#they don't have a whole ass nation that they're loyal to. like. can you do a colonialisation if there's just two of you?

[konfizry]

the thing is. the writers did include dialog of Ganondorf calling rawru out for descending from the heavens and taking over hyrule. thus basically undermining his legitimacy as king

like. it's in the game. is the issue handled well? no. after all it is the Evil Guy From The Desert Whom No One Should Side With spouting the anticolonialist rhetoric. like yeah that definitely sucks but. hey at least the talking point exists in canon.

no like, hey someone actually told a king of hyrule to his face that he had no business ruling anything and like. c'mon it's just too good I can't just leave it there

and like for that reason I'd be hard pressed to fault anyone for seeing rawru as a Nasty Self-Important Colonizer Who Made Hyrule Bad. Does the game actually want you to perceive him that way? probably not, you're supposed to side with him, definitely. butttttt what if I don't want to, yknow. what if I want to despise him a little. as a treat.

and like. Ganondorf is probably definitely trying to weaponize resentment against the Zonai rule to further his own destructive, self-obsessed agenda for sure. aaaannd once again I sure would have enjoyed it if characters that aren't evil got to question rawru's legitimacy butttt it's a Zelda game so nope nope nope all sages from every race agree with and defer to king rawru because they're good boys and girls nothing to see here :)

shit the more I think abt this the more mad I become whew good thing zelder is abolishing the monarchy right

[silvershadow1711]

As much as I hate Takumi, this is exactly why I love early game/Conquest Takumi: he's one of the only people in all of Hoshido to acknowledge that messiness, to say "Hey, maybe this person who's lived in an enemy nation for (probably) as long as I've been alive isn't a benevolent force of good who's going to drop all their previous alligences just because we say they were born here." And he's proven so very right in Conquest.

Honestly, this is why Conquest, despite its many, many, MANY flaws, is my favorite game narratively- because it's the only game that even pays lip service to the idea of letting Corrin have messy feelings. Look at Corrin's supports with Azura:

In Conquest, it has them killing an assasain in self defense and dealing with the guilt of having been an (unwitting) instrument of death and destruction for countless people. While in Birthright, it's them convincing Azura that they were happy in Nohr. Not so happy as to feel any guilt about the massacres they're leading (I will never get over the Macarath chapter- that killed any and all sympathy I had for Birthright!Corrin), but happy enough to give a weak defense of the royal siblings.

Conquest has Corrin overwhelmed with guilt for the whole game, finally seeing that the thing they trained for all their life is messy and horrifying and has a very human cost. Whereas Birthright plays like your standard FE game; there's no need to feel bad about the countless enemy soldiers you're mowing down, because they're Bad and you're Good, and therefore your actions are morally just. Sure you can feel bad about the royal siblings because they're named characters, and maybe the Garou because that was an actual genocide (and it was actually all Iago's fault because we can't have our morally just characters doing anything like that of their own volition, now can we?), but the border gaurds, the castle guards? Maybe don't be born in an evil country next time, losers.

And that's where canon story telling falls apart, because due to the nature of the games, Corrin can't have strong feelings. They have to love the family that raised them all their lives an equal amount as the strangers they just learned existed a few days ago. They have to be equally loyal to the kingdom they thought they were born to and the kongdom they were trained for years to see as their enemy. Thankfully we have fanfiction to fix this (god knows I did not let Nerr warm up to the Hoshidans until the ass-end of all three routes of TRNT; forgive me for beliving that maybe your should care a little more about the people you've known and loved all your life than literal strangers. I'm just old fashioned that way)

one of the things i really like about corrin vs every other fe lord is there's so many more dimensions to her royalty status. (talking mostly about f!corrin here for YRMR reasons but most of this works for any corrin)

like a certian somebody else i really don't like lords/royalty in the series, lol. most of it's petty! i'm a card carrying villain stan, i think most fe lords are boring as hell - i dislike how their popularity always overshadows criminally underloved and complex characters, and i cannot stand the whole 'divine/blood right' trope in fiction because it undoes the messaging of 90% of those works.

so the best part of fates (and yeah, gunter/revelation) was the game actually grappling with that and asking some really hard questions. not to bring in theory but she's easily more ""the Other"" than the other generic FE dude lords from the generic good nation.

for example - what if she's got some screws loose from the kidnapping/mind wipes? (that was hella relatable writing YRMR.)

what's the dragon side that only comes out under extreme emotional duress like? is she fearful/resentful against a part of herself? mulishly grateful it exists as a survival tool as she's a bargaining chip against both nations? secretly spiteful? this isn't exactly the kind of mentality most "heroes" are even allowed to have in writing - it's very survivalistic in nature.

how does she feel about being used as said bargaining chip even with the people who she loves? etc.

even aesthetically she's not quite human. slit eyes, fangs, a certian cool sharpness to her features when she's drawn on-brand.

(and because y'all knew this was coming) having her as a direct foil to gunter - if you like that as the game's focus - how the hell does somebody who have every reason to hate royalty feel about her? raising her? loving her? while he's still hating her vis-a-vis the possession?

she's naive as hell but there's moments of sharp do-or-die moments where she's thrust into impossible situations and the game doesn't make it easy for her. even revelation (arguably the "taking the easy way out of the two choices" route) gives one hell of an emotional punch when it comes to the above. in some weird, weird ways i ironically feel like her complex thoughts about royalty and being used would resonate deeply with gunter and vice-versa, lending a pretty neat plot-emotional "oomph" to their dynamic.

i like messiness a lot and boy corrin has a hell of a lot more messiness than most FE lords.

[callmekittyc]

Chiang Mai Life

Have you ever seen the commercial or ad or whatever that says "Tiny keyboard, Big headache"? Well let me just say that's how i feel about typing these blog posts from my phone. We all know I'm more of a novelist... so that is why I have been slacking. Also I'm on vacation, and this somehow feels a bit like work. So this is for all 14 of my loyal followers, you're welcome. Let me give you an update on things:

1. Holy temples! Chiang Rai is the bees knees!! If you want to see some of the most bizarre, yet detailed oriented, and slightly questionable artwork I highly recommend the White Temple and the Baandam Museum (aka the Black House). Let me break them down for you and ed-u-ma-cate you.

         A. The White Temple: My thoughts, "Do I really want to go to another temple? There's going to be so many tourists... ugh. Guess I'll go." Please excuse my American Millennial slang when I say OMFG! THAT SHIT WAS DOPE AF! Seriously. The amount of time and detail that's put into this is crazy. So this temple got started in 1997 by some master artist that has an odd obsession with all things pop culture and politically questionable. It is a 90 year work in progress! As in, most people reading this will be dead when it's completed. (Sorry for the bluntness) But yea you can see for yourself what I mean by artistically gifted. I only wish they would have allowed me to take pictures of the murals that line the insides of this "sacred place".  Inside you'll not only find a wax figure of Buddha, but hidden gems like Pikachu, Hello Kitty, and even, the attractive Keanu Reeves. If you go to any temple at all, it should be this one because the artwork speaks for itself. I'm slightly disappointed I only paid 2 cents to get in.

         B. The Baandam Museum is truly one of the most extensive collection of animal bones I've ever seen. "Baan" means house, while "dam" translates to black so it literally translates to Black House. This was by far my favorite "museum" I've ever been to. It probably would seem creepy to most, but the artist lines the walls of 43 structures with animal bones, skulls, skins, and the most detailed woodworking I've ever seen. Bones are assembled in an almost ritualistic way. It's beautiful.

2. While the title of this post is "Chiang Mai Life", Chiang Rai is where I had my self- actualization moment. I had some seriously deep thoughts in the mountains of Chiang Rai that really has changed my perspective on quite a few things. I also experienced the most beautiful thing in my life. I'm not kidding. I was speechless for the first time. I think everyone has at least one of those moments in their life where the world quite literally stops for you. All is quiet. And you can't think of anything more beautiful. Maybe it's holding a child you just gave birth to, maybe it's experiencing love for the first time, maybe it's jumping out of a plane.... everyone has a moment and I had one. Watching the sunset at one of the highest peaks while the full moon reflected in the background was breathless. It was my moment. My world stopped.

3. I met this stranger in a coffee shop. An older gentleman i had never seen and will most likely never see again. We had some of the most meaningful conversation and it made me realize several things. Travelers are a whole different people. I'm one of those people. We don't just travel, but we experience. We do things to learn more about the world. We make ourselves uncomfortable and do things others wouldn't normally do. We are wise and infinitely young. We live by doing, not by example. Although travelers are all so different and we each have our own story, we have a commonality in that we are always searching for new knowledge and new experiences. We revel in learning and doing. We love being.

Sorry for the deep thoughts here, but the post is called "Chiang Mai Life"...

4. Going back to Chiang Mai, I decided it's time to start doing. Even if it meant the touristy things, but YOLO and who knows if I'll ever come back to this magical place... so I booked a cooking class, a trekking tour, and a ziplining excursion. I'll break them down for you..

         A. Cooking Class: This was awesome. It was Christmas day for me and I was kind of feeling sad and lonely. Well turns out, I ended up being the only person in that cooking class. I liked it though. The owner was very cool and took me to the local market and explained ingredients to me and showed me how to shop for the best items. We all know I come from a cooking household, but let me just say Thai cooking and ingredients are a brand new experience. Asia has so many fruits, vegetables, and spices I've never even heard of. After the market, I talked to a local about cooking methods, and after using a mortar and pestle for about 30 minutes, I have a new appreciation for pre-made chili paste. I almost boiled my arms because they were noodles at that point. I made 6 items: Cashew Chicken Stir-fry (Gai Pad Med Mamuang), Northern style chicken curry (Khao Soi), Coconut Milk and Chicken Soup (Tom Kah Gai), Spring Rolls, Mango Sticky Rice, and Red Chili paste.

        B. Trekking Tour: Made for beginners or out-of shape people like me, this little tour was perfect. We started at this phenomenal waterfall in the famous Doi Inthanon National Park. Then we trekked about 3km through the jungle to a hill tribe village, belonging to the Karen people. We passed fields of strawberries, rice, chrysanthemums, and coffee plants. We crossed bridges made of bamboo and even caught a glimpse of an electric green python native to Southeast Asia. After we got to the village, we were able to watch how the coffee was roasted, hand ground and brewed. From there, we went to two pagodas honoring the queen and late King. Our tour concluded with a visit to a hill tribe market overflowing with fresh produce and local honey.

        C. Zipling: Please see my Google rating for "Jungle Flight Chiang Mai" for a more detailed description. Ha. Kidding. Although the review is way more kickass than this. Ziplining was awesome yet slightly terrifying. I'm pretty sure I've once before mentioned the safety protocols in Thailand... they're non existant. I'm pretty sure OSHA would have something to say. (Harley maybe you shouldn't visit) But damn I'm glad it was questionable because flying through the mountains was exhilarating. Getting slung around on a zipline roller coaster left me squealing with delight! To the losers that said, "I like more extreme sports." You're missing out!

Sorry if this post was too short but honestly, the experiences have just been so much fun! I don't have any complaints or overly funny stories because I'm living in the moment... Although my instructor for the ziplining course said I need to use my ass more. He's quite right though. Looking at my inflated pancake ass has me longing for a stairmaster and a salad. Damn Northern Thailand and their delicious food... Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! I promise I've thought about every single one of you.