09-24-2025, 08:00 PM
Master of Fate - Snow's Embrace
- okay, i'm 3 seconds and four sentences into this myth and i'm already thrilled. having somewhat recently (the last year or two) gotten into xanxia / wuxia stories, the vibe is already immaculate. the master of fate, the power of yin and yang governing life and death - a river and a mountain and land that no one returns from. woo!
- little red riding hood with her basket of fruit in a forest... except i leap out of the way of sudden ice spikes, warned by rustling leaves. HOT TAKE: i'm dreaming?
- oh wow, no? maybe? "Zayne? You!" we are shidi/shimei disciples, testing each other? (i really do read too many stories)
- oh, he's my... teacher? i barely meet his expectation for recognizing and escaping the trap. of course.
- oh, he has strands of golden beads in his hair. lovely. "Shifu". awwwww!
- oh, he has little bai ze! my god, this is all the good stuff. hello, little spirit!
- ah. we came upon it injured years ago and when trying to heal it, ended up chasing it to the mountain/forest/river where Zayne murders trespassers.
- i have "powers". i like this.
- we just get here and already Zayne has judged us wanting. story of my every life, i guess.
- that... is a really long ponytail.
- Zayne is surprised I can see "the tree" which is clearly growing on that little piece of land by the stream. Tree of Life, i betcha. In Fallen Crown, the Tree of Life did kinda look like this one, only you know, glowing.
- "How are you certain I'm a god and not an evil mountain spirit who eats people?" GOOD QUESTION. i am eternally optimistic? you're too pretty? you have a bai ze hiding in your sleeve?!
- please mr god, make me ordinary. no can do kiddo, fate loves you very much and i'm not getting in the way of that because another one of me tried and it didn't go well. it won't go well this time either.
- i am not a good person in this life either. everything is boring and my power to sense things is annoying. am i ever civic minded in any timeline other than the present?
- huh. so i get my finger bit by a rogue spiritual viper and then i sulk in bed about it. Zayne is SO forebearing. i am set to work helping to copy talismans that the fight with the Viper wrecked.
- "Zayne, you said each flower represents a life. So is there one that belongs to you on this tree?" interesting! Zayne: "It belongs to me, but it's not me." also, interesting but kinda cryptic. what does THAT mean? Zayne is.. outside the normal order of life and death? he exists so his flower is on the tree but is... not bound by its fall? or something?
