#xiahouji

[hunny-pp]

zhang fei you have a vast, vast soul and i will always, always, always come back to it.

kisses, kisses, kisses

DYNASTY WARRIORS X DISCO ELYSIUM AU

[romance-of-three-memes]

I'm thinking about how Xiahouji's rabbit theme is referential to the moon goddess Chang'e, who's from the myth where an archer named Houyi shot down 9 suns and was given an elixir of immortality as a reward. The more popular versions have them as lovers, and Chang'e safeguards it for him, but she's pursued by a man she isn't interested in and so ultimately takes the elixir to obtain immortality before being banished to the moon with only the lunar rabbit and a lazy monk for company. A monk who spends all his time trying to cut down a tree that always heals from his axe strikes, and thus probably isn't the most engaging companion, but that's a different story.

But in older versions the man she's trying to escape is Houyi himself. She damns herself to an eternity of near solitude just to get away from him. And God that's just so, so, so telling of Xiahouji's story, both how it's romanticizes and the ugly truth, being kidnapped when she was about 12 and forced to marry a man significantly older than her in a strange place where she had no allies or family to vouch for her. It feels like they couldn't agree on how to portray her so they met in the middle?

And then you have Xingcai, the fictionalized mix of Zhang Fei's two known daughters (well, I've heard some people claim that and others say she's just based on the younger daughter). Her name can be interpreted as meaning brilliant star, and in Warriors games this is often portrayed as her being part of Shu's promising new generation, but next to Xiahouji's rabbit/moon theme and how Xiahouji was retroactively designed for Xingcai's theming to be a 'callback' to her (they have similar weapons, red eye make-up, the celestial theming), you could interpret it as Xiahouji naming Xingcai that as a sort of symbol of companionship to herself, as the stars to her moon. This woman, knowing she can probably never go home or see her old family and friends again, names her daughter as symbol of her not seeing herself as so totally alone anymore. She, married to a man known for his tendencies towards violence and alcoholism with precious little agency over her own life, finds a bit of hope in her daughter.

Did someone at Koei intend some of this? Maybe? Who knows. If so I admire it but if not, death of the author and all that.

[kurizeria-has-moved]

@fineillsignup gave me the task of an older Xiahouji who looks more like a Xiahou/Cao. So here she is! More details and general thoughts about this version under the cut~

Oh! But for those who aren’t aware, Xiahouji’s mostly remembered in history for being abducted around 13/14 and forced to marry the man who took her and bear his children. She was never able to return home to her family. So Koei, like the smart cookies they are, not only added her into a game where her husband looks like a great guy, but makes her head over heels for him. They also make her look the age she was taken. Good job :)))

The look I was going for was basically “scornful young mother”.

I decided to add more layers and gloves to give a more "don't touch me" look, and fur to both reference to her home kingdom’s cold vibe as well as connect her more to her daughter. She definitely gives off a feeling of someone who belongs in Wei.

Tbh, I can't see her being love at first sight toward her children. I think she'd hate them at first, but eventually she'd grow to love them. She'd never have the interaction with Xiahou Yuan bc she would have left with him. Xiahouji is separate from Zhang Fei in the game and Koei avoids it like they did with Diaochan and Lingqi instead of giving an uwu lovey dovey story, so she is only involved in her children’s stories.

After Zhang Fei's death, she doesn't just disappear, but during Xingcai’s story she visits Xiahouji and sees her writing a letter to her family back in Wei, particularly to Xiahou Dun (as Yuan is dead at this point). She doesn't look particularly troubled over the recent event, and her apathy may or may not hint toward her involvement in her husband's demise. Xingcai gets a strange look but says nothing, but it gives an implication that Xingcai is aware of her feelings.

Also I was really lazy with patterns so I just copy/pasted the design I made for Cao Ang LOL. She’d probably have some kind of pattern referencing to home anyway.

[radicles]

[cavejacklumbermanbison]

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[lainealexandersson]

Dynasty Warriors 9 NPC interactions. Yeah, I personally can’t wait for DW9^^ hoping to see more unique NPC in action :D

@dynasty-warriors @kw-warriors-innuendos-blog @dynastywarriorsscreenshots 

[kw-warriors-innuendos-blog]

This is absolutely vile...I usually joke about like "koei, what are you doing?" blah blah, but this is beyond funny...just gross...please don't try to justify this as a happy family; Xiahouji has been described as a shy "my beloved husband" type But what's done is done, let's hope she's a somewhat decent character...but hell, if Koei fucked up the greatest heroine of the ROTK, then what'll Koei do here..blegh. I said I wouldn't discuss this and here I am bringing attention back to this. This is the last I'll speak of this. Lady Xiahou deserved better

[crxsszeria]

Please draw your Cao Ang x Xiahouji!

I feel like I’m missing some kind of context here :Dbut here you go! It’s… kind of.. shippy? (Not really).Cao Ang is just being a good boy & Xiahouji is having issues because he is too pretty.