#The Poppy War

[iloveplacebo]

RIN OF ARC

I think she knows how Joan of Arc felt

[the-overanalyst]

it's always so fascinating and heartbreaking when a character in a story is simultaneously idolized and abused. a chosen prophet destined for martyrdom. a child prodigy forced to grow up too fast. a powerful warrior raised as nothing but a weapon. there's just something so uniquely messed up about singing someone's praises whilst destroying them.

[sad-endings-suck]

💕the father, the son, the virgin mother, and the holy spirit✨

(bottom right: art credit to polararts)

[dcvina-claires]

yeah your ship may have kissed but did they try to kill each other?

[polartss]

Haircut

Rin from The Poppy War by RF Kuang

[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.

[chodzacaparodia]

I love ship dynamics where

character A is like: I have to catch up with them, it irritates me so much that they are so great, they annoy me so much, how can someone be so good, will I ever be their equal, will I be able to be better than them, I have to emphasize to them at every step that they are my rival, I will strive for their attention in every way, because they have to watch me grow, they have to notice me, OMG why are they so hot and perfect and….

and character B is like: ??? Tf they want from me??

Trust me, Character B. Character A doesn't know it yet either

[elainiisms]

i support ALL evil women!!! i support the ones who are evil and don't try to hide it, embracing their depravity and cunning, AND i support the ones who are evil and won't even admit it to themselves, who cower behind false notions of righteousness to excuse their sins, who justify every wrongdoing and absolve themselves of all blame because they cannot face their guilt (OR lack-thereof)

[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’

[cyrankaa]

[crowwowo]

the children yearn for the winter get me out of this heatwave hell

[dudlesdudles]

altan and rin

[duomeiszd]

Sinegard era!

Side note: what color is the sinegard uniform 😭😭😭 I made them white bc Rin mentions they made her white lore armband out of leftover uniform fabric + white makes the most sense for students?? But I have no idea

[lunalivvy]

morally ambiguous women from ancient east asia who are hell-bent on revenge and will stop at nothing to kill those who have deemed them monsters because of their race >>>

[dcvina-claires]

please put emphasis on platonic soulmates in media. on unconditional love and loyalty based off of pure friendship. on heart wrenching breakups between best friends that change their lives. on knowing someone else better than they know themselves. on being a shining light for each other and finding happiness in the darkest places. on fighting side by side until the end, because a lover may visit your grave but your best friend will be in there with you

[polartss]

what murdaaaaaa

posting this Rin here bc a kind soul in my asks reminded me I hadn't :)