[His shoulders loosen. He's frowning, but it's hard to tell anything else since most of the top half of his face is covered.]
Not having a family at home... is a death sentence. It means you live on the street... unless you're an adult. Then you're poor and have to beg if you don't know a trade.
Mom made good money. We weren't rich, but we didn't go hungry. She was a fixture in town -- everyone's nosey as shit, but they looked out for me after she died.
And I took on jobs where I could for the cash, until I decided to go to Thors. [ ... ] What kind of crap place doesn't look out for the people who live there?
If you're a sect disciple, you'll be fine. The sect is like your home, but... other disciples will still make fun of you if you don't have a family. [His memory, case in point. And he was one of the more well-known, too.] If you're a farmer or a merchant...
[He shrugs.]
Your family is everything. It's who you are. That's why... family names come first. It's why our hair is long; our parents gave us our hair, so cutting it means cutting off a part of them, of your family. And it's why we have two names, given to us by our family.
[ he'd go cross eyed at that, but jin ling would get bitchy again so he avoids it. ]
Okay. I take it no one's heard of the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" or however it goes. When Mom died, her friends stuck their noses in, and I was able to do odd jobs and live off savings for a while. Raquel's not such a closed minded place that you'd get picked on because your family died.
It's not like there's anything you can do about that.
I guess some do... [He thinks about someone in particular, but he doesn't want to acknowledge the fact Wei Wuxian is technically his uncle by adoption rights.] If you're lucky. But others...
It isn't their problem. They have to take care of their own family, so they don't worry about you if you aren't from a prominent family.
Your world sounds like it runs on the same crap that Erebonian nobles fuel themselves with. Family name means everything, accidents of birth make your life more important than someone else's. Blah, blah--
[ What a load of crap. ]
Let me guess, illegitimate kids get the brunt of it - both from the illegitimacy and not having "full noble blood" or whatever the equivalent is.
[Even with the mask, the surprise shows in how his lips part. There’s no way to not viscerally think of the one person he and Huaisang had left behind. It really has all come to a head over something he had only barely began to understand.
He looks guilty, but it wasn’t him who had done any ill-will. But he emphasized family, and it had definitely been family on one side who did.]
It... Adults are idiots. It isn’t my fault something like that happened! They sects didn’t use to be lead by the next blood relative, but the adults made it that way! Uncle Jin, he—
Hey. [ He leans forward and taps Jin Ling on the forehead with his index finger. ] You're right. What happens to your family, if it's out of your hands, ain't you fault. And to hell with whoever suggests otherwise.
It... it won’t be. Uncle Jin has done something terrible. In the past, because he was a prostitute’s son! And with the Stygian Tiger Seal. When [Because to hell if he is going to say “if.”] we go back, they’ll... He’ll have to be punished.
...And then I’ll be the one left who has to be Sect Leader. So it’ll be me. No one else is my age! They’re all old cultivators! Sect Leader Nie! Uncle Jiang! Sect Leader Lan! They won’t let me change anything! It’ll be in my hands!
... Your Uncle being with a prostitute doesn't have any standing on you. No matter what anyone thinks. Can't speak for any of your other hang ups, though.
I mean. That's something everyone deals with. [ sorry to say ] You just gotta prove that you can do it, and anyone who thinks otherwise can take their opinions and shove 'em.
That isn't how a sect leader should act, you know. There are rules! And there's a council in place that decides on how things should be, and there's also a Chief Cultivator at the head of that council!
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Not having a family at home... is a death sentence. It means you live on the street... unless you're an adult. Then you're poor and have to beg if you don't know a trade.
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And I took on jobs where I could for the cash, until I decided to go to Thors. [ ... ] What kind of crap place doesn't look out for the people who live there?
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[He shrugs.]
Your family is everything. It's who you are. That's why... family names come first. It's why our hair is long; our parents gave us our hair, so cutting it means cutting off a part of them, of your family. And it's why we have two names, given to us by our family.
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Okay. I take it no one's heard of the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" or however it goes. When Mom died, her friends stuck their noses in, and I was able to do odd jobs and live off savings for a while. Raquel's not such a closed minded place that you'd get picked on because your family died.
It's not like there's anything you can do about that.
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It isn't their problem. They have to take care of their own family, so they don't worry about you if you aren't from a prominent family.
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[ What a load of crap. ]
Let me guess, illegitimate kids get the brunt of it - both from the illegitimacy and not having "full noble blood" or whatever the equivalent is.
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He looks guilty, but it wasn’t him who had done any ill-will. But he emphasized family, and it had definitely been family on one side who did.]
It... Adults are idiots. It isn’t my fault something like that happened! They sects didn’t use to be lead by the next blood relative, but the adults made it that way! Uncle Jin, he—
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[ wow. yeah, that's some deeprooted shit there. ]
Hey. [ He leans forward and taps Jin Ling on the forehead with his index finger. ] You're right. What happens to your family, if it's out of your hands, ain't you fault. And to hell with whoever suggests otherwise.
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It... it won’t be. Uncle Jin has done something terrible. In the past, because he was a prostitute’s son! And with the Stygian Tiger Seal. When [Because to hell if he is going to say “if.”] we go back, they’ll... He’ll have to be punished.
...And then I’ll be the one left who has to be Sect Leader. So it’ll be me. No one else is my age! They’re all old cultivators! Sect Leader Nie! Uncle Jiang! Sect Leader Lan! They won’t let me change anything! It’ll be in my hands!
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... Your Uncle being with a prostitute doesn't have any standing on you. No matter what anyone thinks. Can't speak for any of your other hang ups, though.
You scared of taking over your [ cult ] sect?
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If my dad could, so can I! Just...
[Big shoes to fill. He’s less worried he can’t and more worried he will mess up.]
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[ He just raises an eyebrow at Jin Ling. ]
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It's nothing. Forget it. You wouldn't understand.
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...They won’t take me seriously because they think I’m a kid. Just like Uncle Jiang.
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I mean. That's something everyone deals with. [ sorry to say ] You just gotta prove that you can do it, and anyone who thinks otherwise can take their opinions and shove 'em.
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But channel that anger somewhere else. Like right at them.