#poppy war trilogy

[ziangjiya]

more jiang 🙁

#jiang ziya #set between first and second poppy wars idrk #the poppy war #the trifecta 😢 #the gatekeeper #the burning god #tpw #poppy war trilogy

[ashleydoesartstuff]

“The Poppy War Trilogy” fan art of Altan Trengsin from a few years ago.

My first time also trying to do basic animation! :)

Anyway if you haven’t, you should read these books! They are brutal and will cut your heart out. I loved them so much!

#The Poppy War #Poppy War Trilogy #Altan Trengsin #Fan Art #Digital Painting #Animation #Illustration #Artists On Tumblr #R F Kuang

[korallion]

Loose threads and various trivia from the Poppy War series that I can't stop thinking about

I'm writing this because I have very little time to write at the moment so I won't be able to fit all these elements into the Poppy War fic I'm writing but I still have to get it out of the system because the amount of detail is insane.

DrUgS!

Ancient Chinese medicine in general is full of hallucinogenic and poisonous plants that were dosed very carefully, but shamans used them to talk to the gods, and the most common ones were:

The fly agaric mushroom: the mushroom that Chaghan and Qara gave to Kitay and Rin for the anchor ritual.

The ephedra plant: it was generally drunk in the form of tea and I think it's the liquid from the flask Jiang gives Rin in the first book when he sends her to meditate in the forest since Rin describes its effects not as a high but more as the beneficial effects of the plant in question.

The datura plant: it's extremely poisonous and was used in small amounts for its powerful hallucinogenic effects and sometimes its flowers are a blue-violet so I think it's the famous blue powder that Chaghan carries around in a small bottle although I couldn't find anything claiming it was used in that form. On that note, one of the candidates for Chaghan's drug is also cannabis, which was also used by Taoist monks and nomadic peoples from which I assume Hinterlands are inspired and, although they are modern hybrids, there are blue variants of this plant so it could be an artistic license from Kuang.

Betel nut tree: as Shiro experiments on Altan and Rin rants that the introduction of the Speerly to opium was an idea of the Red Emperor to make them addicted to Nikan and that previously their people used the bark of a tree without specifying which one. I think this is the tree in question although in reality, it is the nuts that are consumed because in addition to being the fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance after tobacco, alcohol, and caffeinated drinks, according to the World Health Organization, it energizing effects prevent fatigue and thirst so the famous fame of the Speerly warriors, at least those in Tearza's time, perhaps also stemmed from this as well as the brutal training regime and the legend of its origin is also very much linked to the Speerly eyes.

2.The Different Peoples of Nikan

I will only talk about Speerly and Hinterlanders otherwise I will never stop writing.

Speerly: As I mentioned above, the Tiwanese legend of the birth of the Betel Tree is linked to the inspiration for the red eyes of our phoenix warriors. According to the legend of the Paiwan tribe, one day a child with red eyes was born in a village, who killed any living thing with a glance. In the end Pali, this is the child's name, after finally integrating himself into the village and using the power of his eyes in wars between the other tribes, will be put to death after accidentally killing children but a friend of his notices that a betel nut tree was born on Pali's grave, the fruits of which are as wide and red as the boy's eyes that will protect the people of the village from then on. Now, what do you do with an intriguing legend about a red-eyed boy whose death essentially gave rise to a light drug tree? Apparently Kuang's answer was an entire red-eyed people reaching out to their murderous goddess via a drug of the colour of their eyes. I love this woman.

Hinterlanders: Rather than being one of a single people they are a sort of confederation of clans inspired by the Huns and the Mongols but I find it fascinating that many have light eyes and hair isn't an artistic license by the author to make them more 'shamanic' like most fantasy writers do because apparently a lot of ancient nomadic Asian ethnic groups had light eyes and hair. I used to think it was incredibly rare and more a thing of the descendants of peoples who lived near the Silk Road or the European border.

3.The Dragon

The Dragon is a Yao not a God.

I know Chaghan has already explained this, but many seem to forget about it, while I who had read Poppy War because I was in abstinence of Wuxia like MoDaoZuShi started shouting IS A FUKING Yao! and suddenly Nezha's whole speech about how it's not like Rin suddenly makes sense. Because Yao are often confused with Magical Beasts or Gods but Yao is a broad term for any animal, plant or even inanimate object that has gained spiritual awareness and magical powers. In this case, as Chaghan explained, an animal has absorbed the power of the Caves (if we want to speak in terms of theology or even Wuxia it would be Qi or even Mana if you prefer) which are one of those places where the veil between the two worlds thins and supposedly filled with the power of the real Rain Dragon and has become the 'Dragon'. But he is not a god because, as has already been said in the trilogy, true gods do not have material bodies. This can be confirmed in the story Vaisra tells Nezha about the shaman Yu who suggests that he has turned into the Dragon when in fact he may have been eaten and absorbed into the 'collection' of the Yao because in The Nine Curves River, a story by Kuang in the collection The Books of Dragons, she suggests the Yao existed before Yu's time because she makes no mention of Yu's legend but instead it is a fisherman who becomes the dragon in one of the versions.

The Dragon (Yao) is a Yinglong

The story of the Cave Dragon that Vaisra tells Nezha is inspired by the story of the legendary King Yu, founder of the Xia Dynasty who, according to the story, controlled the flooding of the Yellow River thanks to a Yinglong a very powerful water dragon that had lost its wings to kill a drought demon. This dragon is also related to the eels, through a connection that I honestly didn't understand, at least as Wikipedia explained it, and it relates back to how Rin sees him when he attacks the cave, because at least to me he reminds me of a giant eel.

Maybe the Yin sacrifice their children to the Yao

Okay I know, it sounds absurd, now I'll explain. Also in The Nine Curves River it is understood that it is set before the reign of the Red Emperor (the monks still operate) and the people of Arlong sacrifice the most beautiful people they can find in times of severe drought. Now there is no reference to anything like this in the era in which Poppy War is set but something may have changed when Yu was the one bound to the Yao in Dragon form, because in the story it is referred to that Yu would not allow anyone else to suffer, and in The Nine Curves River the Yao can cause an abnormal and prolonged drought until the sacrifice has been made but not in the times we are shown. So Yu did something that kept the Yao at bay for over a thousand years after his death or the Yin family sacrifice their children in secret. I have this theory that the Yin took it upon themselves to nurture what they thought was a God for the sake of their people after all forms of worship had been banned and, since in The Nine Curves River it is specified that the sacrificed people must go there voluntarily (perhaps a limitation imposed by the fact that even real gods cannot invade the minds of shamans unless the latter want them to and so a Yao who feeds on their power cannot go out and eat whoever they want whenever they want) the Yin Lords of the past would have piqued the curiosity of the sacrificable children to make them go to the Grotto voluntarily and the Yao would accept them as offerings and prevent the drought. So Vaisra knew that one of his sons would be eaten? Hell yes. Or at least he hoped that Yu's legend had some truth to it (knowing Riga) and that he would end up with at least one son turned into a Dragon to use for his revolution. As they say, be careful what you wish for.

Mingzha was not devoured by accident

Of course the whole theory above is dismantled when Nezha tells Yao that he was so hungry that he hadn't even thought of keeping Mingzha for himself and had devoured him straight away and that Nezha would go with him, presumably to do what Yu did (perhaps he had intuited something that is not told) to keep him at bay for so long. But hunger may not have been Yao's only reason for choosing to eat the child. Mingzha is presented to us with gold bracelets and anklets that are good luck charms for children, and so far nothing strange apart from the potential to be a heartbreak parallel for Nezha's handcuffs. But in The Nine Curves River the author implies that all Dragon sacrifices are marked with gold bracelets and anklets, so when the Yao chose Mingzha it was because he thought he was a sacrifice to be devoured.

The Red Emperor and Yu were like Nezha and Yin.

Me with a really crazy theory? More likely than you think.

So from what I understand even though it's not specified, the Yao doesn't eat all his sacrifices otherwise people like Yu and Nezha and the Fisherman wouldn't exist, even in legend. Maybe he plays with his food or maybe he has to give a fraction of his power in return, unfortunately we don't have enough elements to determine this but in Yu's legend there is a reference to the fact that the Dragon Province had become unlivable due to the currents and climate towards the end of the Red Emperor's reign, giving us a very specific time window in which to place the tale, which is strange in itself, but also makes a heavy implication (at least to me) that it was the Emperor's presence that made Arlong prosperous and, towards the end of his life, the work of his 'sacrifice' tapered off until Yu took his place.

Now, why do I think the Red Emperor was a Yin? Because Kuang loves to make us suffer and since Rin is Tearza's descendant it would make sense for Nezha to be a descendant of the Red Emperor but also for a few other reasons: Kitay says that the aunts and cousins of the Yin Clan were chosen as concubines of the Emperors and if the intrigue of the Harem didn't go out of fashion it wasn't just because of their beauty, women related to Kings and Emperors were a useful chess piece in political machinations. The coat of arms of House Yin is a dragon and speaking of historical reality the only ones who could wear the dragon on their robes or as a family crest were the Emperors and his family. Reference is made to the fact that there were no survivors of his lineage almost too insistently, just as there is no reference to Tearza's lineage until she calls Rin my blood. The Yin have the Imperial Seal that was thought to be lost. I'm pretty sure the Red Emperor is historically the equivalent of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, whose birth name was Ying Zheng and well . . . I know the Ying character and the Yin character are different but they sound similar and from a plot point of view the Red Emperor's remaining descendants could have hidden themselves by changing surnames but still one that had a resemblance to the one of origin or a side branch of the family, the possibilities are many. Lastly, he might be right about the Yin feeding their children to the Yao in Dragon form.

As for Yu, I think he was another yin descendant because, at least in the Italian version, Nezha seems to know that Yu is his ancestor.

That's all for now, at least until I find the rest of my notes. If any of this inspires you to write something I would love to have a little credit, even a small one, and oh. . .I definitely want to read it, or if you want to go in the rabbit hole with me don't be shy

#poppy war #headcanon #poppy war trilogy #no time for write #so i made this #for your joy and delight #the dragon republic #the burning god #the drowning faith #The Nine Curves River #yin nezha #Red Emperor #Dragon #Yao

[smalltownfae]

Magical Bond Book Recs

I have been noticing that I really like the magical bond trope in my fantasy books so if you like it too here are some recommendations in order of execution and how I like them. The magical bond is when two characters are somehow connected to each other through some sort of magic and it’s usually very emotionally strong and often tragic.

1. Fitz and the Fool / Fitz and Nighteyes (Realm of the Elderlings)

Including both of those even if one is a magical bond with an animal. Fitz has a strong connection with the Fool through the magic called the Skill, in which when the Fool touches him with his fingers stained by magic they can use that link to feel each other’s essence and emotions, heal, etc. Fitz and Nighteyes share another kind of magical link through the Wit, which is the magic that allows the people that possess it to understand and connect with animals. Nighteyes is a wolf. Through Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes also share a faint magical bond. Besides this, Fitz and the Fool are also connected by their destined roles since one is a prophet and the other a catalyst (meaning one has visions of the future and the other the capability to change that future in big ways).

“I was the Fool and the Fool was me. He was the Catalyst and so was I. We were two halves of a whole, sundered and come together again. For an instant I knew him in his entirety, complete and magical, and then he was pulling apart from me, laughing, a bubble inside me, separate and unknowable, yet joined to me. “You do love me !” I was incredulous. He had never truly believed it before. “Before, it was words. I always feared it war born of pity. But you are truly my friend. This is knowing. This is feeling what you feel for me. So this is the Skill.”

- Assassin’s Quest (Farseer #3) by Robin Hobb

“Come, hunt with me, the invitation whispers in my heart. Leave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own. Wolves have no kings.”

- Royal Assassin (Farseer #2) by Robin Hobb

2. Rin and Kitay (Poppy War)

Rin and Kitay eventually form a bond like Chaghan and his sister have. Kitay is Rin’s anchor and helps keep part of her sanity while using the magic of a god. The bond can make the magic stronger and Rin both craves it and wants Kitay to not get involved with it. It is a more tragic kind of bond and it’s platonic.

“Because once you have an anchor, they become a part of your soul. Your very existence. They know your thoughts. They feel what you feel. They are the only ones who completely and fully understand you. Most would die rather than give that up.”

- The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang

3. Kell and Rhy Maresh (Shades of Magic)

I decided to make this post because I was reminded of these two actually. Kell is Rhy’s adoptive brother and just like Rin and Kitay they share a platonic magical bond that can kill both of them in one go. At one point in the series Rhy dies and Kell uses magic to save him, a magic that binds them so that they can feel each other’s pain.

“I bound your life to mine,” said Kell, “As long as I live, so shall you.” Rhy’s eyes widened. “You did what?” he whispered, horrified. “I should get out of this bed and wring your neck.” “I wouldn’t,” advised Kell. “Your pain is mine and mine is yours.”

- A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

4. Seregil and Alec (Nightrunner)

This series is known for having an mlm couple as the main characters so it’s a given that they will get into a relationship at some point. They share the talimenios bond (which basically means soulmates) and they can feel each others’ emotions to a certain extent. The reason why it’s last place is that it isn’t that impactful in the story and not as strong as the ones before even though it is the romantic one. It isn’t so much different than being together with someone for years and getting to know them really really well.

“One pair of men held Alec’s attention for dance after dance. It was not simply their skill that moved him but the way they seemed to hold each other with their gaze, trusting, anticipating, working in perfect unison. His throat tightened as he watched them during one particularly sensual dance; he knew without being told that they were talimenios and that they had lived this dance, this mingling of souls, together most of their lives. He felt Seregil’s hand cover his own. Without the least embarrassment, Alec turned his hand, weaving their fingers together and letting the dance speak for him.”

- Traitor’s Moon (Nightrunner #3) by Lynn Flewelling

#rote #realm of the elderlings #poppy war trilogy #shades of magic #nightrunner series #how is this trope called because I need more of it?

[ghostlychief]

If anyone has read the poppy war trilogy and would like to discuss PLS MESSAGE ME😭😭😭 I finished it like over two weeks ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and my heart is still crushed </3

#when i tell you i’m obsessed #like I might start rereading it like this weekend bc I am insane #also want to annotate #bc usually the first go around I don’t annotate bc I want to be completely focused yk #so I usually like to annotate books during my second read #poppy war #poppy war trilogy #fang runin #chen kitay #yin nezha

[booksbagelsbrains]

i was going through my Pinterest boards as one does and. if you want a book series that will rip your heart out, stomp on it, kick it into the gutter, lash onto it with a hook and pull it back up just to stomp on it since more, sew it back together with a needle coated in poison, skin it with one of those apple peelers, submerge it in a jar of lemon juice, then take it out and dice it into little tiny cubes-

might I recommend the poppy war trilogy by r.f. kuang?

#those books DESTROYED me #and it was a while ago too but when i was looking the Pinterest board of fansrt and stuff i just #i was obsessed this series is so good #but also i was emotionally wrecked #poppy war trilogy #poppy war #the dragon republic #the burning god

[scifi4wifi]

R.F. Kuang's ‘Babel’, Mysteriously Nixed at Hugo Awards, Goes to the Big Screen

R.F. Kuang‘s bestselling fantasy novel Babel is happening for the screen, being optioned by independent studio wiip (The Mare of Easttown, Dickenson). Though it won the Nebula and British Book Award and was nominated by Goodreads for Best Fantasy, the book was also omitted from the controversial China Worldcon Hugo. Babel is a historical fantasy epic that magically reimagines 19th-century Oxford…

View On WordPress

#Babel an Arcane History #Poppy War Trilogy #R.F. Kuang #wiip

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Canon AroAces 204/?: Chen Kitay from R.F. Kuang's Poppy War trilogy (2018-2020)

I sometimes felt Rin had romantic feelings for Kitay, Altan, and Nezha, and yet there really is no romantic subplot in the story. Why?

I’m not particularly good at or interested in writing romantic subplots. I’m also tired of romance getting shoehorned into stories where it doesn’t necessarily belong, which seems unfortunately common in a lot of fantasy novels with female protagonists. Rin’s story is so much more than whoever she wants to bang at the moment. I mean, yes, hypothetically she would like to bang, but our girl’s got bigger problems. Altan and Nezha don’t work out for obvious reasons, and Kitay is both aromantic and asexual, so that’s not happening.

I also admit that I’m just not particularly good at writing romance scenes. Maybe it’s because I know my parents are reading my work, so cringe. Part of it is also because I see my own characters like children, and when my children start making out with each other, I feel very uncomfortable. You kids leave room for Jesus.

#chen kitay #poppy war #poppy war trilogy #r.f. kuang #nocticola art #asexual #aromantic #aroace #canon aspec list #i've seen and maybe read that interview before #but i didn't realize it was in 2018 #right as the first book was published #it's really cool she established it right away #though i admit i didn't notice much aspec coding in book 1 #hopefully there's more in book 2 and 3 #i loved the book by the way

[benedictusantonius]

[2023|44] The Dragon Republic (2019) written by R.F. Kuang

#the dragon republic #dragon republic #poppy war trilogy #rf kuang #books2023 #r.f. kuang

[kirbyslandlord]

Gonna start reading the Burning God 👀terrified ‼️‼️

#books #fantasy #poppy war trilogy #R F Kuang #the burning god #dragon republic

[cikebabbler]

absolutely genius of rf kuang to elaborate on virtually nothing about speer's culture. the only things said about speer are "speerlies are mindless savages" and "speerlies are most definitely not mindless savages". there are no deep dives, no explanations of their way of life, nothing beyond the glimpses that disproves nikan's belief that they are nothing but a violent group. we saw that they had leaders that cared about their people and children. we saw that they are people who found joy in life. but that's really not much.

this emphasizes the horror of genocide. millenia of culture and history, individual lives filled with love, pain, and passion, just completely wiped away. there were only two surviving speerlies. one of them was too young when he was taken away, and probably doesn't remember much. the things he did remember was also probably buried under years of abuse and drugs people were plying him with. the other one didn't even know she was from speer until the last few months of her life, and there was really no one around to teach her about their culture. and if there was, life as she knows it was falling apart. learning about her dead people's culture probably didn't even cross her mind.

without saying any of these things and by intentionally leaving readers in the dark about what speer was truly like, rf kuang said so much about the horrors of genocide. by not saying anything, she said everything. she did the "show me, don't tell me" tip for writers and it was brilliant.

we will never learn most of speer's culture and history and that was the point.

#the poppy war trilogy #the poppy war trilogy spoilers #the poppy war #the dragon republic #the burning god spoilers #the burning god #rf kuang #fang runin #altan trengsin #speer

[blackthornarchives]

‘I have become something wonderful, she thought.

I have become something terrible.

Was she now a goddess or a monster?

Perhaps neither. Perhaps both’

#art #tpw #tpw trilogy #rin fanart #fang runin #the dragon republic #the poppy war fanart #the poppy war #the burning god #rinezha #fanart #fan art #character art #creative writing #bookblr #booktok #chen kitay #poppy war #sring venka #yin nezha #renaissance #writeblr #writerscommunity #writers #books #fantasy #artists on tumblr #illustration

[whyamiheretm]

- She’s the only divine thing he’s ever believed in. The only creature in this vast, cruel land who could kill him. And sometimes, in his loveliest dreams, he imagines she does.

this was supposed to be posted here on valentine’s day but i forgot to happy late valentine’s day from your favorite doomed lovers

closeups under the cut 💋

#the poppy war #the dragon republic #the burning god #rinezha #fang runin #yin nezha #the drowning faith #rinezha fanart #tpw trilogy #tpw fanart #rf kuang #rebecca kuang #rebecca f kuang #babel rf kuang #babel an arcane history #babel #book fanart #book art #fanart

[koiwynn]

i think i’m onto something

#˖ ࣪⭑ mine #let kitay go apeshit (as a treat <3) #fang runin #yin nezha #chen kitay #rinezha #rinkitay #character dynamics #character relationships #the poppy war #the dragon republic #the burning god #meme #tpw trilogy #tpw core #tpw #tpw ​‧₊˚✩彡

[aevyndzn]

I love them sm

#art #digital art #fanart #artwork #drawings #the poppy war #tpw trilogy #tpw #fang runin #jiang ziya #sring venka #chen kitay #the burning god #the dragon republic #rf kuang

[ghostlychief]

I fear I am still not over the poppy war trilogy and it’s been 6 months 😩💔

#I’m not surprised #but my heart still aches when I think about Rin #time to reread #poppy war #poppy war trilogy #fang runin