jin ling

[soba]

:/

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[soba]

The world isn't that simple. What you want doesn't matter.

[ he isn't sure when the last time something he wanted mattered. ]

Sometimes you just... need to deal with what happens to you.

[goldpeony]

What you want does matter! [He isn’t yelling so much as simply insistent.] As long as you aren’t hurting anyone else, or controlling others. If you act like the Wens, then you’ll be stopped.

But if it’s what you want, you’re a coward if you don’t try to take it. Like being... the Jin Sect leader. I’m going to do it. I’m going to lead it better than any others, just... just like my dad would’ve done. I’m not going to be like any Wens, and I’m not going to trick others by pretending I’m someone I’m not!

[soba]

[ there is a lot toi can respond to here.

so instead of focusing on himself, he goes for a very obvious opening, considering jin ling keeps saying things and toi has no idea what the FUCK he is talking about. ]

Who are the Wens?

[goldpeony]

[While not directed at Toi, Jin Ling's whole face sours considerably.]

The Wens were once one of the Five Great Sects, and they became terrible people. They were hungry with power, and tried to control all of the other sects. They destroyed Lotus Pier, Uncle Jiang's home, including his family and his sect brothers and sisters.

[soba]

Oh.

[ that sucks.

he frowns even more. ]

That was before you were born?

[goldpeony]

...Yeah. Uncle Jiang and some others formed a resistance, and they stopped the Wens, then got rid of them. Well--most of them. Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch, protected some of them. He...

[Jin Ling shakes his head.]

I was a baby then.

[soba]

[ jin ling is still a baby, he thinks, while also ignoring that he is younger than jin ling ]

... I'm guessing all of that completely changed things for you guys.

[goldpeony]

[Stop. But that's fair. He's a baby.]

It changed everything. Uncle Jiang had to rebuild Lotus Pier by himself. [He frowns at the counter.] Wei Wuxian... he made the Ghost General out of a former Wen. And then he...

[A pause.]

And then they were the ones who killed my parents.

[soba]

[ what the FUCK is a ghost general ]

... hm

Then you'll definitely accomplish everything you want to.

[goldpeony]

[gestures at all of wen ning who is not here]

I said I know already. [But he has a funny look on his face when he glances up.] Stop. You sound like her.

[soba]

[ he tilts his head ]

Like who?

[goldpeony]

...Anya.

[soba]

[ ... ]

Is that what the two of you talked about?

[goldpeony]

[His brows furrow.]

It just sounds like something she'd say. Didn't she try to make you talk about yourself? It was annoying...

[soba]

It was pretty annoying, yeah. But I didn't really tell her much.

[ he sounds thoughtful. ]

[goldpeony]

[He glances down, seeming to agree with this mostly.]

Did she even tell you anything about herself? I...

[No, he doesn't finish that.]

[soba]

Just stuff about being an idol. How her dad showed her how to use a gun.

[ ... ]

I pointed out that she never talked about herself but kept bugging me about shit. She said she refused to say anything until I did.

[goldpeony]

[His brows don't furrow so much as simply drop. Well, Toi learned more than he did. But that's expected; Jin Ling is an asshole.]

She never would talk about herself really. [Maybe if you had asked. This is why I'm playing a good in fall.] ...What's an idol?

[soba]

[ well, it was more like anya kept mentioning she was an idol on her own with her ~hope~ speeches, and toi wanted to know why the FUCK did she have a shotgun. ]

It's like... do you have entertainers? Someone who performs for others. Where we're from, it's a whole industry.

[goldpeony]

[All he can immediately think of when Toi says "entertainers" is prostitutes, and it almost makes him wanna run out scandalized. No, it's fine. Entertainers, like plays, he reminds himself.

...Anya is a prostitute.]

Oh. Yes, I guess so. Why?

[soba]

[ i can't believe anya is a prostitute now ]

That's more or less what an idol is. It's a lot more complicated than just that, but... I don't care enough about that kind of stuff to follow it.

[goldpeony]

[nods]

Then why was she always drawing things about the stars?

[soba]

I don't know. I didn't even know she cared about them until that tower showed up.

[goldpeony]

[He frowns. There's a whole lot he can say about Anya. There's a lot he can say between them both that Toi would understand, but it's embarrassing for him to think about bringing it up.

So he doesn't.]

[soba]

... this is so stupid.

[ the conversation? the situation? everything?

he really wishes he could tell anya 'i told you so' right now. ]