Crack Pairing Fodder / Canon Clothing Rant

[mark_asphodel]

In case you're stuck for ideas for fe_contest, the "Pairing Game" thread over on ffnet offers a lot of crack pairings, some of which seem more plausible than you might otherwise expect.  Granted, some of the arguments presented will make you want to hit yourself with a frying pan, but hey, that's the price of a research adventure.  Right?

Anyway, Marth/Lyn is one of those things that pops up in Smash Bros fanfiction now and again, and makes me go "Bullshit" every time.  But someone today outlined the case for it as "less idealistic Eliwood" with preference for "strong women" + Lyn, to which I can only go, "Well, yeah... but..."

But I don't buy Eliwood/Lyn either, except as some kind of contingency plan.

Still sounds to me like a trainwreck, but I guess I won't laugh at it next time I see it.

-x-

OK.  Everyone pokes fun at the more unrealistic outfits in FE artwork-- Hey, Peg Knights!  Put some pants on!-- but beyond clothing that's too scanty for protection, or too flowing for safety, there's another issue the official art dodges.

Dude, if you're someone important, and you want to escape detection, you might want to "dress down" or change clothes with one of your knights.  It's a time-honored device that might keep you from getting killed.

See, there's a picture of Leaf in the 20th anniversary artbook (page 76) that depicts him meeting with Evayle. He's in regular clothes-- plain tunic, trousers, unadorned cloak.  A very good choice for someone on the run and trying to keep a low profile.  And it struck me, because it was a kind of "No shit, Sherlock" moment that canon doesn't acknowledge much.  There is a time to swan around in gilt-edged white armor and a scarlet-lined mantle and a time to NOT do that, kthx.   

Not sure who the worst offender on that count in FE canon is, but the list is pretty damned long.

Comments

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

I didn't get too far into FE11 when I tried playing it, but the whole decoy thing confused me. Okay, so I send someone away dressed like Marth... but Marth is still dressed like Marth. Huh?

There's also the thieves wearing bright colors. I mean, I like Cath's costume on an aesthetic level, but sneaking around in a white dress and lime green legwarmers isn't the greatest idea.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

All I have to say about the decoy fiasco is that they should've sent Gordin.

[writerawakened.livejournal.com]

You bring up a good point about lords going incognito; At one point in FE7, Hec, Eli and Lyn do sneak into Bern wearing totally inconspicuous trash-bag cloaks plainclothes, but other than that, yeah, the VIPs in FE do seem to place greater emphasis on lookin' goooood than discreetness :P

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Well, not just Lords, but any of these random nobles and high-ranking clerics wandering the various continents.

Richard Coeur de Lion allegedly got busted even when he was in plainclothes, because he acted like a dick and wanted roast chicken to eat, and, well, normal people wouldn't dream of getting roast chicken back in the day! The class standards that you enjoy when you're in power can get you busted in a hurry when you're not.

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

This got me thinking-- could they really do that much to hide their identities? Their hair colors alone would make them stick out. I mean, do you ever see a commoner with blue hair?

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Yeah-- in Talys! (Barst and Castor)

Also, Samson, wherever he comes from. He's not a native Altean. Green hair is the predominant color among playable characters in Altea.

I have pondered the "why does the royal family have blue hair like Talysians" issue entirely too often.

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the random village NPCs, who almost always have brown or blond hair.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, there's that as well. I don't have an answer for that one, except for the crack answer that all the NPCs are paid extras and every village is a Potemkin village.

Actually, my other answer? They all have normal-colored hair like the NPCs and all the pretty colors are merely artistic license. This does not work in Elibe thanks to that support convo between Hector and Eliwood, but IIRC there is nothing to blow up this theory wrt Archanea.

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

I could be wrong, but could the trend of royals/nobility having blue hair have anything to do with the belief/idea/what have you that deep blue (and, to an extent, purple) are considered the "colors of nobility"? Or am I just totally out there?

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

Some of the requests on the kink memes make for good crack pairing fodder, too.

(Though some of the "support" in the pairing game makes me want to react violently toward certain things. :P)

[hooves.livejournal.com]

I kinda just assume most hair colors in FE universes are "normal", and/or at least not unheard of.

Now, someone like Lyn (long hair) would be easier to spot than, say, Eliwood (who just has a boy's haircut and his hair is red, however, easily hidden by a hat or something if he wanted to).

Either way, though, most NPCs are the same exact model anyway, and no way do all these villagers have clones running around. (FE: THE CLONE WARS.)

[hooves.livejournal.com]

Good point about plainsclothes. I would think it's not used in the actual art or mentioned in the actual stories, but I always thought it was fairly obvious when it'd be a good idea adn when it wouldn't be. But then again, FE7 kinda herp-de-derps around the entire issue except for one small part.

[raphiael]

I tend to wonder, more, about speech and mannerisms, myself. There are a few moments, as was mentioned, where they throw on cloaks or whatever, but chances are even the most oafish, "rebellious" lords are still going to carry themselves and speak in a way that would probably set them apart, and that the attitudes of characters like their knights and such would be a pretty big giveaway.

I wonder if that could ever be addressed. The only thing I can think of like it is when Elphin tells Percival off for being so obviously deferential toward him.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

Dude, if you're someone important, and you want to escape detection, you might want to "dress down" or change clothes with one of your knights. It's a time-honored device that might keep you from getting killed.
I always had, in my headcanon, Marth dressed so that he WAS undetectable--especially during his time in Talys. And that a good chunk of the time he was, you know, covering his head. Same thing with most of the nobles/what have you.

Personally, I think the artwork is just for eye-candy, and nothing more, and that they're really dressing a lot more practical.

Marth/Lyn is one of those things that pops up in Smash Bros fanfiction now and again, and makes me go "Bullshit" every time.
I...have actually never seen that pairing before. Then again I'm not really in Smash Brothers fandom anymore, so. I did see the pairing name and LOL though. I can't even picture it without chuckling.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Well, in FE8 you also have "Erina the mercenary" going around in her little red dress. Whoops.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

but chances are even the most oafish, "rebellious" lords are still going to carry themselves and speak in a way that would probably set them apart

Oh, yeah. Big time. Guys like Ephraim and Hector wouldn't even be able to pull it off, really (especially with their knightly fanclub in tow), and someone like Marth wouldn't even know where to begin being "regular folks."

Alm would, but Alm doesn't know he isn't regular folks.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Marth dressed so that he WAS undetectable--especially during his time in Talys.

The manga and the anime both do address this, for whatever that's worth.

I...have actually never seen that pairing before.

It's not common, but it's out there. Granted, BOTH of them are usually OOC by any reasonable standards.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Like I said, you want to hit something, quite possibly yourself, with a frying pan when reading that thread.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I don't know, really. I mean, red is often a color of nobility, too, and that's the enemy color...

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I kinda just assume most hair colors in FE universes are "normal", and/or at least not unheard of.

Eirika's reaction to the idea of someone with indigo hair (Myrrh) made it seem to me like indigo hair wasn't normal. And Lute had already been recruited by that point in the story!

FE: THE CLONE WARS.

Heh. Oh, why not?

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

That might've been where I got it from, but it makes sense.

Granted, BOTH of them are usually OOC by any reasonable standards.
I think that could be said for most of the Smash Brothers fanfiction on FFN.

[raphiael]

I don't think I ever noticed that. That is pretty interesting, given the proliferation of purple-haired people in Magvel. Huh.

[raphiael]

The knight fanclub would definitely be a pretty big giveaway, no matter what. I don't think you could train that protective vibe out of most of the knight-ish characters, no matter the circumstances.

Yeah, Alm, and Ike -- who doesn't quite count given his status and all. But even then, Ike has the opposite problem.

. . .But I think this conversation might have given me what I needed for fe_contest 8D