#preemptive worries

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 2: Preemptive Worries

Narrated by no one.

Narrator: Ancient Cloud Empire, Year 2 of the Qianzhao Era, New Year's Eve.

Narrator: It snowed the previous night, leaving a thin sheet of white on the Capital drill grounds.

Narrator: Even though it's the New Year, the soldiers are still busy training in an orderly fashion.

Narrator: A lady in red robes rides in, the horse kicking up snow with its hooves. She sends a hail of arrows flying, eliciting loud cheers.

Narrator: The new secretary passes by, yawning, and stops in surprise at the sight of the general's bright red robe.

Secretary: Insane! A series of perfect hits! Why have I never seen her before?

Narrator: The official walking beside him whacks him on the head.

Official: Wake up! Are you blind? That's Empress Mingyi!

Narrator: The secretary takes one more look. Sitting on her horse in her flaming robes, firing arrows, is the majestic Empress Mingyi.

Narrator: Pulling back her bowstring to form the shape of a full moon, she sends another arrow flying with a loud twang.

Secretary: Fantastic! Magical! Hit the target even against the wind!

Official: That's nothing new. Empress Mingyi was a general to begin with and had been guarding the borders since she was a child.

Official: And she's just warming up! You're such a nerd... you should see her slay enemies on the battlefield one of these days!

Secretary: I've heard about her heroic past. She defeated ill-omened beasts with her phoenix in Cloudcrest. It must have been a magnificent sight!

Narrator: On the other side of the battlefield, the old commander arrives and takes the reins. Mingyi dismounts and pats her horse's mane.

Old Commander: I'm truly impressed, general.

Middle-Aged General: It's Empress now, not general!

Mingyi: You can call me whatever you want. Anyway, It's been a while! I'm here to visit you guys and meet the new recruits.

Old Commander: Her Majesty has been buried in paperwork ever since she ascended to the throne. It's rare to see her ride and shoot like this.

Head Maid: The Emperor, too, is busy working at court all day. I liked it better when he was a white-robed, flute-loving hermit.

Narrator: Mingyi sighs at this and redirects her gaze to the southeast, where Ningzhou lies.

Mingyi: They all say marching in the army is hard, but ruling a country is not at all easier.

Narrator: After visiting the new soldiers, Mingyi returns to the palace. A few shrill cries rip through the skies when she's halfway.

Narrator: The crimson phoenix swoops down, circling around Mingyi's head, then her whole body.

Narrator: Mingyi raises her left arm, yet the bird doesn't perch on it and instead rubs its head against its master's cheek.

Mingyi: Hey, hey, stop it, dear, or you're gonna scare the horse.

Narrator: The phoenix finally lands on Mingyi's shoulder, cocks its head to the side, and reveals a letter tied on its foot.

Maid: It's a phoenix letter! The Emperor must have sent a message from Ningzhou.

Narrator: Half a year ago, a flood swept through Ningzhou and officials were helpless. The neighboring states took the chance to attack.

Narrator: Not wanting conflict to break out again, the Emperor had arrived in Ningzhou two months ago to settle things down.

Narrator: The phoenix was unwilling to part with the Emperor, so Mingyi let it go with him. They could send letters that way, too.

Mingyi: The official report from the Ningzhou officials got here yesterday, and it says that things were going well. This message must bring good news, too.

Female Official: That's good! Once the flood is stopped and the neighboring states are dealt with, the Emperor will be able to come back home!

Mingyi: The Ningzhou civilians will finally be able to live in peace. That's the most important part!

Narrator: As soon as Mingyi opens the letter, her smile fades away and is replaced by a deep scowl.

Female Official: Your Majesty... is it not good news?

Mingyi: It's been pouring for days in Ningzhou, and part of the dam currently being built has been swept away.

Mingyi: What's worse, the carts carrying resources sent from the Capital all crashed or got robbed on the way. Not much was left.

Female Official: Huh? Why is this message completely different from the official report we received yesterday?

Mingyi: Surely, the Ningzhou officials wouldn't dare lie with the Emperor watching over them. The reason for the discrepancy must be...

Narrator: Mingyi glances at the phoenix on her shoulder. It's snoozing, little head bowed.

Mingyi: It takes but one day for the phoenix to get here from Ningzhou, but the official report takes at least two weeks.

Mingyi: The roads in Cloud Empire are in dire need of repairs. It's inconvenient to deliver messages and resources via them.

Mingyi: With the roads out of use and the borders unpatrolled, it's no wonder that so many bandits are harassing travelers.

Narrator: Mingyi closes her eyes. When she reopens them, her gaze is steady once again.

Mingyi: This is a national emergency. We must work on solving the problem immediately!

Narrator: With a quick crack of the whip, Mingyi's horse neighs and starts galloping towards the Capital.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

[samglyph]

I do hope we get to see a bit of this dynamic in the movie, while I love a sad wet pathetic dad I also love a semi confident scheming dad

[dnpbeats]

besties im gonna be so honest im past the point where all the waiting and speculating is fun now im just stressed 😭

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Oh… :(

[visenyaism]

just wanted to say i'm genuinely psyched to get your commentary throughout the season. you have great/funny takes which actually prompted me to re-read and re-watch GoT w/ a more analytical and observant mindset.

that being said tho i think about that anon that said aemond was farming hair extensions from aegon's bastards like.... weekly 🫶

that’s so sweet of you to say! I am very excited to get to gather with my friends and yell at my television and try really hard not to explain the things were different in the books 87 times and then post every thought i have in my head about it once more. 

[essektheylyss]

GUESS WHAT I HIT.

69K.

NICE.

[corvigae]

GOD DAMMIT LARIAN YOU COULDN'T HAVE GIVEN ME LIKE TWO MORE DAYS TO FINISH MY HONOR RUN AND ASTARION ORIGIN??

prayer circle that my mods don't break with the new patch and that i can finish my shit before i uninstall them 🙏🙏🙏

[skinandscales-if]

Beta Announcement + Short Break

Hello everyone! After some weeks of activity, the beta tester applications are officially closed for this round! I have gotten in contact with everyone who was accepted (check your discord friend requests if you haven’t already!), and to everyone who applied, shared, or interacted, accepted or not, I thank you so much for helping participate with this round! I am always overwhelmed with the talent and enthusiasm from the applications, and as always if you didn’t get in this round, I encourage trying again the next time beta applications come around!

As a smaller announcement, due to some separate personal matters and plans, for the rest of March I’ll be putting the blog on hiatus. No worries though! Going to still be working on the story in between things and I’ll still read messages and asks, but all ask responses will be pushed until the end of this month or the beginning of next month. Thanks for your patience, as always! ❤️

[sleeperagentclone]

No longer constipated on the beach vacation, I am now anxious about running out of insulin on the beach vacation

[sharkieboi]

I know there’s lots of posts about like “don’t trust your feelings after 10pm” and “don’t trust your feelings during Winter Seasonal Depression Time” but I need a a reminder “don’t trust your feelings around the winter holidays when you’re about to stay with your family”

[nostalgia-tblr]

Reminding myself that I resolved not to delete any fics that have a bookmark on them😭

[firelord-aub]

I've reached a point in my hyperfixation where I want to like,, become my favorite character. I do not know how to describe that in a better way or in a way that sounds less crazy, that is essentially where my brain is at.

I know I can't become said character. It's a fictional highschool dude from an anime with superpowers. I am a disabled college student with an incompatible gender identity living in the real world. But I can't stop thinking about it, and it's gotten to the point where it's a constant itch in my brain to be more like him.

Thankfully it's not a bad character to have as a role model. So far all this means is that I dyed my hair, study more often and with more interest, clean more, and exercise more. All of those things are good for me. But. If I learned anything from my Harry Potter hyperfixation in elementary/middle school the thing that comes next is quoting, clothing changes, and diet changes. All of which is significantly harder to hide/not draw attention to.

[mcgnagallsarmy]

heartstopper rewatch done, I'm fully prepared for tomorrow. or not. we'll see.

[cutflower-sound-podfic]

My chosen example word is "dizi" -- a type of Chinese flute. In English, the obvious pronunciation is "dee-zee." In Chinese, it's something like "dee-z'h," the second "i" muted in a sound English speakers don't typically make. Which is better: to be accurate, despite the English words on either side? Or be inaccurate, but potentially smoother to the ear?

[haichengtual]

don't want to shave my legs but i want to wear shorts out and can't deal with people staring but i also should stop giving a fuck but

[lululeighsworld]

rereading green witch arc (im too excited!! ;uuu;) and i genuinely forgot how hilarious the intro to these two were. like i wonder who readers pictured 'master sullivan' being from the loud shouting and the boots and the short fair hair until they got to the reveal on the last page