#hopefully this all makes sense feel free to ask if ur questioning wtf goes on

[cupofkey]

do you have anymore thoughts about viet, laos & cambodia's dynamic... especially w/ viet being much older than them, do you think she's like a big sister figure to them? i like thinking abot them :-)

ahh yeah thanks for asking! their dynamic is really interesting bc my interpretation really stretches the boundaries of “are they nations or are they people?” Vietnam is indeed the oldest (existing in some form since 200 BCE, as I’ve mentioned) while Cambodia has its roots in the 800s and Laos in the 1300s. so, like, they definitely acknowledge that big gap, and they use family-pronouns with each other. that’s not uncommon or special, kinship terms are just the norm for all 3 of their languages... but yeah, so like Cambodia would call Vietnam “older sister” and Laos “younger sister”. so not like. calling Vietnam “aunt” or anything, because I feel their relationship these days isn’t one of separate “generations”. if that makes sense. basically— they don’t use “friend pronouns” (eg. me/you, as opposed to”older/younger x”). so there’s a clear age hierarchy there, because it’s an integral part of their culture, but at the same time I don’t believe Vietnam holds that over them...

idk. this is going to be a big rant and probably not 100% relevant to the question but I want to explain all my background thinking so... skip to the last paragraph if you don’t care for all the historical stuff lol

politically, Vietnam has always been the dominant power in that area, something that only escalated when the French prioritized Vietnam. most people don’t know this, but the “Vietnam War” included a lot of fighting, bombing, and involvement in Laos and Cambodia as well. can google ho chi minh trail for a big example of this. and 1975 wasn’t just the year Saigon fell, it was also the year the Communist parties in Laos and Cambodia took over, but those two have been vastly overshadowed by Vietnam once again...

so I do think there’s some bitterness there, at least past bitterness. I think these 3 were much more aligned with their governments in the past (like, pre colonial era) and so there was definitely a lot of mistrust and resentment. I’ve probably said this before, but I think Cambodia especially has a lot of past resentment toward Vietnam, fueled by centuries of dreading your neighbors. in that sense, I think she wasn’t the Older Sister but rather the Older Kid on the playground. they’re scared of her. they hate her but they also want to be her,.. lol that sounds so cliche but. yeah

but yeah if you’ve read my other posts abt this trio I think there was an identity split for these 3 that began at the end of WWII/beginning of the First Indochina War (1945). I mean honestly I think this time period was like that for many nations... but as these three were pulled apart more and more by the conflicting motivations and ideologies in their people, I think it really set apart the “nation” vs the “person” inside. I mean, this is absolutely traumatizing, and they had to compartmentalize those parts of themselves... like can you imagine being a Nation and having to put away your connections to your people, because if you try to consciously hold all those conflicts inside of you, it will tear your weak, soft Human side to pieces. so the disconnect from their governments becomes a fullblown chasm as their people fall into more suffering— which is the only emotion they can really “hear” at this point.

in that shitty backdrop. I think they withdrew into their Human sides, and being human means being separate from institutions. it means having your own feelings and needs... I think nations can mentally endure just about anything but if you withdraw from that nationhood... it leaves you weak. it means you need companionship. this is the context I feel they started to bond with each other (regardless of what their governments were doing) and so there’s very much a “leveling” of sorts. that past resentment toward Vietnam as the Older Kid changes to that more comfortable Older Sister dynamic, where there’s still a clear difference but there isn’t the same kind of power imbalance. (Vietnam’s the only one of them who really feels anything about filial piety, but her dynamic with these three is just. very different.) so there’s really just this big Gap— as nations, their people are indifferent and their governments are at each other’s throats. as people, they innately understand each other. as nations, they have long and vastly differing histories and cultures. as people, they’re new-ish friends... it’s like when you’re gay and making friends with someone, and yall know about each others trauma and shit, but every time you talk they surprise you bc you didn’t know they had three siblings or something. LMAO, what an analogy but yeah.

I just think there’s a gap... there’s a gap. so in a nation context Vietnam is definitely the Big Kid, whereas in a people context she’s definitely more of a Big Sister. she doesn’t pull that card often— she kinda feels weird about being older than the other two, actually. she does act like the mom friend tho,, and I think she’s like an older sibling in the sense that she looks out for the others. even if she can’t do much about it— like if Laos is upset about something, but Vietnam can’t give good advice for shit, so she kinda prods Cambodia into it. that kinda thing. she feels a lot of personal responsibility for them, I guess. and the other two don’t really see her in that older sibling way that often, partially bc of past scars, partially bc it’s not as essential for them. they do however appreciate what her age brings to the table and will occasionally make fun of their local senior citizen lol.

so I guess my answer is... kind of? in a way? it used to be not, and then it was complicated, and now it’s still complicated. but I hope that was interesting or at least showed my thoughts about them more. yea. thanks for asking

#hws vietnam #hws laos #hws cambodia #ask #rant #my hcs #my thoughts #this is so long im sorry 😭 #i got carried away #i just. i need to make my interpretation clear #hopefully this all makes sense feel free to ask if ur questioning wtf goes on