#Soo-won

[ilona-art]

The Elder Dragons of Tyria Series Sponsored by ArenaNet Support me on Patreon <3

[hak]

Yona, Hak, and Soo-Won in Akatsuki No Yona: Illustrations - 20th Anniversary Edition (2023) by Kusanagi Mizuho

[deqiha]

Soowon is a very complex and interesting character, and one of his traits I like a lot is his idealisation of Yuhon because it actually created a really big issue of Soowon.

Of course, Yuhon was his role model when he was a child, but what about 18 y.o. SW? Did he think of his father so much, to the point that he started questioning some of his words or actions? Or does he still see his father in a perfect light? I've got these questions because while SW is a shrewd and level-headed person, he's been shown to be biased for the first time (as far as I remember; it's been a while since I've read AkaYona) when Yona came to him to vouch for peace between Xing and Kouka.

When I first read this manga, I was a teenager who didn't have a habit of trying to go in depth with characters, but looking at these frames now, I can say that this scene is a big tell of how Soowon sees Yuhon. He is making excuses for his father's unnecessary cruelty, even though Soowon himself, I believe, would never do something like that.

Also, chapter 221 shows that Soowon, in fact, never questioned Yuhon's methods. His father's influence on him never lessened, even after all these years (perhaps because he's been surrounded by Yuhon's supporters since, idk, forever).

He is a king. He has to sacrifice his humanity for the sake of his kingdom - that's what he's been taught by his beloved father, whom he never questioned. ("Please, let me see the board objectively" - I almost fucking cried).

So sweet is the realization that he, in fact, can't do that. He is only a human, after all, someone who already sacrificed his childhood and his closest friends for Kouka people's well-being, and I can't imagine his heart being able to take another loss.

Soowon has basically abandoned himself. The persona he and the adults around him have raised in him is "king" (according to Yuhon's ideals). I believe Soowon isn't introspective; he has been running away from his feelings this whole time, and chapter 221 was the first time he's faced them. It's very fascinating to me: he is always ready to face the consequences of his decisions, but never to face his feelings.

P.S.: I'll be very glad to receive any corrections or different opinions, because, as I said before, it's been a while since I read AkaYona, and the moments mentioned in this posts are the ones I remember vividly.

[under-my-pillow]

HAK IS JUST INFURIATING!!

The recent chapter makes me cry but also makes me quite angry as well.

Again!

IT IS DONE LIKE THIS!

Hak admits it. Doing something for his own country scares him. He admits he can't make a choice like that, that is fine.

But then this? Why does the story between them always get spun in a way that only Soo-won is wrong! The narrative seems to emphasize that only Soo-won committed a grave crime and is facing the consequences, the punishment.

Hak still doesn't get the point! Why did things end up being this way! Once again it sounds like the burden is put all on Soo-won to correct things? Like Hak doesn't have anything to correct?!

He's not saying Maybe both of us could have made different choices... Maybe if I had tried a little better with my position...

Yes, I am aware the conversation started out with Soo-won saying if he went back in time he'd do the same, but isn't that true?

He asks if he went back in time would he really repeat the same, then what about you, Hak? Would you do the same? Everything Hak says from, I can't change the way you think to punishment to tweak things around to create a better outcome... Why is it only Soo-won's responsibility to create a better outcome?

He is not saying, yes, I am scared to choose so, let's change it together, let us make a choice so we don't have to choose among ourselves, grieve like this, and remain broken like this...

Us - We made mistakes, if we ever get a chance to go back let us make different choices.

He is not acknowledging that Soo-won's drastic choice was a result of generals like him being stupid and careless.

For as long as people dump everything on him, forget once, even if he goes back in time a thousand times, he can only keep making the same choices.

Like it's always Soo-won's guilt. But what about you? Why the hell aren't you guilty? Why isn't he talking about his responsibility, his mistakes, his regrets!

I swear to God every time there's a conversation between these three it's always two people taking some kind of holy ground above him... Like everything was only because of Soo-won. I am honestly sick of it and I just want to tape his mouth shut!

[lady-quen]

Cannot Hold It When It Thaws

"An angel falls to their hubris. It's a story as old as time. It's a story you already know, under countless names and through countless retellings. But knowing doesn't change anything; Soo-Won was more aware than most. And she knew that they would know she knew - and that scared her more than anything.

This is the day Jormag's heart freezes over."

[Pre-canon drabble, 2k words, Soo-Won and Jormag-centric. Angst. Exploration of Jormag's affection and corruption. No trigger warnings that I can think of, aside from a low-detail description of drowning. Art and writing is mine, Guild Wars 2 belongs to Arenanet. Dialogue inspired by Gen 3 Legendary Weapons. Divider graphic belongs to @soulbeastdragon. Keep in mind this is merely my interpretation of these characters :) Enjoy!]

"I want to make them permanent, Mother. I want to make them last."

"You know you can't do that." She smiled - in the sense that she radiated warmth, something that would perhaps best be described with a single word. Dragons could be infinitely complex, after all. "That is their beauty. They are fleeting. And so, their eyes are uniquely open."

"There is no beauty in passing. And yet.. it's gone. You unmade it. Why? Why did you close its eyes?"

Soo-Won could only linger in silence, dark eyes as unfathomable as the ocean. She knew well that the true depth of existence could not - and would not come easily to her child, not when they were so young. Perhaps, that was her curse. Either alone beneath the sea of stars, or surrounded by little things who only reasoned as little things could. Specks of light, innocent flickers of pure magic. Innocent, but destined.

The small dragon pawed at the ground, attempting to gather close the dust that once was a creature. A fruitless effort, with massive claws not fit to be this gentle. "It's still alive, you see? I can undo it."

"He. Not it. Please, let go, now. His soul found silence at last."

"No, no... It's not silent—you aren't listening closely."

Her tail softly brushed aside arms that had no real will to stop her, sweeping the last of the dust away. Finally allowing the once-mortal to scatter to the winds. The crystalline sparkles shimmered as they sailed the sky, a soul bidding its - his - last farewell.

"They are not... suited to our lifetimes, my child. Their minds cannot last, even if their bodies can be made to. Even if you make them pristine forever, they will not last. That is not their will."

"But I did not force them." The young dragon chirped, head turning in puzzlement as their already brilliant mind worked overtime behind sad blue eyes. "I asked it. I asked him. He agreed. But you unmade him. You took him from me."

"It's wrong, baby." She nuzzled her dragonling, wishing only for the depth of her love to soothe the turbulent soul. "Just because he agreed does not mean he knew what he agreed to. He can't have known. Us Dragons are of a different type of existence. Seeing things through our eyes, ah... well, I'm not surprised he..."

He broke, she wanted to say. But she couldn't. Not with the way they looked at her, resentment building behind those same orbs that once adored her.

But they finished it for her. "That he broke, Mother? How did you know? How COULD you have known? You didn't even ask him."

"My baby - they always break. It's inevitable -"

"You didn't ASK him like I DID!" Jormag boomed, breath coming in heavy pants from between jagged fangs. If a thing such as them could cry, she felt their eyes would be shedding waterfalls. "And you didn't ask now, either. If he wanted to live. No. You simply unmade him."

The matron of the ocean shrank away. Fear permeating an ancient body, an emotion she hadn't truly known until that moment. Even though she foresaw it, even though this fate was written in stars older than even herself, it was a different matter entirely to simply know and to experience it firsthand.

Her child. One of the only creatures she felt she truly, wholly, loved - and they lay destroyed in every timeline. The massive whorl of her body spasmed with terror.

The first thing that went was always their heart and there were no words she could possibly say to heal it. She ran a billion worlds through her mind and there was not one, not one life in which they understood.

Jormag simply continued to gaze into their mother's eyes, hitched, raspy breaths slowly evening out, like a stormy sea mellowed out into a calm. Before she knew it, they were as unshakable as a statue yet again, that same cold persona of reason they had since grown into.

"I see. So you've embraced fatalism." They commented, in an almost condescending manner.

Like they thought she wasn't even worth conversing with.

Like she was a relic who could not possibly understand. And yet, she did. She comprehended it all, every facet of it, and it was ever-so-slowly killing her. A deathless thing, watcher of every world that was and ever could be. And she was killing her child, too.

Soo-Won was glad mortals did not have to bear this burden. Yes, their minds were small, so very delicate - but they held a view of life no Dragon could hold. Something that only came with this same fragile grace, a flame burning bright before flickering out into the night. And so, she tried.

It would be futile. Again.

It was always futile, but she loved them and could not help trying anyway.

"The Cycle is life and death. Things come, and they go." The tip of her tail moved, a soft motion of rising and falling. "There are seasons in this world, my child, and it is our duty to guide their dance. Even the oldest ice thaws, and then comes spring. Can you not hear the birds sing..?"

"When the birds sing, the rot sets in."

The world was an enormity even she could not hold. Oceans would forever remain her home, but Tyria was so much more than endless waters. And so, in order to encompass such wealth of life, she bore that which granted her this name - this curse. Mother.

Lifegiver. As it all did in this world, their existence was spawned from water. As much as they rejected her, in the end, their domain would remain the very closest to hers. She could already feel the low growl building in their throat.

"You wallow in entropy and call it renewal." The scion hissed, stalking lightly back and forth like an ambush predator. "Cycles within cycles... grinding everything to dust. Does that make you happy?" The tip of their tail twitched, the only part of her child's body which so readily betrayed emotion. She thought back to the times they'd hide their tail under their form so that Primordus could not read their annoyance, and once again, she smiled sadly.

"It's not entropy." Though it may have seemed that way, it was the only way the world may continue. "It's balance."

She did not have the heart to answer the question.

"It's so delicate, but it repeats itself forever." The adolescent dragon mused. "Why? Why destroy something just to replace it? What about this carnage says balance to you?!"

Cycles upon cycles. She had no answer. Or, rather - she did, but not one that would ever soothe them. This glass-frail heart, so eager to chip, shatter and break.

"Why can't they.. stay forever with me...? I cannot hold this love of mine when it thaws. I cannot..."

"Jormag... love comes and goes. That is its beauty."

"There is NO beauty here! It's obscene."

She stilled. Every fin, every whisker. So too did her words still between her jaws, not even a sigh escaping their monumental clutches. The hand of her mind retreated when she felt Jormag's own slap it away. It felt cold.

It stung.

"All you had was the quiet void in which you dwelled. All those years in the abyss. Not even your domain is kind. Bring a mortal down there, and it ruins them in seconds and lingers while they scream. There is no sound as their lungs fill with water. The pressure crushes them. Warps them into shapes unfit for life." The scion spoke, in a droning, monotonous voice. A perfect façade for all the pain they kept - hidden just beneath the surface. Their voice, the only thing that could set it free, but continuously refused to do so.

"Down there, in your home, nobody would even hear them scream. But not in mine. In mine, I will be there. I will listen. Always. And I will talk. I will make sure they know they are never alone. Not even for a second."

"Jormag!" For once, she was forceful. Her own voice crashed into theirs like a tidal wave. "You are what will ruin them!"

Her offspring recoiled, betrayal briefly shining in cerulean orbs - no, there was more. A bubbling, seething hatred, an emotion of unparalleled intensity that ill befitted her gentle child. That explosive rage remained, coiling and writhing like a serpent, before it slowly warped into something more insidious. There was disdain, mockery even. "Oh..? Have I troubled you? Replace me, then."

"I cannot -"

"Cannot? So you WOULD have done so if you only could, hmm? I see. Am I broken in your eyes as well, Mother? And if so, since when?"

Since forever. As they all were. But she could not bear to let them know. Her imperfect children, spawned from a womb which failed them. But in the end, they would know that she knew, and that scared her more than anything.

"..Why can't you love me, Mother? Where did I go wrong? And when? Tell me the exact moment. So that I.. may make it immortal."

Their mind smirked at hers. Just for you, dearest Mother.

Stop.. please, just stop.

But they would not. No, they would not. For that was their destiny. Their great, terrible, self-wrought identity: and yet, she did not stop them. It was not hers to take away the choice they made - kept making - in every life. Her gut twisted, a familiar hurt burrowing through her vibrant body, her fraying spirit. The event horizon sneered at her distant gaze.

"You never loved any of us. It was all a deception so that we may fit your purpose. Enact your grand design which you forced upon us. But that is alright, for my voice is my own. I will speak my truth, not yours. And I will make this choice everyday. For as long as I breathe." Jormag continued, every word as sure as an avalanche falling. As a dagger caressing flesh before sinking in. "And I will ask a question you had never once asked any of us."

"Is this what you want?"

Their words were loud. Her thoughts were quiet. But she already knew. Oh, from the beginning of time, she knew.

"...And they will answer: Yes. Oh, yes. I do."

The scion turned, and she felt it like a wound. The splinter of ice that burrowed into her soul, never to leave. The final farewell from their own bleeding, shattered heart. Her only keepsake of Jormag, the Kind, who would become everything but.

White wings opened, and each feather sang like a winter wind. "Goodbye, Mother." The title sounded like poison in their mouth. "As always, you've left me nothing to mourn."

They were not the first to leave, but it hurt all the same knowing that the home they shared was home no longer. If a thing such as her could cry, her eyes would be shedding waterfalls.

You let this happen. Never forget that.

I won't, dear child. She could only watch as they departed. She could only ever watch, after all.

I will remember for as long as I breathe. For as long as my thoughts last. For as long as my mind keeps its vigil over this world. She felt her soul quiver, an earthquake at the bed of the seas.

And I will sing your name in my dreams, for as long as my voice is still my own.

[only4soo-won]

Y'all look at him...look at THE REAL SOO-WON WHO'S JUMPING INTO A DEATH PIT TO SAVE HIS BELOVEDS W/O EVEN A SEC THOUGHT!! THAT'S HIM, NOT HOLDING BACK ANYMORE

[composeregg]

Soo-Won and Yona's beliefs are aligned, even in the chalice

On their belief in gods, what a divine blessing means when those gods have shown what their care is like, and whether sacrificing yourself for that is worth it when the future is still yours to forge

Soo-Won here LOUDLY declares that he wants not the power of the gods to protect Kouka kingdom, but the strength of his people. Right as he becomes king, he forsakes any divine powers for his own might.

He says he cast Hak and Yona aside to forge a strong future for Kouka, but we can see in the pages how much it hurts him to do so, even if he refuses to acknowledge it. Just pages before those two, he thinks "on days like that, I was just a little uncertain" because of how much he cared for him.

In chapter 221, we have that stunning moment where Soo-Won realizes that he can no longer discard the ones he loves. Hak may be dead, and the people Yona cares for (the dragon warriors he was starting to care for) could be gone. But he can no longer discard those emotions. Especially not as Hak delivers the Senjuso and even in that moment, before taking it, it is as if all the pain has gone away.

Yona REFUSES to abide by the gods' will. Why do the gods deserve respect, if this is the pain they inflict, if they are hurting the ones she loves? She is defying the will of gods because the gods have not actually HELPED

What has their protection and divine blessing DONE for people?

Allowed the countless generations of their own blood to suffer, because they do not care about humans?

Allowed Koukan citizens to suffer at the hands of rulers? Kan Soo-Jin would rather force all men to serve in the army and leave the villages without a proper workforce because of his greed. Lee Guen-Tae wanted to fight, and yet left Awa in the hands of Yang Kum-Ji, and did nothing about the slave trade in his own lands. An Joon-Gi would rather wait and do nothing while his people fell to drugs until his own daughter stepped up to take matters into his own hands.

King Il was not a good king. He did not take care of his people. But he was not the only incompetent or malicious ruler within these tribes of Kouka. The blame also falls on the leaders of each tribe. Il did not have the FORCE to make them take care of their own people.

And the dragon gods did nothing for their supposed divinely blessed land.

The three dragon gods issuing these demands are making the CHOICE to punish Yona for refusing to ascend to the heavens with them. It is not that Yona is being given a rational, immutable two options of "ascend to the heavens or your country will suffer." What is happening is that the dragon gods are making the choice to threaten her, again and again. To manipulate her by taking away everything she loves, until she gives up and joins them.

Like king Il, the dragon gods do not want Yona to be able to make her own choices. They do not respect the choices she has made, not anymore.

Only Ouryuu is giving her that respect, asking again if this is what she wants. Ouryuu, who spent two thousand years within Zeno, who watched from up close as Yona struggled and fought with her own two hands to choose her path.

Is this what Soo-Won would want?

Would he truly want Yona to martyr herself at the whims of these dragon gods, out of the belief that humanity cannot be strong on their own?

Would he want his chosen successor to disappear in a bid to protect everyone, when she could instead grasp this future in her own two hands? Hand in hand with everyone? When they could work together to see the future they want for Kouka, instead of leaving it to the will of gods?

The dragon gods are being selfish.

Yona does not have to give in to selfish demands that would make her forsake the agency she has spent the entire manga fighting to claim, simply because they threaten the country.

And that isn't the world Soo-Won believes in.

[akaneenaka33]

I HAVE NEVER LOVED SHIN-AH MORE. LISTEN. IM NOT A SOO-WON HATER OR ANYTHING BUT LIKE. LIKE. OH MY GOD. I LOVE HIM MY SWEET LITTLE ANGRY BLUE DRAGON BABY COME BACK ALREADY PLEASE-

That being said the chapter. Hak. He looks so devastated. He looks so resigned, so broken-

KUSA I CANT WAIT ANOTHER MONTH GIVE THEM BaCK ALREADY RAAAAAAAAAAAAH-

[vinetooth-prime]

A scene from a roleplay in which my friend vented her HTCM trauma a very angry and void-corrupted e-ghost takes the form of every Elder Dragon by hijacking several hologram rigs.

Descending from the top of the swirling veil of shadows swims the holographic voidform of Soo-Won; her movements elegant, visage resplendent, even in this hardlight-copy of a corrupted form. Still, these are the behaviors of a practiced ocean predator, circling the roof like a shark around wounded prey. Only this time, something is wrong. In each of the dragon's hands, she clutches the glitch-corrupted swords of Azumi Maeda scaled up to befit a dragon to wield. "W̵̬̜̓͆͋e spě̷̪̦̒͊ak ̵͎̔̅̕ with ̵͎̔̅̕one vǫ̷͎͍͝i̷̙̍ce. This ̵͎̔̅̕ reality will ȩ̵̞̽́̉nd. You can̴͔͛̒͊n̶̼̼̍͌́͜ǫ̶̘̤́͐t stop ̴̙̉ï̶̖̺͜t."

[soo-won]

Pair of Suwons I drew yesterday. I miss him. kinda.

[ilona-art]

A new series of Illustrations I'm planning to create depicting all the Elder Dragons from Guild Wars 2. So far I've done Mordremoth and Soo-Won. :D Sponsored by ArenaNet

[bug-abortion]

Old ass doodle of Soo-Won next to @dairyfreenugget 's Hollow design

[deqiha]

Yona fans who go like "I will never forgive Soowon" are so silly in my eyes, tbh, I'd even say they're a bit cringe. Acting as if Soowon committed a crime against them personally (I say we give him a prize for getting rid of a shitty king).

I'm sorry for Yona and Hak, but I am even more sorry for Kouka's people who had had King Il as their ruler.

[under-my-pillow]

It is official - Yona is a Hypocrite!

A country swallowed in darkness, ravaged by endless wars and suffering - This was Yona's choice when she was asked to choose.

I would understand if none of these situations were of her own making. But what we are seeing is a sixteen year old brat who is not able to grasp the gravity of her identity or her actions and is going around immaturely throwing the fates of her country's people across generations to a complete toss.

I don't think many people and Yona herself comprehends what it means for Kouka Kingdom to be swallowed in darkness.

Imagine suddenly being engulfed by night, suddenly losing family & friends to sudden wars, and suddenly scrambling for survival because people will soon suddenly find out that they have nothing to eat (I guess Agriculture 101 was not part of the text books she read in Soo-won's office)— and all this because a sixteen year old, somewhere, screwed up her relationship with her ex-best friends.

Its like seeing a two-year old playing with a nuclear detonator.

And after reading the newest chapter. Do you know what Yona of a 100 chapters ago looks like? A solid hypocrite.

The next time she has the nerve to open her mouth to Soo-won posing with a moral high ground, missy better look herself in the mirror first.

That aside, what has become more annoying than her ability to overestimate herself is that accountability is completely lost on her. After choosing to damn the entire country, she wants to fly down, head first into the darkness and do what?

The absolute hypocrisy in this panel!

[swordsmithofgondolin]

[only4soo-won]

Idk if it's intentional or not but I found it interesting how he started with "Lady" Lily to "Miss" Lily & now only "Lily"