mark_asphodel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mark_asphodel) wrote2013-06-10 06:45 pm
mark_asphodel) wrote2013-06-10 06:45 pm
Entry tags:
'Nother Tumblr Meme
Stolen from damoselcastel on tumblr and a bunch of other people besides.
Send me a 'ship and I will tell you:
• When or if I started shipping it.
• My thoughts:
• What makes me happy about them:
• What makes me sad about them:
• Things done in art/fic that annoys me:
• Things I look for in art/fic:
• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
[The art/fic part is the draw of this one, as I don't think I've seen that asked before.]
Send me a 'ship and I will tell you:
• When or if I started shipping it.
• My thoughts:
• What makes me happy about them:
• What makes me sad about them:
• Things done in art/fic that annoys me:
• Things I look for in art/fic:
• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
[The art/fic part is the draw of this one, as I don't think I've seen that asked before.]
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Cain/Marth:
When I started shipping it: don't rightly recall. Sometime in 2010?
My thoughts: It's a pairing that crept "out of the margins" of the text and just wouldn't go away once it occurred to me. You have Cain, with his apparently single-minded devotion to Marth that pointedly excludes het romance and maybe even friendship outside of the weird ambiguous stuff with Abel... and you have Marth, who already has some queer vibes swirling around him thanks to Merric and who isn't so much younger than Cain that the whole thing resolves comfortably into some avuncular/paternal deal and doesn't quite hit the big bro/little bro sort of relationship either.
What makes me happy about them: Cain's hot. Marth's hot when he's not drawn like a squish. The above is justification enough. GO.
What makes me sad about them: Cain's so underdeveloped in FE12 he makes me sad in general. There's that delicious tease of characterization in FE11 and then whyyyyyyy. Also, I guess you could say a celibate Cain spending the rest of his life laboring in Marth's shadow and sublimating his desires through "training" is pretty sad. IS seems to like that set-up, though. (Hello, Frederick, if you aren't into Chrom then I'm the Empress of China.)
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: There's not much of anything. Some trollfic on FFNet and an M-rated piece on A03 that just didn't work for me because Marth was, like fourteen? I dunno. It's generally a case of "if you want this, better write it yo' self."
Things I look for in art/fic: Can the writer spell? Are these actually recognizable as the characters from the game? Is the physical interaction turning me on or grossing me out? Damn, back to the drawing board. :(
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…:
Marth/Caeda, obviously. Marth/Merric. Hell, I ship Marth with all kinds of options. Cain, not so much... I can kind of buy him with Catria as a knowing "We Can't Have Marth, So..." deal, but not as a legit romance. Do NOT mention MyUnit, do NOT pass Go, do NOT collect $200...
Also Cain doesn't end up with Abel for obvious reasons.
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Catria / Marth, perhaps?
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When or if I started shipping it: definitely had a case of this particular plague by Shadow Dragon's release in '09.
My thoughts: The SNES ambiguity and Shadow Dragon's tease ending allowed for so many possibilities! I could envision Catria's feelings as something ennobling, inspiring, empowering, and while I didn't think Marth REALLY felt that way back, there were... possibilities. Soaring ones. Intoxicating ones.
What makes me happy about them: Um, that I was correct that Catria-->Marth was intended as a Thing.
What makes me sad about them: The whole soppy execution in canon and the rubber-stamping of Catrianess onto such preposterous knockoffs as Cordelia (all of the angst, none of the justification). Bollocks.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Creeperstalker Catria in art can be kind of gross. There's not enough 'fic of them for there to be bad trends, you know? Catria/Cain is what annoys me if it doesn't fit my particular headcanon conception of it.
Things I look for in art/fic: There's lots of yummy Catria/Marth art, at least-- melancholy, comic, a few happy pieces... pretty stuff. Some pieces do communicate the extent to which Marth rocks Catria's world, which IMO is important. The 'fic pickings are... poor. If I'm not the #1 merchant of Catria/Marth in English fandom I'm at least a solid chunk of it.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Marth has no end of options. Catria can do a lesbian thing with femme!Kris, I guess, or end up with Cain or Frey in a "Well, this isn't horrible" sort of way. :/
(I nearly forgot about Warren, but FE12 friend-zoned him SO utterly that he doesn't even register to me anymore. He doesn't even seem to MIND being friend-zoned, either.)
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Oof. None of them. I mean, I don't feel about Seliph the way I do about Ced, where I actively dislike his popular het ships, but it's more... Seliph is so nice and so malleable in his interactions with the ladies that it's just...
All right. Seliph/Mana.
When or if I started shipping it: Probably the first time I read over FE4's script and read their secret conversation.
My thoughts: Yeah, it's basically Seliph/Lana with an extra conversation. But that extra conversation and the depth that Mana has as a common little girl of Isaach in love with humanity's savior give this ship an edge over the "canon" equivalent. In FE4 I will take all the extra characterization I can get.
What makes me happy about them: Cute sweet little childhood friend pairing without the pseudo-incest vibe that plagues certain other childhood friend pairings.
What makes me sad about them: Mana's existence as a leading lady indicates we're in sub-kiddie world, which is inherently more depressing than even regular FE4.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: It basically doesn't exist.
Things I look for in art/fic: Talk about a rarepair. I get excited just to find Mana art, much less 'fic. I tried to read a J!fandom subkiddy epic that I ran through Google Translate but it, ah, lost a lot in the process.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Mana has Ulster/Roddlevan as OK options. Not pleased with the Assholio pairing. As for Seliph... he's good (if not great) with all ladies, isn't he? Mr. Perfect. I guess of the "canon" girls I like him best with Larcei, though Tinny is a surprisingly good option.
PS: I hate Seliph/Leif with a burning passion, as it brings out the worst in them. I've read some other Seliph yaoi ships and they're all... meh. As for Seliph/Julia... during the period they're potentially "in love" she's dull as dirt and then he openly pours water on the idea that he's in love with her by the end of the game. Makes for some interesting 'fic ideas but damn, I can't ship that.
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Although Seliph is likely the most reliable and boring husband of FE4, I agree that Mana seems to best match. I really like that she realizes her crush/love is rather impossible in normal Jugdral society- and it reinforces that fact that Seliph grew up in Isaac and has connections there.
Tinny/Seliph is my personal favorite for the Baldur-boy. When they talk to each other in-game, they actually reference people outside of each other and themselves! That and I think their marriage/rulership situation would be more complicated than easy.
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I find people who are passionate about Seliph pairings rather puzzling, because "passionate" and "Seliph" just don't work together. :/
and it reinforces that fact that Seliph grew up in Isaac and has connections there.
The idea of Seliph as someone raised in Isaach, by none other than Shanan, and having absorbed positive things about Issach, and then ruling GRANNVALE as its god-given heir is pretty interesting. Too bad we don't learn more about Isaach itself! (IMO, what we're given is superficial compared with all the info we get on Thracia.)
When they talk to each other in-game, they actually reference people outside of each other and themselves!
You'd think they were the intended "canon" pairing solely based on their one-on-one interactions! But all Tinny's predestined love options lead to a Tinny that inherits Freege and then the script is throwing Lana at us. But Mr. Perfect Seliph seems to bring out the absolute best in Tinny, IMO.
[Seliph/Fee is cute but somehow I suspect she'd be using Grannvale's treasury for foreign war ventures, specifically in her homeland. Seliph/Nanna feels very off... cordial, yes, but if she inherited half her mother's passionate nature I suspect she's going to be bored.]
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Sigurd/Quan/Elidigan. I'm going there.
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Quan/Eldigan/Sigurd, heheh.
When or if I started shipping it: I think I kind of always took it as a given (three dudes who go so damn close in military school, yeah) and only really starting thinking about it seriously after playing FE4 and re-evaluating Eldigan as a character I genuinely liked instead of "Camus With Incest."
My thoughts: I see Quan/Eldigan as the main driving force of whatever it is they get up to and Sigurd as kind of the dorktacular third wheel. See, my assumption for all the FE-verses with the arguable exception of Tellius is that there's not really a conception of gay/lesbian identity as we currently see it, and that there's a tacit understanding (among upper classes especially) that people do a fair amount of experimentation, especically in sex-segregated situations like, say, military academies. As long as people then settle down into "proper" marriages and have kids to keep the family line going, everyone's cool with it, and the behavior of these three fits neatly into what's expected.
I suspect Quan has the most excessive behavior of the three outside of their little trio, though. Elidgan's main vice is clearly his sister. Sigurd's overall inexperience shows in his reaction to Deirdre IMO. Sigurd's kind of a buzzkill in general.
What makes me happy about them: It's nice they had a strong friendship going for as many years as it did.
What makes me sad about them: Um... well, there's just that whole "everyone ends up dead" FE4 plotline.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I've found and read some Quan/Eldigan and did not buy Elidgan's characterization for a second. There's good art and derpy art of these three, at least of the SFW kind. As an OT3 it doesn't seem to get a lot of love from anywhere.
Things I look for in art/fic: Not being crap. Because of FE4's unique aesthetics they often look far more handsome in fanart than in anything canon. 'Fic offers far less to the English-only reader and not THAT much that I've found elsewhere.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not… Well, they all up and got canon wives, didn't they? It's not like anyone had it remotely bad until, um, things got really bad.
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Bonus Finn/Raquesis because I can:
When or if I started shipping it: My introduction to them both was some NSFW pix on DeviantArt that I found while looking for non-SSB Marth art. The insistence of many fans that it's TRUE CANON meant I always took it as kind of a given before I'd really even thought about it on its own merits. I remember being piqued when "Lenster's Fall" got translated and made it crystal-clear the dev team wasn't on-board with the pairing back then, so I definitely had feelings about it. Started shipping it hard, and I mean HARD, in... late 2011? Anyway, FE OTP, no apologies
My thoughts: LoveitIloveitIloveit. I don't know! Something about this terminally ambiguous cocktail of external and internal conflict just works for me like nothing else. They get handed to us as basically kids and, if Finn actually comes back from the desert with her[*], by that point they'd be in their early forties. There's just so much to DO within the (contradictory) framework of what we've been given, and it all has lasting repercussions that don't just magically vanish. Honestly the essential F/R scene for me, the one that kind of defines them to me, is that part at the end of Lenster's Fall wherein Finn tries to play the "decoy sacrifice" card and Raquesis looks right through the chivalrous bullshit and tells him he doesn't get to die and stick her with Leif.
What makes me happy about them: Shipping them makes me happy, but there's precious little in the pairing itself to be happy about. That's one reason I like it. Every good moment is just another step down a road that's exceptionally bleak. I am glad to be dealing with adults and not just kids who barely know one another and that's IT.
What makes me sad about them: It'd be a very long list! I mean, the combined weight of sads in the backstory is horrible, but lots of FE characters have a sob-worthy backstory. I think the refusal of canon to come out and say or resolve so many things is part of the endless fascination for me. And, as you pointed out... the breakdown just seems genuinely inevitable.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Making her Generic Princess and him into Generic Noble Knight is bad. What's the point? A fair amount of the very small pool of English 'fic about them doesn't even seem to be about the actual characters... just random people with the same names. Superfluffy sweet stuff also turns me off. Like, so sorry, but steaming hot Silessian Farewell hijinks just lose a lot in context when you realize Delmud's coming along nine months later and aaaaall the stuff that spirals out of Delmud's existence is just not fluffy.
As for art... bad art of them makes me flinch, but otherwise I'm pretty forgiving. I am irked by the number of pieces that feature her with little to nothing on and him fully clothed. C'mon.
(And then one of those scantily-clad pieces actually turned out to feature Nanna rather than Raquesis ARGH MY EYES.)
Things I look for in art/fic: Something resembling the actual characters. Something not saccarhine. I mean, if it's about them I'll read it, but my opinions are strong enough that I'm picky. I like a lot of the cutesy art but I really dig the rare pieces that are genuinely gorgeous.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Welp, I'm pretty comfortable believing that she got with Beowulf (or MAYBE Dew) before she ever thought about getting with Finn. As for Finn, while I'm fine with crack-pairing experimentation in the context of FE4, I do maintain a weakness for Finn/Briggid. In between the way they can fall in love sight unseen in FE4, the way he calls her beautiful twice in FE5, and the whole Eyvel business... heheh, it's an interesting trainwreck.
All that said, I don't think either of them have much of a romantic future, together or with anyone else. There's too damn much that's happened, whether Raquesis was gone for 15-odd years (games) or ten-odd (artbook), and even if everything else is the best-case scenario, she still effectively has to choose between Delmud, Ares, and Agustria and Nanna-Leif-and-Finn in Thracia. This time, I think she's going to opt to stay home.
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Either Marth/Sheeda or Leif/Nanna
Personally I want to ask some FE13 pairings if you don't mind but ehhhno subject
Yeah, I just don't really care about most FE13 pairings, and even the ones I do like I don't have very deep reasons as to why. It'd be like my preferences on, oh, something like Azel/Aira or Holyn/Raquesis-- random stuff that doesn't do very much for me from a characterization perspective.
Marth/Caeda:
When or if I started shipping it: After actually being exposed to FE3 and FE11 and not writing off "Sheeda" based on her godawful characterization in the anime. My thoughts: Caeda's just a great, intelligent, cunning, brave, classy heroine and she really suits Marth in ways that bolster all his weak points IMO. They love and support one another and it feels genuine. What makes me happy about them: The pre-eminent pairing in Fire Emblem sets a standard that a lot of the subsequent "canon" pairings just doesn't reach IMO. (I don't buy Chrom/Sumia as a positive relationship for a second.) What makes me sad about them: FE3 ends on such a downer note and we just don't know how things go from there; reconstructing the continent will clearly be hard. Then FE12 introduces all this BS with Marth's new "soulmate" Kris, who can go to hell. Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Jealous, clingy, anime!Caeda. YUK. Fake!Marth inspired by SSB and nothing else. Super-girly Marth in art. Things I look for in art/fic: Strong, brave, canon-compliant Caeda and a Marth with some passing resemblance to something we get in canon (preferably FE11). Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Mm. They truly love one another. They're not going to entertain thoughts of anyone else as long as both are alive. If Caeda died, Marth might have Catria or Nyna or whomever, but it would never be the same. If something happened to Marth well after the World Was Saved, I could see Caeda getting on with things, especially if Ogma came back to town, but basically they're meant for one another and that's it. (And if he did have a thing going on with Merric now and again I think she'd understand.)
Leif/Nanna:
When or if I started shipping it: As soon as I got over cute little Janne not being the "canon" option for Leif. My thoughts: They're just utterly sweet together and you can tell from their interactions how much they do care about one another. It's a comfortable kind of relationship with a solid ground in being friends... er... "siblings"... which means it's the kind of relationship that can really withstand decades instead of cooling off one the initial passion's over. It just comes across as a good partnership. What makes me happy about them: Hey, if something's going to be canonized, it may as well be this good. Plus Nanna's character ending in FE5 indicates they do, indeed, have a happy life together. Also they are the only Lord/Lady pairing with hair and eye color like normal human beings and therefore look especially cute together. What makes me sad about them: On the other hand, the text in Nanna's character ending about how "Her life with Leif is said to have ended happily" suggests she dies first, and I can see Leif taking that badly. Very badly. Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Does the Light Inheritor manga count? I HATED Leif's characterization in that. There's lots of adorable art for these two, I have few complaints... other than that I prefer blue-eyed Nanna to brown-eyed Nanna just because. Things I look for in art/fic: Basically things that capture the essential sweetness of this pairing. I don't need a bucket of fake angst or jealousy or forced misunderstandings. These two appear to understand each other very well. Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not… I hate breaking them up. I can handle Leif/Tinny under very particular circumstances. Nanna is good for Ares, I guess (but I don't think he's good for her) and Sara makes an interesting crackpair with Leif. But really they belong together. If Nanna never existed, at least there's Janne. If Leif died during the war I don't think Nanna would entirely get over it.
(Regarding Asvel, see above comments re: Marth/Merric.)
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Personally, what make Sheeda x Marth such a good pairing IMO is because Sheeda is such an active player during the war something that many "canonized" pair seems to lack(in fairness, I have not played FE2 and FE10, so I don't know how Sothe/Cellica compares to Sheeda). Nanna get the Homeros scene, and Lilina recruited.... stuff and thats it.
And on relation of FE13, do you think the sheer amount of possible pairs a major contributor for the lack of "good" pairing? I dunno, I liked some of the pairing(the Cavalier duo, Sully x Fred, and Fred x Cherche being some of my favorite) but some other just.... does not work(mainly because their characters just does not fit with each other, or some stupidity like Fred x Cordelia A/S happened)
The same can be said for FE4 pairs, albeit not as bad
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Celica has a great role in the main story; IMO she and Alm each carry off their half of the plot extremely well. It's another true partnership.
And on relation of FE13, do you think the sheer amount of possible pairs a major contributor for the lack of "good" pairing?
Absolutely.
FE4 was a free-for-all but even if you don't like a predestined couple (Arden/Fury?) there's a sense that some things are more possible/plausible/right than others. (Finn/Fury is never going to be right and I don't care how many J!fandom fanfics feature it.) Aside from Chrom and Sumia's small field of potential mates, FE13's Gen 1 is a big blurred mess of seemingly equal possibilities, and all the characters are stretched so thin to fit these possibilities that most of it just doesn't satisfy. Stahl/Sully and Henry/Olivia I really quite like, but the rest range from "I guess I don't hate it" to "Wow, I hate this."
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Ah. Seth/Eirika.
• When or if I started shipping it: I started shipping is despite not much liking either of them because they're the main pairing for English FE8 fanfiction and some good writers sold me on it. Then the more I read and played and thought about it, I just didn't like it and stopped shipping it in 2010, I think.
• My thoughts: I like Seth. Out of the younger Jeigan types he has a characterization niche that appeals to me-- fundamentally rational and competent, with a sense of being his own man in a way that I don't see in Finn (eternal servant), Titania (eternal second-in-command) or Frederick (lol). I like Eirika despite the plot's handling of her and the way she's been enshrined as Eirika the Gullible by IS itself. I do not like them together. I find Seth's coddling of Eirika detrimental to them both and I don't find their A-support romantic in the least. It frankly turns me off.
• What makes me happy about them: Well, a princess could definitely do worse than someone like Seth.
• What makes me sad about them: Seth's dynamic with Eirika just seems to hold her back.
• Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Most fanfiction about them glorifies the precise things I don't like in their relationship. Often Eirika is made into this somewhat pathetic character constantly in need of Seth's support, and Seth gets glorified at her expense. And Ephraim's expense. And Innes's expense. And even Lyon's expense. When a Seth/Eirika 'fic makes me feel sorry for Lyon...
There are some pairings in FE that seem to have taken on a fandom life of their own, rooted in other fanfics rather than what's in the game, and IMO S/E is one of them.
• Things I look for in art/fic: Not being any of the above. I don't hate this pairing. I've written it. I can read it. I really don't like what fandom tends to do with it.
• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not… Seth/Natasha is a pairing I've always liked and the insistence of some Seth/Eirika shippers that it's OOC just seems in keeping with the bad-faith nature of a lot of S/E stuff. As for Eirika, I like her best with Saleh but I'm happy to see her with Innes (to whom she asserts herself until he accepts it in their supports) and Forde.
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Honestly, my own OTP is one of the legendarily worst ones for shipping trolls in Japanese fandom.
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Innes/Vanessa
When or if I started shipping it: Pretty much immediately, because Vanessa had an obvious crush on Innes and unlike Catria, could do something about it.
My thoughts: Welp. Innes has some options, and out of them Eirika/Innes is probably the best for HIM in terms of a strong, moral woman who could stand up to him when he gets a bit too... scheming. I cannot see Vanessa standing up to Innes. L'Arachel would probably give him hell over something irrelevant and then be distracted by OOH SHINY and Innes would do as he pleased. So it's a very nice cozy "happy ending" that maybe is not the 100% best thing for anyone involved. Still ship it, though.
What makes me happy about them: Convincing non-tragic prince/peg knight pairing? No! Devoted knight/master pairing that resolves into happy sexytimes without all the angst? And I like them both as individuals to start with? Sign me up.
What makes me sad about them: Maybe he doesn't actually marry her and they just have a kid? That ending's so weird. OTOH it's kind of funny.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Not!Innes never fails to annoy me regardless of whom he's with. Overall there's not enough InNessa to have a list of gripes.
Things I look for in art/fic: Its existence. :/
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Don't like Forde/Vanessa. Am perfectly comfortable with the other canon Innes pairings (Eirika, L'Arachel). I'm also fine with Innes keeping Vanessa as his mistress whilst being married to L'Arachel because I'm bad that way.
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When or if I started shipping it: 2009, I think? It just seemed right... and the number of people at the time who seemed really against it was kind of a reason to look into it.
My thoughts: These are not my favorite characters. These are not people I would personally like to be around, and slap-slap-kiss relationships is a trope I loathe. BUT... in this case, the dynamic feels right enough and appropriate enough. I don't know that they're GOOD for one another, but they seem to be made for one another.
What makes me happy about them: I'd be lying if I said that the idea of Lyn!Lilina starting her empire building by being the heir to Ostia and Caelin in one go wasn't part of the appeal. All the bizarre little puzzle pieces Lyn leaves behind fit so well with a Hector pairing.
What makes me sad about them: I've always seen Hector as a tragic figure, and Lyn as his marchioness isn't likely to help him much with his own political weak points. I don't think Lyn would help a bit in dealing with the creeping rot inside Ostia and the League, yet at the same time her death can't have been good for him.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: How about bad, bullying, creeper, borderline criminal Hector used as a means to make some alternate suitor (usually Kent) look good? Don't get me wrong, there's bad, shallow, or at least unconvincing H/L out there, but what really gets my goat is the writers who've used Hector as some kind of straw man to advance their own 'ship. Same damn thing with the extreme end of the Seth/Eirika crowd.
Things I look for in art/fic: In-character stuff, pretty much. I'm not super-hard to please with the H/L, as I have fond memories of creative but blatantly non-canonical stuff like "Ragged String."
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
I'm fine with Lyn/Rath or Lyn/Florina. Lyn/Eliwood is interesting in a dramatic if not romantic sense. Lyn/Kent isn't bad on its own but I feel like it was oversold by some fans as being the only option for Lyn that wasn't sexist/racist/oppressive and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
As for Hector, I like him very much with Farina, not at all with Florina, and have a not-so-secret weakness for Hector/Serra.
But we know Hector/Lyn/Eliwood is the way to go, amirite?
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*ahem* on the subject of the meme:
Ced/Arthur (you were the first I saw ship them and it seems like you've given the pair some thought)
and
Leif/Sara OR Leif/Tinny (because with all the canon Nana, I'm curious how you'd think these other ships would work out)
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Ced/Arthur
When or if I started shipping it: someone on tumblr reblogged some art of it and I thought, "Well now..."
My thoughts:
OK. I don't like Arthur/Fee because that ship hits all my personal "Hell no" buttons and IMO the only positive thing it offers is the idea of Lewyn!Arthur and not-Lewyn!Fee ruling Silesse. I don't ship not-Lewyn!Fury so that's not much of a positive. As for Ced/Tinny, not only does Tinny have better options, but Ced's whole presentation (especially in FE5) doesn't exactly scream someone who's actively looking for tail in the army. If anything, you put Lewyn!Ced from FE4 together with the Ced in FE5 and get a picture of someone who MIGHT just have reached the conclusion that this whole "avatar of Forseti" thing is going to mess up his personal life, big-time. Your father abandoned your mother Because Forseti? Your father cut you and your sister off Because Forseti? Damn.
Then there's Arthur, with his obvious love for Silesse-- the only home he's even known regardless of his parentage-- and his uniquely prickly personality. So instead of going completely off the predestined rails and shipping something like Arthur/Leen and Ced/Larcei, why not take these two guys with (IMO) off-key "predestined" options and look at them together?
What makes me happy about them: I do like the potential interplay between prickly, solitary Arthur and self-deprecating, alone-in-a-crowd Ced. They both have cool/cold fronts masking a great many issues, but neither of them are so messed-up they can't see it (at least in one another) and analyze it and work through it... eventually. They appear to be some of the more intelligent FE4 characters (this is not saying much, but still), and default!Arthur is of course a wind mage while Ced is the very Avatar of the wind god so there's all kind of cool magic bonding possible. Also-- key thing here-- nobody's the screamingly obvious uke in this pairing. Yeah, Arthur has the pretty long hair, but it's not like he's, you know, Asvel. Depending on his father, Arthur is plausibly the bigger, taller, stronger of the pair, the guy who hits things with a sword from horseback. And Ced is his self-contained, immensely powerful self. So the physical dynamic is flexible.
What makes me sad about them: Arthur inherits land no matter what you do, so there's that to get around. Also Ced needs to produce a heir from somewhere. Other than that I'm pretty sure they can manage.
Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Well, art-wise Ced/Arthur stuff general runs toward blandly pretty shoujo-type stuff that's long on Arthur's beautiful hair and short on personality. Nobody in English-writing fandom 'fics it, really.
Things I look for in art/fic: Finding it.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Eh. I don't like their other options. I've seen some people shipping AU Ced/Ishtar and that's potentially interesting but honestly, she's kind of dead.
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I can do both. :)
Now, honestly, in our world, Leif/Nanna would never be happening. Leif should not love his little sister in THAT way any more than any toddler whose parents bring home a new baby. There's this thing called the Westermarck effect that kicks in among children raised as siblings and it means things like Leif/Nanna in either direction and Altena's feelings for Arion should not exist. Even if the kids got the idea that loving your sibling like THAT is romaaaantic (imma blame Raquesis for this one), Leif and Nanna shouldn't be feelin' it sexually. So in a "realistic" 'fic, the puppy love would fizzle out and they'd go looking elsewhere.
(Leif/Janne, however would work, because Janne showed up in his life past the critical age for imprinting.)
But FE5 assures us they wed and were very happy together, so breaking up Leif/Nanna is fairly hard for me. It requires either a) just invoking the Westermarck effect and saying "Nope" and ignoring the game, b) assuming that when Nanna met Ares she was bowled over with the reverse of the Westermarck Effect-- instant sexual attraction to her
half-brothercousin and she done ditched Leif. Or she died. I don't think Leif would take B or C particularly well. At all.That said...
Leif/Sara!
• When or if I started shipping it: Soon after getting into FE5. It's not a hard sell.
• My thoughts: The Lord character paired with the dippy healer hits a weak point of mine, and Sara's brand of dippy is just mesmerizing. She's adorable, he's Leif, and the idea of Leif protecting and sheltering Manfroy's granddaughter is lovely. The idea of Leif perpetuating Manfroy's line? @_@
But they're so damn cute together. And she's not his "beloved sister," either.
• What makes me happy about them:
Wacky dippy slightly perverse-and-twisted teenaged love with a backstory from hell itself?
• What makes me sad about them: Can only really happen if you X out Nanna in some fashion, and most of the scenarios would make Leif very sad. I can see ways of getting them together but those ways are mostly angsty. And let's face it, Manfroy spawn as the Queen of Thracia? That's going to make a lot of people unhappy.
• Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Gleefully shipping it without dealing with all the troubling parts.
• Things I look for in art/fic: The art is generally pleasing. The 'fic I'm just a little more picky about-- does it make any sense the way it's written?
• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Leif's options are obvious. I've seen art and some Japanese 'fic shipping Sara/Delmud and do not buy it for one second; she doesn't really have a Plan B.
Leif/Tinny!
• When or if I started shipping it: Last year, after reading their FE4 conversation and thinking it over a bit.
• My thoughts: Get Tinny away from all Freeges, including Arthur, and she stands on her own feet a lot better. FE4 presents it as a perfect political marriage-- a popular princess of Alster's late ruling clan paired with Leonster's ambitious prince? Yeah. There certainly seems to be some common sympathy between them... and if Leif faced down Blume in Conote as FE4 allows him to, all the better. Tinny also seems 110% more politically adept (along conventional lines) than most of the Gen2 girls.
• What makes me happy about them: I ship this under one particular condition. Since the Tinny produced by any of Tiltyu's predestined options has to inherit Freege, you have to think outside the predestined box to get a Tinny who can stay with her lover. Once Lex and the magic dudes are out of the equation, the best candidate for Tiltyu's lover is Finn (Pursuit, Prayer/Wrath hijinks, and an Arthur who can do damage with a sword). Finn!Tinny and Leaf aren't just cute together, they wrap up all the messy Leonster and Alster plot threads into one neat package. Very nice indeed.
• What makes me sad about them: Well, in most cases this just won't work out because of Tinny's inheritance, and FE5 introduces Miranda to complicate the whole Alster angle. Also, breaking up Leif/Nanna is sad-making.
• Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I was initially annoyed by its existence because all I knew of Tinny was the annoying moe parts to her character. I've gotten over it.
• Things I look for in art/fic: Nothing to really "look for" in something that English-writing fandom doesn't ship, but the art's pretty. Some pieces are comic/creepy but most are just pretty.
• Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not…
Tinny's likely best with Seliph, for all the obstacles Lana presents just by being on the same map and racking up points. Tinny/Ced might work but their in-game interactions don't build much of a case to me. As for Leaf, his canon pairing works just fine, Westermarck Effect be damned.
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Idea: Julia/Sara. I don't know why.