Comments | fightingvirtue: Accidental post: The river aflame

fightingvirtue

Accidental post: The river aflame

Jan 31, 2010 00:23

[As the feed clicks on, Ryuubi is at the riverfront, crouching by the water. The river is mostly frozen, but some distance from the shore, a large pile of wood and flammable material has been set ablaze and burns steadily despite the snow. There's a jagged gap in the ice, and the deep dark water shows through ( Read more... )

an old soul, the past speaks, event: flash-freeze, fire is chinese for strategy, battle of red cliffs, to never know peace, emperor Zhāoliè

Comments 52

the5thdragon January 31 2010, 01:27:41 UTC

... Who are you? Playing at Chinese history... Cao Cao loses the fight, and yet in his way wins the war.... But it is in the history of China that no one should reign forever.

fightingvirtue January 31 2010, 06:32:35 UTC

[He glances at the device, and smiles a profoundly sad smile.]

Playing? No - remembering rather. It's true, Cao Mengde has his hour, and then the Sima clan... but allow an old man to indulge in his one grand victory.

the5thdragon January 31 2010, 07:59:34 UTC

...

[shocked expression]

Were you THERE?

fightingvirtue January 31 2010, 14:19:41 UTC

Not on the field, to my regret, Southland swords had struck the blow. But the true victory was Kongming's, and mine.

Thread 37

[video] scarysnakelady January 31 2010, 21:48:45 UTC

Battles are like that a lot, yeah. It's hard to see the other ways things might go, sometimes.

Re: [video] fightingvirtue January 31 2010, 22:20:47 UTC

Things might have gone a thousand other ways. I might have surrendered to Cao Cao as soon as he named me his enemy; I might never have dragged Kongming into my war; I might have told him before the battle, be merciful, be kind, remember that you burn men and not just ships. And yet somehow I always come back to this.

[video] scarysnakelady January 31 2010, 22:26:05 UTC

These things always come back around to haunt us. The more we try and run from it, the more it catches up with us and bites us in the ass eventually.

Besides, would Cao Cao have shown mercy? Kongming listened? No way to know, I guess. And so, yeah, we fight battles a hundred times over in our heads, wondering what we could have done differently.

[video] fightingvirtue January 31 2010, 22:31:16 UTC

[His smile is achingly sad.]

Your words might've been a comfort, if I'd fought these hundred battles only in my head.

But the river always burns in the end.

bunny_flower February 2 2010, 21:29:30 UTC

A battle, Ryuubi-san ?

fightingvirtue February 2 2010, 21:51:00 UTC

[Hearing his use-name nudges him out of the memory's trance, he blinks a little.]

Oh - yes, the battle, you might say. Fire... takes me back.

bunny_flower February 3 2010, 20:05:23 UTC

Does it, now ? I am not too familiar with human history, I'm afraid ... not to mention we might be from different worlds.

fightingvirtue February 3 2010, 20:37:11 UTC

Perhaps it's better that you don't know. There is a young man here that I think I might be disillusioning, with my perspective on his history.

Thread 11