, she had the perfect chance to wring all she needed out of us with his aid, and there would have been nothing we could have done about it. And yet, she didn't.

 

[Smashing Axe]

It really is too early to reveal our motivations to these people, we don't know them well enough yet. Voting for an option other than C does not mean you're committing to never reveal the truth to them. Let's wait and see rather than take this rather big risk in potentially jeopardising our character's long-term goals.

Friendship isn't really magic guys.

 

[Baltika9]

Except it kinda is: we saved the Ashina and Shun saved our ass in the camp because Friendship, we averted a disaster with Guo Fu because of our friendship with him and Yandi, Quilin kept us off the streets and away from assaults because of friendship (in her own, special way). And that's just off the top of my head. Point being, having people that care about you and trust you is a pretty important thing especially in our situation.
And our long-term goal, one of the only two we have, is right over there: speak with Changfeng. Letting these two loose and working against one another, and by extension us, is the biggest jeopardy.

 

[Nevill]

Voting for an option other than C does not mean you're committing to never reveal the truth to them.

How long are you willing to wait, though? It might become too late for the revelations once passions will run high.

This is the last stop before we hit BDS. If we want to keep surprises to a minimum, we need to warn them about our goals in advance, and there would not be a better chance than this.

 

[Tigranes]

I'll retract the enthusiasm bit, it seems I may have misremembered. My bad.

I'm still not persuaded by all this "let's bro it up, I"m sure we'll find a reasonable compromise later" stuff, seems very cart before horse. I can see it working maybe for Yu, hence > C2, but we know far less about Yunzi, who has far less reasons to negotiate.

 

[Nevill]

And that brings up the previous question. Why is not telling her better than telling? What are you afraid to lose?

If she is so unreasonable to attack Changfeng on sight, the outcome will remain the same. Why not try and change it, though, in case she isn't?

 

[Baltika9]

An we did kinda save her life twice now, she 'owes us' in a way, so there's that.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

We saved Theseus' life too. Naim's as well.

Not advocating fear of her betrayal here though. Just the caution and wisdom to accept that it's a possibility and not give out unnecessary details when we don't know if she's really trustworthy in this situation. Same with Yu.

 

[asxetos]

Yunzi was there when Changfeng attacked her tribe and us too. She needs to know the truth so that see doesnt do anything stupid, atleast not before we get some answers.

 

[Nevill]

An we did kinda save her life twice now, she 'owes us' in a way, so there's that.

I doubt she realises what we got her out of just now, but it never hurts to remind her.

Why was she welcomed here in the first place? She is a woman, so ghosts can not feed off her effectively. Is it because her pursuers were male?
Who had lead us to her? I was suspicious of her because it felt like we were being set up to meet her. Was it Xiaoqing? Why would she do that? So many questions.

We saved Theseus' life too. Naim's as well.

I remember seeing a post from you (a pity that you had removed it) where you made a point about how Yunzi was different from the man we were about to kill and how that man was totally a Theseus when she wasn't.

And now, apparently, she is one as well.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

It would help you understand my post, if you didn't only quote the first line. I was merely saying that saving someone doesn't automatically make the your friend or keep them from putting their own interests ahead of yours, not that she was Theseus - that role can only be played by an antibro like Naim.

Yunzi was there when Changfeng attacked her tribe and us too. She needs to know the truth so that see doesnt do anything stupid, atleast not before we get some answers.

I'm almost with you there, but she remembers the battle well enough - she recalled it in our fight with the toad - without us telling her that we are working for the prince. Telling her who it is we are seeking in B and having her see her and remember will probably be enough and she's not a complete idiot.

Revealing our motives isn't necessary and it's unreasonable to expect her to help us when we don't know what happened after we left and the army came to pacify the northwest border and her current allegiance seems to be with these Persians. "We have to protect the prince!" has surprisingly little effect on someone who doesn't necessarily give a shit about your country or your prince...

 

[Nevill]

I may be quoting only the first line, but I respond to the general spirit of your messages. We already made our name known to her, and there isn't much else we can reveal about our motives at this time that she can't guess on her own. She knows that we are the prince's servant.

She does not "have to protect the prince" (where did you get that?), and I do not expect her to. What I hope for is that she does not interfere with our business there, and, frankly, that isn't too much to ask after all we've been through. She can have all the BDS to herself, but she must leave Changfeng to us. That woman harmed us far more than she harmed Yunzi, so this is also fair, as well.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I may be quoting only the first line, but I respond to the general spirit of your messages.

I just said that she wasn't Theseus and in that very post I said that I'm not advocating fear of her betrayal, but caution - so no, you're not.

We already made our name known to her, and there isn't much else we can reveal about our motives at this time that she can't guess on her own. She knows that we are the prince's servant.

No, she knows we were the prince's servant. We were exiled for our actions and she probably knows that or can at least guess - recall that her father knew we'd be in deep shit for our actions and now we are far from the prince rather than being at his side as we were before.

She does not "have to protect the prince" (where did you get that?), and I do not expect her to. What I hope for is that she does not interfere with our business there, and, frankly, that isn't too much to ask after all we've been through. She can have all the BDS to herself, but she must leave Changfeng to us. That woman harmed us far more than she harmed Yunzi, so this is also fair, as well.

And what does telling her about our mission from the prince have to do with that? Couldn't we tell her not to interfere in B as well?