#Soo-won

[under-my-pillow]

This is exactly what I was thinking.

Soo-won just seems to have made a reasonable choice, seeing as everyone in the story now simply can't go without looking up to her even for the stupidest reasons.

In the end if he dies, the living will have to decide- Soo-won's idea of mentioning a successor is probably to avoid even the slightest chance of infighting among the tribes.

Of course, we all know that if Yona rises to the throne, everyone will worship her, but Soo-won isn't a mind reader, so naming a successor in advance is a good move to stabilize everyone.

If Yona wants to call him selfish or disgusted because he tried to protect the current status quo of the people, then she will have to take a good long look at herself.

Ever since Su-Won made the decision to make Yona the queen and Yona heard of it from Hak instead of him, I've been quite curious about what they'll say to one another when they finally meet face to face again. I don't know, I feel like that encounter just going to be different from all the others, intense. Because both have acknowledged her as his equal, just not directly to one another yet.

First there’s a political side. Whether Yona wants the throne, whether Su-Won really wants to pass it down. There is also the emotional side.

Yona remained calm (though disgusted) when she commented that Su-Won was selfish, but that was still from a distance. Which is why I can't shake the thought that Yona could be absolutely livid if Su-Won actually manages to enter the chalice (especially if it's with some intention to "save" Yona and "sacrifice" himself like some fear).

If it happens, can we get a scene where she slaps his face? Tells him to snap the fuck out of it? Stop making all these selfish decisions for her? To not put her on a pedestal and be so suicidal all of a sudden? That she's not a damsel in distress who needs saving, that she'll find a way to make the dragon gods to understand? Because such a scene will actually be a good subversion of expectations. Kusanagi has done it before, so this would be a great opportunity.

I mean Yona's already said it in her mind. "Don't you dare die as you please. Rely on those around you." She even said it to Hyu-ri. She just has to actually say those words to Su-Won himself.

Yona did disappoint me in the recent chapter because she became quite literally a damsel in distress (how else are we supposed to describe her in that scene), but a hypothetical scene like this would make up for it. It would return her agency. And honestly I've been dying to see a scene where Yona just lets all the resentment out instead of constantly suppressing it for the country or because she wants to be the better person. The dragon gods said she was also selfish, so let's see that side show a bit more.

[ilona-art]

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

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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

[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.

[matcha-chai-latte]

My reasons why I think Soo-won is not going to die:

1. He is not an ordinary person, I have a feeling he’s somehow connected to the prophecy.

2. The parallel between him and Zeno: Soo-won wants to live but is dying and Zeno wants to die but is immortal. It is the main paradox of the story and a tragic unfairness that has to be solved. As Zeno will probably die at the end, I don’t see Soo-won dying as well, it would make no sense from the point of their parallel.

3. The theme of revenge and forgiveness in the narrative (not exactly a reason but my opinion).

The cycle of revenge is a major topic of the story. And Yona does not want to take revenge on Soo-won. Neither does Hak, at least not anymore. Which means that they partially accept and forgive him. Even though I think nothing will be like it was, I still expect a talk between the three of them to clarify everything and put an end to past omissions.

Throughout the story it was shown how the offended party killed their offenders or avenged their loved ones to restore “justice”. And it was also emphasised that the death of their “offenders” never brought them happiness, but sorrow, more revenge and more deaths.

So what I’m trying to say here is that I don’t think that the death of Soo-won, the offender of Yona and Hak, and their further life without him is something that would appropriately close the topic of revenge once and for all, and is not what the author would like to convey to us. After all, if he dies, any revenge is unnecessary and simply impossible, there can be no talk of any “forgiveness” or any kind of further relations if he dies. Then what is the point of Yona and Hak changing their opinion about Soo-won, what is the point of them trying to understand him if he ends up dying? And what is the point of Soo-won reconsidering his own beliefs? As for me, the most mature and profound ending would be showing us how their future lives and relationships would develop if he remained alive.

In addition, after they had families and children, how would the relationships and destinies of their children develop, how would they raise them? Because this whole situation would really be a mirror of the stories of Il with Kashi and Yuhon with Yong-hi. All of them made the wrong choices and raised their children incorrectly, and this resulted in terrible consequences for them and broken destinies for their own children.

This is why I think that the three of them living on and trying to build a new kind of relationship without their past grudges would be the best ending.

4. Also I’m curious about the formation of the relationship between him and Lili. It was highlighted and built-up for a reason, as nothing in this manga happens without a cause, so I guess it will reappear again. And I’m not talking about romance, could also be platonic, but I think it’s quite relevant. But if Soo-won dies at the end, then what was the reason for it?

5. Many other unresolved conversations and mysteries concerning Soo-won. Plus, building him up as such a tragic character to kill him off would be beyond cruel. We already have Zeno to cry about.

[stardvstbby]

the way Kusanagi has been able to take Hiryuu castle & transform our perspective of it without spending hardly any time there before now is incredible. it used to be this place of comfort, of happiness and security especially for Yona, but as we learn more about the corrupt government and our perception of King Il changes to become more ambiguous and obscure, our view of the castle changes too. by the time the Happy Hungry Bunch are there it has this enclosed, confining feel, and there’s a sense of discomfort as Yona realizes her safe place in childhood is now a place of danger for her. the dragons even talk about how safe they feel and how that’s worrisome because they’re technically in enemy territory. it makes a sense of dissonance, creating a creepiness that attaches to the castle walls that seems to close in on Yona, keeping her separated from her loved ones. it’s a great contrast/parallel to Yona’s own change over the series and how she’s growing further from the naive princess who once lived in that castle

[thoughtfulstudentsalad]

This would have turned Soo-won into a boring bad character who eats babies on breakfast.

Not really. It's not like he would enjoy what he's doing. He would realize that he's gone too far and seek to fix it.

It would be nice if characters from this story were allowed to be outsmarted.

I agree.

I think the dragons gods are the last enemies.

I wonder. What if Hiryuu is responsible for parts of the problem?

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I actually wish war between Xing and Kouka had happened. I feel like that would have been very interesting route to take the manga... Kouren becoming basically a Yona that sought out and succeeded at revenge, Su-Won really just becoming a ruthless piece of shit yet now realizing that his father's methods are only making things worse for Kouka.

And then seeing Yona fail to create peace for a while, wonder if she really is just incompetent at diplomacy like her father, and have a lot more casualties in the series until she finally convinces it somehow to stop.

And THEN while Kouka is weakened from Xing, the Kai Empire strikes with even more mayhem. I think that would have been great.

I'm sorry but the whole Kuelbo kidnapping Yona arc was totally unnecessary to me. How many kidnapping arcs do we need here?

It had no other purpose but to make Kye-sook join hands with Hak and the dragons, but that could have been done without it. Drama with a civil war + Kai actually invading + trying to end the war with Xing just seems genius to me.

[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

[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.

[the-chikyuu-times]

[under-my-pillow]

Yona, selfish or cruel?

Is it just about Zeno? This far into the story, many might not actually remember or care, but the first person I remembered when reading this was not Zeno, but Ao, the former Seiryuu.

Ao breaks down when Shin-ah asks if he can make friends if he doesn't use the power of Seiryuu. Why? Because he was once that lonely child who wanted friends! He remained lonely, unwanted, detested and feared. The villagers never wanted him to be born, and they didn't care that he died.

He loathed his powers, he loathed himself till the day he died. How chillingly cruel is it for someone to live like that? How cruel is it to live like a curse, having their soul and will crushed every day they lived?

When I go back to read and watch this scene after the recent chapters, it has a whole new intensity.

It also brings the question, who is Ao to Yona? He was a Seiryuu too, but did he mean anything to her? What does his suffering mean to her? Does she even remember him? Has she suffered even fraction of the pain he has suffered? Where was she when he was suffering?

So, by what right did Yona decide his fate and of others so willy-nilly? In what confidence does she utter the words - 'I will come for them as many times it takes." - She knows very well, that she doesn't. So, who exactly is 'them'? Well, we know who.

But then doesn't that essentially mean that the lives of all the deceased dragon warriors were indeed without meaning. Let alone to mean something, she doesn't even remember them - So, their whole lives, what exactly did they live for?

Who was there to tell Ao, he was not cursed? Who was there to love Ao? When he lay stiff in the dark, alone in some rainy ditch, paralyzed, suffering from the backlash of his own powers, what was going through his head? Was he praying he simply died there instead?

Is this something Yona has considered? No matter what she does going forward, is this really something she can compensate for? Can she really undo all that pain & suffering?

It's not just Zeno's salvation. Can the sorrow of generations worth two-thousand years simply be resolved in one moment?

Yona condemns the dragon gods, but will she condemn herself too? The dragon gods out of their love for Hiryuu started a point of misfortune and ironically, Yona, his reincarnation triggered this chain reaction of misery out of her love for the dragon warriors.

Will she recognize what an unforgivable act she has committed and admit to it?

Nevertheless, as things stand, two things are very clear. If she was being selfish, her arrogance is beyond that of the dragon gods, and if she was being ignorant & naïve, she has outdone Yu-hon, and every other character in cruelty.

He may only barely qualify as a minor character, but I still can't forget Ao.