ruin me, ruin us, and i'll let you. @purple-hyacinths - Tumblr Blog

😭 rin promising herself that she'll never let anyone hurt kitay especially not herself

[ID: a reply from @purple-hyacinths that says: "when our girlie said she would rather die than corrupt kitay and then... she kept her promise [heart emoticon]". End ID.]

😭😭 yeah. the way that she stopped strangling him after he was like "you're hurting me" like he said before... g-d

purple-hyacinths

head in hands, PAIN. PAINNNNNN

time does not heal all wounds. tbg still haunts me

#not me writing tpw fanfiction #and being hurt by my own writing #i cannot associate tpw w happiness like on any scale

thclie

fang runin and chen kitay are peak soulmateism

setewbro

Venka, hearing that The Trifecta is going to help them and her old teacher is one of them actually:

glass-bubble

Fang Runin (from The Poppy War) as Text Posts

missbard

rin, nezha, and kitay have about four brain cells between the three of them...

and they're all kitay's.

fahey

“Do you love him?”

“Yes,” Rin said immediately. “More than anyone else in the world.”

jeremy-knox

THE POPPY WAR TRILOGY

“Oh, but history moved in such vicious circles.”

azarathianscribbles

I have thoughts about Fang Kesegi

*Spoilers for the Poppy War trilogy, including The Burning God*

I know that Kesegi is a minor character throughout the series, especially in TBG, and with the sheer amount of content, he’s even less important, but I can’t help thinking about him.

The bittersweet reunion between Rin and Kesegi in TDR really stuck out to me. So when the book ended with Rin realizing she shouldn’t have tried to reject southern Nikan and deciding that she would return there, I developed one of my biggest hopes for The Burning God: a rebuilding of the bond between Rin and Kesegi, since he would no longer be just part of her ‘shameful’ southern heritage.

As we all know, that DID NOT happen. Rin effectively abandoning Kesegi to be Nezha’s captive was one of the most painful parts of Part One for me, though I don’t know if I can fully articulate why. Not only Rin’s allies, but also her enemies, assumed Kesegi would be more important to her than he was in reality. Rin’s insistence that Kesegi is only her foster brother as a justification for abandoning him is also painful: she insists on associating him with his parents, who abused her, despite the fact that she was more of a guardian and caretaker to him than they ever were. Even when Rin comes to value southern Nikan, she doesn’t accept Kesegi as her family, and spends her visit to Tikany in TBG mourning Tutor Feyrik without even considering Kesegi.

Like I said, I was upset with Rin’s choice to abandon Kesegi. (side note: I do believe Nezha did actually capture him, even if we don’t have a way of knowing for sure. His love for Mingzha probably influenced him to believe that Rin would have a similar devotion to her brother, which would make him a valuable hostage) As I continued in TBG, though, it became obvious that her disregard for him was a side effect/consequence of Rin’s character arc.

Throughout the trilogy, Rin is driven by desire to improve her circumstances. Over time, that desire warps from something innocent to a hunger for ultimate power. Alongside that, she becomes more willing to make sacrifices. Even in TPW, Rin doesn’t really think of Kesegi at all while attending Sinegard, and that lack of attachment sets her apart from her classmates. It makes sense to me that this lack of attachment culminates with her effectively leaving Kesegi to die at the hands of the Dragon Republic.

What we don’t know is what became of Kesegi. Perhaps Vaisra and/or Nezha killed him. Perhaps he died during the siege on Arlong, or starved to death. But maybe he didn’t. And the possibilities for Kesegi’s life post-TBG fascinate me. What is the role he plays in rebuilding Nikan? Does he blame Rin for destroying the south? Regardless of the lack of relationship between them, he shares General Fang’s name: does that make him a unifying figure or put him at risk? Do people assume he’ll continue her legacy? Probably both. Does he feel obligated to continue her legacy?

There’s also his relationships with the other survivors. Between his love for Rin and guilt over imprisoning him, Nezha probably feels obligated to make sure Kesegi survives the rebuilding process. And however it plays out, whether or not Kesegi accepts Nezha’s help, that relationship has to be ridiculously complicated. Even without considering that Kesegi was Nezha’s prisoner, they both have tangled feelings about Rin, which could bring them together or put them at odds.

The other potential relationship I can’t help but wonder about is Lianhua. Both of them hold pieces of Rin’s legacy, but in completely different ways. In particular, I think it would be hard for Kesegi to be around her: Rin sought Lianhua and trained her to be a shaman for the army, but she left Kesegi behind in Tikany, and again in Arlong. Linhua’s connection to General Fang feels more substantial than Kesegi’s memories of a sister who tried to bury that part of her life.

If I ever meet R.F. Kuang, I’ll ask her about him. There’s so much more I’d love to know, but at the moment, Kesegi is on my mind, for better or worse.

In conclusion: Fang Kesegi

sunsetcurvecuddles

one of my favourite things on this site is seeing "sometimes a family is--" memes for fandoms i'm not from. because they read like the most random amalgamation of characters ever, and every time i'm like yep, sounds like an excellent family, very happy for them

purple-hyacinths

sometimes a family is a sleep-deprived morally grey detective, a new grim reaper from the 9th circle of hell who definitely commit heinous crimes while human but has no idea what, and a boy who walked to hell from purgatory to become a grim reaper bc he was bored

ice-block

I think it would be very funny for like characters in a fantasy setting to walk into a pub and try to order and the bartender sighs and goes "species and age?" While pulling out a massive book holding the drinking age for every type of species capable of purchasing alcohol

plenarys

the poppy war. r. f. kuang.

destiny is a myth. destiny is the only myth. the gods choose nothing. you chose.

letmebegaytodd

if you want the rewards of finding a new favorite song then you have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of listening to unfamiliar music

my mother would always tell me to eat my vegetables. not because i needed a healthy diet to grow, but because women with picky diets give birth to children with allergies and chronic diseases.

(i was eight when she first told me this.)

my mother would admonish me for my fear of needles. not because i needed vaccines and blood tests to stay healthy, but "how do you expect to give birth if you're scared of needles?"

(i was thirteen when she first told me this.)

i'm realizing that so much of my perception of health is about the future. rightfully so -- i want to have strong bones and good posture so i won't hurt as much in old age. but more of it is about my capabilities as a birthgiver, and i can't help but feel a little upset that my body has never been my own, ever. even the very bones and flesh i reside in are vested in the hypothetical, no matter how real MY existence is for me, now and forever. i do not have agency over myself in the present because i am a prisoner to the future.

#late night thoughts #either way i'm just gonna sit here #vibing