Pairing Meme: FE7 Time

[mark_asphodel]

Uh-oh.  I must be crazy to do this... posting my public opinions about the game that most of you hold dearest to your hearts when I've never unlocked Hector mode or played Hard Mode anything or unlocked most of the support convos or lived for years immersed in Elibe.

So, just take into account that these are all my own personal opinions and biases, mmmkay?
 
- One True Pairing Ship
- Canon Ship
- "If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship
- "You are one sick bastard" Ship
- "I dabble a little" Ship
- "It's like a car crash" Ship
- "Tickles my fancy but not sold just yet" Ship
- "Makes no canon sense but why not" Ship
- "Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" Ship

OTP 'Ship: 
Don't have one yet. 

Though I must confess to a very strong preference for Hector/Lyn for political reasons.  I am not terribly taken with either Lyn or Hector as personalities (no, really) and their "courtship" contains some elements that annoy me.  But Lyn's various endings irk me greatly with regards to the fate of Caelin, and I much prefer the idea that Caelin passes to Lyn's own daughter rather than believing that, after fighting a struggle over her rights to Caelin in which people died, including decent people who were on the wrong side, she just "pulls a Nyna" and runs away to suit her own interests.  The idea that Lilina's ultimate role of unifying all of Lycia begins literally at home, with the union of her father's Ostia and her mother's Caelin, also pleases me.

Canon 'Ship:
Gotta go with Pent/Louise.  They're sweet, they're canon... they might be morons for messing around in wartime but I guess Klein's age was predetermined and that's how the timeline shook out.  And apparently Clarine turns out to be rather obnoxious.  But these two have some especially touching retreat quotes and I really don't understand why some people loathe them.  And Pent's cute.  

Spork 'Ship:
Oh, god.  So many of these.  If there's Matthew/Guy involved, I'm not reading it unless I really, really trust that author and have some kind of motivation to even be reading it.  Heath/Legault, same deal.  Kent/Sain, same deal.  Anything involving "sex" and Karel, same deal.  And the reason for all these is the same-- overexposure to bad fanfic back in the day when I was plowing through ffnet looking for anything related to the "Akaneia" games.  I saw enough M/G, H/L, and K/S that the 'fic summaries started to give me hives.  And use of Karel often just seems to be an excuse to be exceptionally gross.  Heath/Legault might be a fine pairing in some respect, but at this point, I just don't care what its good points are and I don't want to read it.

Sick Bastard 'Ship:
Some authors write things involving the morphs.  Some of these stories are really not that bad.  Some of them are.  Eliwood/Limstella was the centerpiece of a surprisingly thoughtful 'fic that threw FE6 canon out the window.  I'm still not sure whether I enjoyed it or not, but I certainly finished it.  Though it might have just been the realism of that story that impressed me, rather than the pairing; the author didn't hold back at all when inflicting dysentery upon Eliwood, and a lot of writers just wouldn't try.

Dabble 'Ship:
I'd kind of like to see some solid 'fics featuring Erk and Nino post-game.  I can see why no one writes it (the overwhelming predominance of Jaffar/Nino), but I like the possibilities.  He's very sweet with her... the picture book and everything.  Aww.

Car Crash 'Ship:
Eliwood/Fiora and Eliwood/Lyn.  Because of, you know, Ninian.  Eli/Fiora I sort of fancy on its own merits (and because I rather like to be weird), but I've finally fallen into the camp that says that, yes, Ninian really is Eliwood's True Love and he won't ever be the same if she goes through the Gate.  Eliwood/Fiora is going to be problematic (and boy did I like "Fools Rush In" by sacae  for tackling some of the problems), and we know it can't possibly end Happily Ever After.   As for Eliwood/Lyn, I don't believe them to be anything more than dear friends, and while I can appreciate the fictional possibilities of Eliwood turning to his best friend for comfort, there are again going to be Issues.  And this one doesn't end so well either.

Also, realistically?  Hector/Farina is going to be like a fifty-car pileup in the center of Ostia.

Harken/Isadora has the hint of screeching metal and burning gasoline around it, too.


Not Sold 'Ship:
Lots of pairings, really.  I dunno.  Erk/Priscilla?  

Why Not? 'Ship:
Friends have successfully made the case to me that Sain/Florina ought to have been a viable option.  Sain is, whatever his quirks, a gentle man as well as a gentleman and would treat Florina very well.

Also rather liked shining_valor 's take on future!Pent/Louise wherein Pent is all wrapped up in his studies and Louise is consoling herself with Erk.

And finally-- I like Hector/Serra, dammit!  That's another one that should've been canon.  It's loopy and whacked-out and there's such poignant depth behind Serra's confabulations and I.  Just.  Like.  It.  [FWIW, Serra = an evolution of FE3's Melissa with more than one facet to her personality.]

Not Feelin' It 'Ship:
I understand why people gravitate to Kent/Lyn (well, for a start, it's about the only marriage ending that doesn't assume that she DIES), but in spite of the many fellow writers who have made the case for it, this pairing is something I like and read only on an intermittent basis.  A handful of stories have connected with me emotionally, but most don't, and I think the problem is mostly that I'm not especially taken with Lyn.

Same thing with Hector/Florina.  This is a "type" of pairing (super-shy and gentle girl, big lummox of a guy) that fails to move me in general, and while individual stories have touched me, as it stands I consider this to be the least preferred of Hector's canon-pairing options.  As in, "I'd rather see him with Eliwood."

While Raven/Lucius can be done decently, usually it just seems like an excuse for stereotypical seme/uke garbage.  Again, I trust some authors in particular and don't bother with the rest.

[I can tell when I'm really only connecting with particular stories and not with a pairing based on whether or not I bother looking for fanart.  If it's purely the writer, I ain't digging up fanart for that couple, because it's not really the couple that clicks for me.]

Finally, Nino and Jaffar?  Yeah, I know it's one of those canon-preferred things where you're really supposed to go with Jaffar even if Erk is technically an option, but it leaves me quite frigid.  I wouldn't say I hate it, exactly, but I don't react well to it and I can't entirely say why just yet. 

There.  I did it.  Meme's done, unless I'm going to half-ass my way though Jugdral.  Not touching Tellius with a ten-foot pole.

Comments

[shining-valor.livejournal.com]

[Twitches]

No, no! Must not touch the gun... No killing of people because of disagreements, my pretty!

~

I grant that you have points in some of your explanations. Yes, you do have points. Some I even agree with. Except Hector/Lyn in any capacity. This rubs me the wrong way and causes reactions such as the above.

[Though I must confess to a very strong preference for Hector/Lyn for political reasons. I am not terribly taken with either Lyn or Hector as personalities (no, really) and their "courtship" contains some elements that annoy me. But Lyn's various endings irk me greatly with regards to the fate of Caelin, and I much prefer the idea that Caelin passes to Lyn's own daughter rather than believing that, after fighting a struggle over her rights to Caelin in which people died, including decent people who were on the wrong side, she just "pulls a Nyna" and runs away to suit her own interests. The idea that Lilina's ultimate role of unifying all of Lycia begins literally at home, with the union of her father's Ostia and her mother's Caelin, also pleases me.]

Bah, if you look at the way things go, you'll find that Lyn originally has no plans for staying in Caelin - the turn towards Caelin rides upon two knightly lads who bear news of a sick grandfather. That was what really turned her focus towards the tiny canton. In fact, had Lundgren not interfered, its a possibility that she may have even bypassed Caelin altogether after a short visit (though she probably would have made a point in visiting the ancestral holdings from time to time.) And if you recall, the driving focus of the journey was to eventually come back and crush the bandits that had taken away her parents and clan.

(Also, someone mentioned Lyn's selfishness in a reply post I think. Is it truly Lyn's selfishness, or is it the selfishness of certain folk in Caelin? After all, "Champion Roland...His heirs become the lords of the Lycian League..." would make it so there are plenty of potential inheritors of the bloodline, although mayhap not in direct descent from the Hausen/Lundgren part of the tree.)

:P

Ignore my grumpiness - I still think you make a lot of good points amongst the ones that I rabidly disagree with. Having different points of view makes for diverse fiction, which is a good thing.

So yeah, never mind me...

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

In the interest of keeping my vital parts intact...

Is it truly Lyn's selfishness, or is it the selfishness of certain folk in Caelin?

For me, it pretty much boils down to "don't have people die over your birthright if you don't plan to honor what you bought with their blood." Now, as a total outsider to Lycia, Lyn might not have known what she was getting into... but hell, Alm in FE2 had no idea what he was getting himself into and he manned up and accepted responsibility for things. It's part of the whole noblesse oblige deal, IMO.

Now, again, as an outsider to the whole system, Lyn is a more sympathetic figure than Princess Nyna, who just fails at life, love, and statecraft by the standards of her birthright. And no, Lyn didn't provoke Lundgren's little war. But, again... Alm didn't ask to have his homeland invaded, either. He was duped, just as Lyn was manipulated into events.

I don't put Lyn in the same bin as Nyna (for whom I feel pity on a good day and outright contempt the rest of the time). But I feel quite ambivalent about her... not least because she was retconned into pre-existing canon, making her options for the future rather limited. She has to disappear, whether into Sacae, an early grave, or both. None of it really sits well with me, both on a in-world level and a meta level.

[shining-valor.livejournal.com]

Ah, don't worry about yourself - I already said I won't do anything to hurt you. Just kinda been on the wrong end of a headache all day... so it kind of leaves me on edge and with weird and non-translatable humor. Fail me.

To be honest, I don't really like the whole retcon myself. It does restrict things and basically makes the characters seem like cannon (canon) fodder to support the story. Anyway, don't take my grumbling too seriously - I do respect people having opposing opinions to mine.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

"don't have people die over your birthright if you don't plan to honor what you bought with their blood."

Actually, this one of the controversies I intend to use in my novelization, but your wording is much better than anything I could come up with. I think for Lyn this would occur toward the beginning of her journey to Caelin.

1.) She just wants to see her grandfather.

2.) But people are dying because of it.

3.) If she turned back, her grandfather would probably die, but Kent and Sain, the tactician, and whoever else has joined the party would live. Not to mention Kent and Sain's comrades that they had to fight and kill themselves. :[

4.) But I think after seeing her parents and people die, she'd want to save her grandfather. However, by agreeing to it, I don't think she'd realize she was (like I said above) getting everyone's hopes up about her staying. Kent and Sain never said anything about that to her, but I think by even SHOWING UP in Caelin? She's unknowingly agreeing to stick around. For a while? Sure. But forever? No. Like I said to Trevor, though, after a couple of years, after learning and everything...would she really think people would still assume she wanted to go back home? (Especially if she managed to cover up any homesickness?)

/blahblahblah forever, sorry.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

I mentioned Lyn's selfishness! :P

And I love her.

But let me explain a bit further. I don't QUITE agree with Mark-- I do feel that Lyn had no intention of taking the throne from the beginning, and I think people (ie: Kent, Sain, Wil, Wallace, etc) knew it. HOWEVER.

She sticks around. A year? And then travels some more, maybe another year. So I think by then most people are kinda thinking that she's going to stick around. Characters like Wil and Kent, who seem happy serving her/fighting for Caelin (and maybe Heath, too) would, I think, be disappointed at the news of her decision to leave. ie: She stuck around and got their hopes up. Knowingly? Who knows. She talks to a random stranger that she found on the plains AFTER HER PEOPLE WERE SLAUGHTERED. <--what.

I don't think she's a horrible, selfish person. I LOVE LYN. But I do think that by sticking around so long, and by learning things like manners and dancing and whatever else she had to learn, that she was (perhaps mistakenly) giving people the impression that she was there to stay.

And MAYBE somewhere along the way she wanted to. Who knows? I actually see Lyn herself as feeling very conflicted over the matter. Once her grandfather dies, she has no real reason to stay. Sure you could say "love" (ie: Kent or the tactician or something who might like Caelin and/or want to stay there), but I dunno, I don't think she'd be happy staying and ruling. I don't really think she'd be good at it.