Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[Remiferia]

Snip.

It's generally considered pretty poor form to try and marry ones own personal interpretation to authorial intent, and worse for one to try and marry authorial intent to the author's own personal beliefs...but I really can't help but wonder if the writer's beliefs of multiculturalism vs. traditionalism is at all informing the frankly infantile 'gradient of correctness' that oozes out of every crack in the Rite of Succession.

Koana's pragmatic approach of creating a liquid solution that'll regrow reeds is snubbed, but Wuk Lamat's 'more correct' approach of reminding the bird people that, perhaps, their magical reed-growing parade might help with their reed-growing issues because it rejects foreign beliefs and embraces traditional beliefs. Forget the fact that this scenario could only have happened if the Hanu Hanu literally forgot their own culture and needed Wuk Lamat to remind them, or that Gulool Ja Ja saw the float broken in the disaster and said 'Okay imma need y'all to starve to death for the next three years because this'll make a good Round Two for my upcoming gameshow "So You Want to be a Dawnservant?"'

This protection of Turali culture is uncomfortably militant in the narrative, with the only group willing to accept foreign aid as the 'most correct' solution being the ones who hate Tuliyollal culture and refuse to cooperate with them as a point of pride. Silly lizards. May you rot down there with your Sharlayan agriculture while we keep the outside world at arm's length with our single port of Tuliyollal (Dejima) for imports from Eorzea (Europe).

It's militant in the way that, when WoL is pressed by Yaana's little sister to wear a Regulator in battle, she's reprimanded for trying to meddle with our 'culture', but Wuk Lamat and the Vanguard Team's response to Regulators and Alexandrian life is met with disdain, intolerance, pity and a burning need to show them the 'correct way' forward. Yes, Sphene needed to be stopped because she was a genocidal AI hell-bent on succing up all our souls to maintain the Endless, but did we really need to humiliate the nation that attacked us by installing a ten year-old blue penis in rags as their Puppet King instead of having him pass over the keys to someone in Alexandria who actually had the needs of the nation in mind? We killed their leaders, we conquered them, and we made them an extension of Tural.

The story so clearly wants to tell a Disney story of togetherness how all cultures coming together is the path to leave, but it just feels like their heart isn't actually in expressing that message in the minutiae of the writing. A story of cultures, written by people who display little grasp of what that means...

[arstoka]

Koana should have won, and Wuk\\'s story shpuld have ended with her accepting she\\'s a cheerful meathead and becoming Tural\\'s version of us, wandering around and just doing stuff. Koana leans on her for the emotional side, and he\\'s actually got the brainpower to run a nation.

Like, earlier stuff addressed political realities with actual thought. Hien and Doma\\'s realities of reconstruction, Ala Mhigo\\'s lack of real government, Ishgard removing faith as a cornerstone and ending up with a republic.

Even ARR had the political realities of government factions and conspiracies... -snip-

Honestly, Wuk Lamat reminds me a little bit of Nanamo, hear me out. Both come from places of naivety. Wuk from her allegedly not understanding her people and their culture, Nanamo not understanding how to move as a political figure. Both are generally sheltered. One one hand, Wuk's ""character"" development has her become a leader of the people with ease. On the other hand, Nanamo laments multiple times about being unable to help her people and, eventually, thinks that abdicating the throne to put in a democracy is the best option instead of taking up her mantel as leader of her country. Wuk Lamat doesn't suffer any set backs from her way of thinking. Nanamo is NEARLY assassinated for wanting to throw the entire country into chaos with her short-sighted, self-serving attitude (by which I mean, her motivations are both to not have to deal with the whole Leadership thing and forcing it upon Raubahn to deal with the aftermath).

Nanamo goes through a huge arc about building up her own confidence, making shrewd deals with Lolorito and actually stepping into her leadership role in a meaningful and impactful way (the climax of her arc being able to assemble the many factions in her nation to work towards helping the WOL defeat the Endsinger).

Whether or not you agree with Nanamo surviving the assassination attempt, you can genuinely see an attempt to follow the 'fledgling ruler coming into their own' plot line fleshed out and more nuanced then what we got with Wuk.

[ZXN]

The story so clearly wants to tell a Disney story of togetherness how all cultures coming together is the path to leave, but it just feels like their heart isn't actually in expressing that message in the minutiae of the writing. A story of cultures, written by people who display little grasp of what that means...

Slightly off topic since Disney has been mentioned so much, but uhhhh if any ambitious artists out there see this and want to draw this scene with Wuk Lamat holding up Gulool Ja to all of Tuliyollal that would be great. Bonus points if you animate it and have "Smile" playing in the the background.

[Barachim]

Can we instead get an animation with Baby Lamat getting yeeted?

[SwadTheFrog]

It's generally considered pretty poor form to try and marry ones own personal interpretation to authorial intent, and worse for one to try and marry authorial intent to the author's own personal beliefs...but I really can't help but wonder if the writer's beliefs of multiculturalism vs. traditionalism is at all informing the frankly infantile 'gradient of correctness' that oozes out of every crack in the Rite of Succession.

Koana's pragmatic approach of creating a liquid solution that'll regrow reeds is snubbed, but Wuk Lamat's 'more correct' approach of reminding the bird people that, perhaps, their magical reed-growing parade might help with their reed-growing issues because it rejects foreign beliefs and embraces traditional beliefs. Forget the fact that this scenario could only have happened if the Hanu Hanu literally forgot their own culture and needed Wuk Lamat to remind them, or that Gulool Ja Ja saw the float broken in the disaster and said 'Okay imma need y'all to starve to death for the next three years because this'll make a good Round Two for my upcoming gameshow "So You Want to be a Dawnservant?"'

This protection of Turali culture is uncomfortably militant in the narrative, with the only group willing to accept foreign aid as the 'most correct' solution being the ones who hate Tuliyollal culture and refuse to cooperate with them as a point of pride. Silly lizards. May you rot down there with your Sharlayan agriculture while we keep the outside world at arm's length with our single port of Tuliyollal (Dejima) for imports from Eorzea (Europe).

It's militant in the way that, when WoL is pressed by Yaana's little sister to wear a Regulator in battle, she's reprimanded for trying to meddle with our 'culture', but Wuk Lamat and the Vanguard Team's response to Regulators and Alexandrian life is met with disdain, intolerance, pity and a burning need to show them the 'correct way' forward. Yes, Sphene needed to be stopped because she was a genocidal AI hell-bent on succing up all our souls to maintain the Endless, but did we really need to humiliate the nation that attacked us by installing a ten year-old blue penis in rags as their Puppet King instead of having him pass over the keys to someone in Alexandria who actually had the needs of the nation in mind? We killed their leaders, we conquered them, and we made them an extension of Tural.

The story so clearly wants to tell a Disney story of togetherness how all cultures coming together is the path to leave, but it just feels like their heart isn't actually in expressing that message in the minutiae of the writing. A story of cultures, written by people who display little grasp of what that means...

I think you and ZXN hit the nail on the head pretty hard. The writing gets downright uncomfortable at times, and not in a good way.

[Raven2014]

I think you and ZXN hit the nail on the head pretty hard. The writing gets downright uncomfortable at times, and not in a good way.

I think there is a specific word for it, "hamfisted" ?

[DarkMasamune]

Slightly off topic since Disney has been mentioned so much, but uhhhh if any ambitious artists out there see this and want to draw this scene with Wuk Lamat holding up Gulool Ja to all of Tuliyollal that would be great. Bonus points if you animate it and have "Smile" playing in the the background.

Please no.

I loved every single song in FFXIV and Smile made me cringe so hard my head went straight throught my neck. It's such a mess song-wise.

[sylphlands]

Forget the fact that this scenario could only have happened if the Hanu Hanu literally forgot their own culture and needed Wuk Lamat to remind them, or that Gulool Ja Ja saw the float broken in the disaster and said 'Okay imma need y'all to starve to death for the next three years because this'll make a good Round Two for my upcoming gameshow "So You Want to be a Dawnservant?"'

This has been a huuuuge issue of mine as well and I can't believe it got past sensitivity consultants. When I got to the reeds part I knew I was in for a rough ride. Why on earth would the Hanu forget their own culture, and why would Wuk Lamat know how to solve it in 10 minutes? I also found the entire Mamook section so hilariously out of touch - the writers earnestly selling the idea that these people would need to be told by outsiders, "Have you tried planting seeds about it instead of doing a eugenics project that kills 99% of your offspring?"

[Voidmage]

but did we really need to humiliate the nation that attacked us by installing a ten year-old blue penis in rags as their Puppet King instead of having him pass over the keys to someone in Alexandria who actually had the needs of the nation in mind? We killed their leaders, we conquered them, and we made them an extension of Tural.

I found it quite funny that the credits narration more or less says that they are not amused but will have to accept it and then you see that resistance woman step forward with a serious expression and Wuk Lamat smiling proudly into the camera.
Seemed almost like a threat.

Really gave me vibes of forcing the new ruler on them without consent.

Big yikes.
But hey, they all are happy after that as long as they have gladiator fights, right?

Like seriously, installing a kid monarch without leadership qualities who is also the child of an unloved tyrant king?
How tonedeaf could they be?
Even for Gulool Ja, has anyone even asked that poor child if they even wanted to rule?

I really, really hope this whole stuff is brought up in the patches but I guess even then it’s played out as those “barbarians not knowing what is good for them and being hated from their own people”.

[Raven2014]

Really gave me vibes of forcing the new ruler on them without consent.

It's not a vibe, it's literally it under no uncertain term. She installed a new king after killing the previous king and queen, and tell people the child king is under her "protection".

That's straight up the protectorate playbook. France did this to a lot of countries in the 15th-18th century, and mine was one of them.