various fe fates premise/worldbuilding rewritey ideas i've been pondering...
since i've been replaying conquest recently and am once again frustrated with this game's writing
first, as a way of making garon non absolutely definitively evil AND bake anankos's involvement into the game's base premise, having garon NOT kidnap corrin intentionally. corrin is separated from sumeragi on that business trip after their party was attacked by vallite soldiers as anankos wanted to either kill or retrieve his child. corrin is found by nohrians and brought to windmire when they are found to have dragon blood... POWERFUL dragon blood. they suffer the same memory loss like canon. hoshido asks for corrin back, garon refuses since their draconic blood isn't that of the dawn (or even dusk) dragon and he is concerned hoshido wants to use them as a weapon or otherwise does not have their best interests in mind. garon does not believe that corrin is hoshidan because they don't even LOOK hoshidan
corrin still going to the northern fortress but not out of malevolence. it's genuinely for their own health. the attack on sumeragi awakened corrin's dragon form for the first time, but without a dragonstone, they were unable to control it as in canon. they CONTINUE to be unable to control the instincts, which were often triggered by the stressful environment of the concubine wars, so garon sent them far from castle krakenburg to avoid more incidents for their and other's safety. visiting was restricted for a while, but as things settled they were seen often by garon + their siblings.
corrin knows their vague origin, that garon isn't their actual father, but still acknowledges him as such (and garon acknowledges them as their child). they also remember how bad things were during the concubine wars and are both accepting of why they were sent there and somewhat hesitant to leave
more general things of garon being a semi decent father. the manga had a really good part where garon recognised leo's mother in him for an instant and called him that. more please
because of garon being less definitively evil, the hoshidan Throne Of Truth being a way to purge anankos's influence and expose garon's TRUE self i.e. save him rather than expose anankos as in canon. this may be an idea raised by corrin/azura but perhaps even better would be for it to be GARON HIMSELF'S plan as he tries to rid himself of possession without anankos catching on. this being his plan in all three routes but only coming to fruition in conquest... where the throne doesn't work as planned and garon is killed when anankos is brought to the surface
garon being possessed by anankos in the first place as he tries to research what was going on with corrin. he reached many correct conclusions but unfortunately walked right into anankos's grasp. he doesn't want to be possessed, tries to resist the possession (directly and in more subtle ways as in above) but as time goes on, the more his condition degrades
fun idea => awakening trio being accepted so easily by garon as they are a) informed of valla etc., able to steer xander/camilla/leo from the same trap garon fell into with anankos and b) POTENTIALLY able to slow down anankos's possession of him?
an exploration of what the 'skies changing' mentioned in revelations even IS. it is the act of hoshido's sky becoming dark and nohr's becoming light (or vice versa). canon states it happens 'once every few decades', but nobody really knows when it will occur as there is no way of predicting it
the skies changing defining the way both nations act.
nohr, deprived of fertile land and harvest, conquers other nations to gain the resources they need to survive. inequality and poverty is rife as its citizens scramble for the limited available sustenance. even the royal family does not live in luxury and are themselves well-acquainted with not being able to secure food
hoshido, with bright skies and plentiful harvests but knowing that no matter what they do their prosper is temporary, stockpiling resources in preparation for their oncoming long night. its citizens are satisfied but on guard, particularly the older ones that recall its former famines. the royal family, understanding the duty it has to its own citizens when night falls, is reluctant to send aid to other nations. a particular incident is when mokushu had an outbreak, hoshido refused to send medical supplies despite them being allies, which is what caused mokushu's current disdain towards hoshido.
the skies changing is why the two nations have never been able to coexist. even though hoshido currently exists with a surplus, and there could well be enough resources at any given time to adequately support BOTH nations, there is no precedent for either country ever sharing their sustenance when they can access it. neither country will make the first step because there is no guarantee that the favour will be paid back when the skies change again.
garon and mikoto's rule being equally informed by past precendents and desire to survive/fear for the future respectively
garon, as alluded to in canon but never shown, is-slash-was a very good ruler that did a very good job maintaining order in the country, ensuring nobody least of all the royal family is permitted to hoard while others are left to starve. things have only degenerated in recent years as anankos's possession has taken its toll on his ability to rule and food shortages continue to worsen. YES he conquers nations but certainly in the past only when trade deals failed or were unviable => nohr had plenty struggles with these as it is currently unable to offer much except manpower and protection, which not all nations need or appreciate. nohr's view is that they would rather conquer others than allow their own citizens to starve, and for a long time garon has been appreciated by his citizens for doing what must be done
mikoto being cautious above all else, very aware of and fearing what's to come as described above. further, her coldness towards other nations being informed by corrin's kidnapping and sumeragi's death--which she believes was done by nohr. azura, by the way, was still kidnapped in retaliation for nohr's alleged actions.
mikoto also should not die in the prologue. just saying. she should be allowed to stand equally with garon as a good yet flawed ruler that is unable to see past the present and make the necessary first step to a better future
lots of general themes about smaller nations on the continent always being pushed around by the two superpowers' squabbles over resources
Adding onto this, Corrin’s experience with the concubine wars (maybe they even regularly met and talked with some of Garon’s other kids) deeply affected them and is responsible for how averse they are to conflict, and why they were so quick to accept the Hoshidan Royals as family.
