#yuan shao

[ballpitbee]

Inbetween work I'm set on drawin all my fav DW guys! (I have… a lot)

Here are some of em >83

[exhalcyon]

Barbie meme but twice bc things never change for childhood friends that commit war crimes together

[mogu359]

真・三國無双８

袁紹軍の過去フォト2019 袁紹・張郃・甄姫 まとめ１

[simayeeet]

idk he is kinda jeb bush but warlord

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

-if you died, i'd stand at your grave and weep-

[extract: Cao Cao thinks about his best friend, Yuan Shao. this takes place during Dong Zhuo's reign ]

Just thinking about his childhood friend was enough to give Cao Cao heartburn. Like eating too much honey. Cheerful, garrulous Yuan Benchu. Generous with his smiles and coin. Always the head and never the tail, just like his namesake. Benchu expected to be liked by everyone, and so he liked everyone in return. Unlike most children born to wealthy and prestigious families, he was never bossy or whiny, a far cry from his unfortunate half-brother, Gonglu. Benchu wore his privilege comfortably, like a well-tailored coat. It accentuated his best features and attenuated the flaws. 

Cao Cao could still clearly picture him as a little boy, leading his entourage of ox-horns who were just grateful to be in his presence. Benchu would ask them, “What shall we do today, lads?” and then pick the most popular activity. If there were a tie, he’d say, “Well, we have time to do both!” and so everyone was kept happy. 

When that reckless fool fled to Ji Province, Cao Cao had alternated between being worried sick and stewing in resentment at being left alone in Luoyang, toiling under the thumb of a usurper and struggling to keep what was left of the gutted administration running. And don’t even get him started on the night He Jin lost his head! One minute, they were shoulder-to-shoulder inside the burning palace. The next minute, Yuan Benchu vanished into the smoke, and no one could tell Cao Cao where he had gone. He only discovered afterwards that Benchu had been gallivanting through the woods, searching for the lost Emperor and hunting down eunuchs. It was a damn miracle his horse hadn’t thrown him and broken his neck in the pitch black. On the other hand, Cao Cao had spent the entire night running around Luoyang, pacifying the hysterical populace and putting out fires—the same fire Yuan Benchu started, he might add, because that man was just so good at planning under duress... 

When Benchu returned the next morning, accompanied by Dong Zhongying and the boy Emperor, Cao Cao--who was still in his bloodstained armour, reeking of smoke and death—cheered for him as loudly as everyone else. After that, he went home and collapsed face-down on the bed for six hours.

That might have been the end of it, but he awoke to long shadows on the wall and Benchu lounging at his desk, snooping through his diary.

"You do snore a lot," said his best friend with a grin.

Cao Cao, who had not felt this terrible since his thirtieth birthday where he discovered he could not, in fact, keep drinking like he was still nineteen, managed some sort of garbled reply.

Yuan Benchu wrinkled his handsome nose at him. "You look like absolute shit. Go back to sleep."

"No, I have...we...we're late for court!"

"Palace's burned." Benchu answered. "Also, today is the fourth day of the month."

"B-burned?"

"No court!" Yuan Benchu said emphatically, pushing Cao Cao back down onto the bed. "Sleep!"

"What do you mean burned--" And then the events of last night came rushing back to him. "Oh, fuck." "Yes, that about sums it up..." "The warlord! How many--?"

"Look, am I going to have to sit on you?"

"How many soldiers did he bring? Tell me!"

Yuan Benchu, always the compromiser, finally allowed him to sit up, but he remained standing firmly in front of the bed to stop him from leaving. "I assume you're talking about General Dong Zhongying. He brought six thousand men."

"Six thousand." Cao Cao breathed. His head was pounding and his gut was twisting into sick knots. "He Jin, what have you done?" The two of them sat there in silence for a moment, listening to the birds twittering their evening song.

"Well, I can see you're not going back to sleep now." Benchu said at length. He stuck his head outside the bedroom door and bellowed "fetch Lord Cao his dinner and a bath! Quickly now!"

And then he was back at his side, prodding at Cao Cao until he shuffled over to let him sit on the bed.

"Cao Mengde, the palace is still standing, thanks to you. His Royal Highness is alive and well. Luoyang is right where it should be. The Han is not going to fall tomorrow, or even next week, so you can stop making that face at me."

Cao Cao scowled at him half-heartedly. Yuan Benchu took his arm in an iron grip, and leaned in so close Cao Cao could feel his breath on his cheek.

"I'm not a liar, Mengde. I'll tell you this, and I mean every word. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, but this is not the end. The dynasty will not fall. Not while Yuan Shao and Cao Cao still walk this earth. Do you hear me?"

And then his best friend smiled, and Cao Cao, who still had a best friend at this point, smiled back and believed him. God, did he wish to believe him. To stand by his side forever. But there would always be another fire, and Cao Cao would be the one to put it out, and Yuan Benchu would simply disappear again.

======= notes

Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were childhood friends. Thinking about this gave me a lot of Thoughts. Feelings, even.

Yuan Shao is portrayed pretty negatively basically everywhere (totally deserved it) but I wanted to explore his positive leadership qualities as well.

Heads and tails— this is a double-pun. “Benchu” is Yuan Shao’s courtesy name and both words can be translated as “first”. This is also a subtle dig at his character. It’s based on the idiom “better to be the phoenix’s tail than the chicken’s head” i.e. it's better to be the worst of the talented, than the best of mediocrities. pretty self explanatory.  

 ox-horn—children’s hairstyle consisting of two buns on either side of the head.

court dates--its 2 am and i don't know when courts were held. will correct this later.

Dong Zhuo only brought 3000 soldiers to the capital, but he secretly marched them out at night and brought them back in the morning to make it look like he had more men. He was a really smart guy irl.

the ending is just FULL of irony. the palace will be razed, the emperor killed, the capital luoyang moved to chang'an, and after Cao Cao dies, his son will overthrow the han dynasty.

[discourseofthethreekingdoms]

Chapter 3, Fire and Blood. @sunfin3k and @dongzhou3kingdoms joined by @catigereptile to discuss chapter 3 of the novel: He Jin’s clash with the eunuchs, flight of princes and the arrival of the corrupt general Dong Zhuo, finding a vacuum of power amidst the fire and chaos. We say hello to one of the great warriors in Lu Bu, great of strength but perhaps not in filial loyalty. 

We worked on the sound so we are hoping for a more even pitch. Let us know if that worked for you. Transcript and can be seen on youtube

Timings: 

He Jin vs Eunuchs: 02:33

Dong Zhuo: 27:15

Han Princes: 37:36

Ding Yuan vs Lu Bu: 44:39

End phase: 59:30

Artwork by Zhaolie

Music is Sao Meo Orchestral Mix by Doug Maxwell/Zac Zinger

[the-archlich]

Yuan Shao and his sons (+ Gao Gan), and also Yuan Shu, are widely. known. Were there any other important Yuans during the 3 Kingdoms period?

Here's the simplest way I can explain the Yuan family.

The common ancestor is Yuan Tang, grandfather of the Sanping warlords. The family was already powerful when he came of age, and they were known for their scholarship. He followed the family tradition, was admired for his good Confucian virtues, and encouraged the use of local histories to advocate for proper conduct.

During Emperor Shun's time, he became the director of the Secretariat and was closely affiliated with the Grand General Liang Shang. He remained closely associated with the Liang regime throughout the tenure of Liang Ji and engaged in some petty abuses of power. Eventually he was made one of the Nine Ministers and a marquis. Under Emperor Huan he served in all three offices of the Excellencies and left office due to unfavorable portents in 153. He passed away not long after that.

Yuan Tang had twelve sons but we really only need to note three in particular. The eldest surviving son was Cheng, who inherited the family estate. He was a trusted adviser to the dictatorial regent Liang Ji. He died relatively young and without an heir, so the family estate passed to his younger brother Yuan Feng.

Yuan Feng was widely respected as a generous and honorable man. He was liked by both the Liang and eunuch factions, so he prospered under both. He seems to have had some military pretentions. Although he became one of the Nine Ministers in 168, he was transferred to be one of the commanders of the Northern Army. In 178 he was made one of the Excellencies, but the next year he resigned to serve as Bearer of the Gilded Mace, head of Luoyang's police. He died not long after this.

Feng had three sons but we don't need to say much about them. The eldest was Ji, who inherited his estate. He doesn't appear to have been as ambitious as his younger brothers but presumably participated in their schemes. He became one of the Nine Ministers under Dong Zhuo in 190 but was then executed along with most of the family when his brothers revolted.

Feng's second son, by a concubine, was Shao. He was posthumously adopted to Cheng to maintain his lineage. Shu was Feng's youngest son. All of the Yuans you're thinking of are from this branch of the family.

The last of this second generation is Yuan Wei, a younger sibling of Cheng and Feng. He is probably the most important member of the family (at this specific point) people don't generally know about. Along with his brothers he prospered under the Liang and eunuch regimes. He eventually became one of the Nine Ministers and, in 172, Excellency of Works. He stepped down from this position for several years, serving as one of the Nine Ministers again, and then returned to being Excellency of Works in 182. By 189 he was also given the (at that point entirely honorary) position General of the Rear. Upon the death of Emperor Ling, he was made Grand Tutor to Liu Bian. Though theoretically very powerful, Yuan Wei does not appear to have exerted a strong influence. Instead he acted to rubber stamp the activities of He Jin and Dong Zhuo. Nevertheless, when his nephews revolted against Dong Zhuo, Wei was killed along with the rest of his family in Luoyang.

We also know of two in the third generation who are particularly noteworthy. Their fathers are unspecified siblings of Cheng, Feng, and Wei. Yuan Yi is described as a cousin of Shao and Shu and was evidently admired by Cao Cao. He served as the magistrate of Chang'an but was made head of Shanyang by Dong Zhuo in 190. Yi joined his cousins in revolting against Dong Zhuo and might have expected to lead the Suanzao camp. When the family split, he sided with Shao. In 193 he led troops to secure Yang province against Shu but was defeated. He was killed in a mutiny after that. Aside from Yuan Wei, he's probably the other most important relative who gets looked over.

Yuan Yin was another cousin, but he sided with Shu. Of note he was made head of Danyang in 195 but was driven out by Sun Ce in 197. Following Shu's death in 199 he led the family to seek shelter with Liu Xun and seems to have retired after that.

[memoriesofachicken]

Yuan Shao giving a rousing speech before the Battle of Hulao Gate in one of his DLC outfits in Dynasty Warriors 8.

[maggiecheungs]

[magicalgirloftheday]

✧・ﾟ:*Today’s magical girl of the afternoon is: Yuan Shao from CrossMagic!✧・ﾟ:*

[warriorface360]

That one Stage in WO3U be like:

[ballpitbee]

'Im jealous of you, Master Yuan Shao! Just being a noble, so noble, brings you praise and support from all around!'

'No need for jealousy. You want to be praised? Then simply become a noble and distinguished individual… like me'

[exhalcyon]

Always thinking about how Cao Cao wanting to hang out with Yuan Shao is canon (even if it’s mainly to troll him 😂)

The audio is from the following Basement Yard tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8roHGSY/

[mogu359]

真・三國無双８

袁紹軍の過去フォト2019 袁紹・張郃

[simayeeet]

every time i see that vine i think of them

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

how to show people are good friends: "hi, i heard you passed out so i stopped by your house to ask about you."

how to show people are BEST friends: “whats up you ugly fucker. i let myself into your bedroom and quietly watched over you while you slept. no, i wasn’t bored i read your diary. you're not even mad about it because there's nothing in there i don't already know. are you hungry? doesn’t matter, because i got you food and you’re gonna eat it. i feel bad about abandoning you last night to chase after my own glory. i'm not leaving until i see you smile. maybe that would make things better. i'll be there next time, i swear. please give me another chance. it feels like the world is ending and i don't understand anything but i need to put on a brave face, because everyone thinks i am this great leader. i need you to believe in me because you're the smartest person i know, and if you think something is true, then it must be so."