Worstgen
Lee Ba Shou
Essentially, you have two characters just talking mad shit to each other, but they are talking shit under the guise of complimenting each other. So Ryofui will say to Riboku “I was expecting the man who defeated Ouki to have a very grand dream,” but what he is really saying is “wow, you’re a small, disappointing man.”
Lee Ba Shou
And Riboku responds with “I’m a coward whose plans only succeed because of how much of a coward I am. I would have never defeated Ouki if I were as bold as you are.” What he is really saying is “I have no illusions about my own stature. Ouki was a proud fool and that’s why I won. You, Ryofui, are a proud fool just like Ouki, and as such I am better than you.”
Lee Ba Shou
Riboku also tells Ryofui “to think that you would go from a Zhao merchant to a Qin chancellor in only 10 years is truly incredible.” What he really means is “you are a fucking traitor.” Lol
Lee Ba Shou
The reason I find these scenes brilliant is that Riboku and Ryofui are talking so much shit to each other without openly talking shit, because they are smart enough to know that if they piss each other off, then the conversation will devolve into swords and result in a bloodbath, so they are smart enough to insult each other subtlety under the guise of paying respectful compliments.
Lee Ba Shou
Ryofui at one point even busts out laughing, because the two of them are playing a subtle game that really no one else in the room seems to pick up on. “How massively can I compliment you while simultaneously throwing the heaviest insults that I possibly can at you without breaking our ruse of civility?”
Lee Ba Shou
Ryofui even tries to make Riboku break civility at one point, saying “do you look down on me since I left Zhao and came to Qin?” And Riboku says “not at all, this era is filled with incredible men who wander from state to state seeking to advance themselves. If anything, Zhao is proud to have produced someone as great as you.”
Lee Ba Shou
Again a compliment on the surface, but subtextually Riboku is saying “you are not special or unique, this era is filled with traitors and self-interested power seekers like you.”
Lee Ba Shou
The reason I find this scene so brilliant is that this is the exact type of dialogue we would expect to see from two high level politicians like Riboku and Ryofui. They spent their whole conversation throwing compliments at each other while the real, insulting meaning behind their words is left to subtext.
Lee Ba Shou
Each line of dialogue has three different layers of meaning:
1. The open compliment being paid
2. The true, underlying insult present in the subtext
3. The ultimate attempt of each character to get the other to break civility so that they can “win” the conversation.
1. The open compliment being paid
2. The true, underlying insult present in the subtext
3. The ultimate attempt of each character to get the other to break civility so that they can “win” the conversation.
Lee Ba Shou
Going from dialogue like this, to Kaido’s “when you’re having fun, you smile!!!” Is Heaven and Fucking earth. Lol
@Owl Ki @Blackbeard @MarineHQ @Seth @God Buggy @TheKnightOfTheSea @FutureWarrior123
@Owl Ki @Blackbeard @MarineHQ @Seth @God Buggy @TheKnightOfTheSea @FutureWarrior123
Dark Admiral
But were they having fun though..?? Lol
Damn, I never really thought this deep into their conversation. They were at each other’s throats all the time. I always thought they were just trying to break each others character by being as humble as possible.
Damn, I never really thought this deep into their conversation. They were at each other’s throats all the time. I always thought they were just trying to break each others character by being as humble as possible.
Lee Ba Shou
Any time two politicians start going at it in well-written fiction, you see shit like this where they are just hurling thinly veiled insults disguised as compliments at each other, which is one of the reasons this dialogue is so amazing. Dialogue between Hara’s generals is much more straightforward but any time he’s writing politicians, Hara is about to write some amazing dialogue.
Lee Ba Shou
I literally got flashbacks to Game of Thrones (when it was still good) rereading the scene which has the best fucking dialogue ever. Lol
Watch this video if you want to see some stellar writing. https://youtu.be/JrGenUdbeP4
Watch this video if you want to see some stellar writing. https://youtu.be/JrGenUdbeP4
Seth
When I picked up Kingdom I obviously loved the art of war, tactics and general battle hype but ngl. I think Some of you who read my arc reviews remember how fucking gassed I was for any Ryofui confrontation. Ryofui is a masterclass at conversation and deep down he is not "evil" I think he is more so a realist. You can say that Ei Sei has shonen protagonist mindest while Ryofui is the guy to live thru all the shit.
Seth
I don't think there is anyone who can sort of "came out victorious" out of verbal confrontation with Ryofui. You can look "decent" but he generally washes everyone out of the park. If a character wanted to dominate the conversation with Ryofui and "destroy" him with argument he'd literally have to live thru a similar life to Ryo's and that is almost impossible.
Lee Ba Shou
I think Riboku kept up with him hid a while but Ryofui ultimately got more out of that conversation than Riboku wanted to give, so advantage Ryofui. Man is legit one of the best political minds in China, he could’ve become one of the Four Lords if he hadn’t faced Sei.