Why is Flayn x Byleth such an underrepresented/contested pairing?

[Shrimpica]

Flayn is 151 cm btw.

[NolanBaumgartner]

10 minutes ago, LelouchUzumaki said:

Why should we agree on that? What makes her resemble a child any moreso than any of the other short characters (female and male btw)?

Evidently, height play a major role. If you were to take a foot off from every Academy student and readjust their proportions accordingly, most of them would too resemble children. Flayn is also drawn with soft features and a conservative getup associated with children. And of course, her overall demeanor and treatment from Seteth contributes to the perception she's child-like. 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

My general impression of Flayn is that I like her dialogue and voice acting but when I see her face and character model, I'm a bit creeped out by her. Like she's a doll brought to life. Her ears being obscured also makes her head seem ill-defined and lacking in human features for your brain to grasp onto. Of course, there's a good lore reason why her ears need to be hidden by her hair. 

As for my opinion of Byleth and Flayn as a romantic pairing, well, all the S supports seem stilted and awkward to me since Byleth has no chemistry with anybody. When it comes to Flayn's crushes, I think her support with Ferdinand was adorable. And I like how her Sylvain support stops so short and ties in vaguely to the Sylvain and Seteth support. She's got a lot of great supports. I just don't enjoy looking at them.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Glennstavos

[Fabulously Olivier]

6 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

My general impression of Flayn is that I like her dialogue and voice acting but when I see her face and character model, I'm a bit creeped out by her. Like she's a doll brought to life. Her ears being obscured also makes her head seem ill-defined and lacking in human features for your brain to grasp onto. Of course, there's a good lore reason why her ears need to be hidden by her hair. 

Here I thought I was the only one. Also, her mouth movements seem unnatural in a way that I can't quantify. She just hits the uncanny valley, and coupled with her annoying voice, I just can't stand her.

[Integrity]

8 minutes ago, NolanBaumgartner said:

Evidently, height play a major role. If you were to take a foot off from every Academy student and readjust their proportions accordingly, most of them would too resemble children. Flayn is also drawn with soft features and a conservative getup associated with children. And of course, her overall demeanor and treatment from Seteth contributes to the perception she's child-like. 

i'll throw my hat into the ring and also note that you don't Fuck the academy versions of the students, you get with the pts ones - lysithea is absolutely coded very young relative to most of the cast in the academy phase, but has become a slender young woman in the interim. same the other young folks - annette, cyril, etc. - are distinctly adults by the time you're actually clowning with them

 

flayn, on the other hand, does not change, and by the timeskip is absolutely the youngest coded design

[Quillmonger]

Because Flayn is baby. 

I'm kidding. I don't like it because, well spoilers: 

 

In my mind Flayn is family. She's Rhea's niece and Byleth is Rhea's grand daughter, it's weird.

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Quillmonger

[I Love Flayn]

17 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

My general impression of Flayn is that I like her dialogue and voice acting but when I see her face and character model, I'm a bit creeped out by her. Like she's a doll brought to life. Her ears being obscured also makes her head seem ill-defined and lacking in human features for your brain to grasp onto. Of course, there's a good lore reason why her ears need to be hidden by her hair.

Perhaps it's the "Monika effect" or the fact that Flayn is the only one that looks directly at the player as opposed to the slight profile shot of the other characters. Very few Fire Emblem characters have this characteristic, and no one else in 3H does outside of Byleth themself.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Wait, theres even a question of why Flayn/Byleth is funky? You do not hook up with characters when they are students. Everyone is well over the age of 18, and look the part post skip. Flayn doesnt change. This is a clue to her true nature, but its also what turns people off. She stays pretty much an underage girl (dont give me that "shes really hella old" shite) visibly, and its freaking creepy to some folx to romance her. (For the record, i find romancing Sothis highly disturbing as well. Perhaps moreso) 

Flayn is one of my favorite characters, but hell no im not marrying her. N o p e. Im no teenager, my Byleth is no teenager, im not gonna bonk a teenager. Especially considering Seteth is right there and perfect spouse material Ill be honest, i dont even like the idea of romancing Bernadetta be ause of how petite and young she looks. Even post skip. 

[Sid Starkiller]

16 minutes ago, Etheus said:

Also, her mouth movements seem unnatural in a way that I can't quantify.

Thank you. Didn't think to mention it before, but yes, it bugs the hell out of me, too. And she's the only one; every other character's lip flaps look natural (if a bit generic) except hers.

[darkblade2814]

1 minute ago, Sid Starkiller said:

Thank you. Didn't think to mention it before, but yes, it bugs the hell out of me, too. And she's the only one; every other character's lip flaps look natural (if a bit generic) except hers.

yeah, the mouth movements are pretty creepy 

[I Love Flayn]

2 minutes ago, Loki Laufeyson said:

Wait, theres even a question of why Flayn/Byleth is funky? You do not hook up with characters when they are students. Everyone is well over the age of 18, and look the part post skip. Flayn doesnt change. This is a clue to her true nature, but its also what turns people off. She stays pretty much an underage girl (dont give me that "shes really hella old" shite) visibly, and its freaking creepy to some folx to romance her. (For the record, i find romancing Sothis highly disturbing as well. Perhaps moreso) 

Flayn is one of my favorite characters, but hell no im not marrying her. N o p e. Im no teenager, my Byleth is no teenager, im not gonna bonk a teenager. Especially considering Seteth is right there and perfect spouse material Ill be honest, i dont even like the idea of romancing Bernadetta be ause of how petite and young she looks. Even post skip. 

Feel free to have disagreements about Flayn but don't call others "creepy" for liking or romancing her. With everyone claiming that Nabatean x Byleth relationships are incestuous (which I don't agree with), someone could easily call you creepy for saying Seteth is "perfect spouse material" (IE what is that, some weird daddy fetish?). Everyone deserves to have their opinions respected if they aren't disrespecting others.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Im not calling anyone creepy, mate. I said "some people find it creepy to romance this character." Which means "personally creepy to someone" Also, you are veering into a slippery slope. A really nasty one.  

[Benice]

I have a bad feeling about the way this is going...

Anyways, It's nowhere near as bad as Sakura/Elise in fates, since Flayn cannot be a parent during the game. It's nowhere near as bad as what happened IRL throughout history, such as this 82 year old who married a 12 year  old. I think perhaps that we all just need to chill a little bit about this.

[Eurydice]

Imo she feels more like a younger sister than a future wife, she also stays within a young, youthful teenaged apperance while the others don't. I like her character, just wouldn't S rank her anytime soon. 

Also Byleth would probably die via Seteth's wrath 8D

[I Love Flayn]

7 minutes ago, Eurydice said:

Also Byleth would probably die via Seteth's wrath 8D

Do people completely miss the part where Seteth tells Byleth he literally trusts them with Flayn's life?

[Ottservia]

Chill dude it was just a joke

[Crysta]

She looks like a younger teenager than the others and that doesn't change over the time skip.

She also at times acts like a younger teenager in spite of her age.

You can ramble about technicalities, but it doesn't matter - that's how she's perceived. That's probably your most straightforward answer.

 

[Timlugia]

3 hours ago, Ottservia said:

 Lysithea is 15 and god knows how old flayn is.

Probably just below 1,300 years old

Flayn says her parents were married in the cathedral in Enbarr, and the earliest mention about Enbarr's establishment is 1300 according to Ferdinand.

So unless there was a church even predates the city by long*, she should be around that age.

 

* Obviously this goes to another lore question, how far ago human began to worship Sothis? We know that official Church of Seiros didn't establish until Rhea came forward in year -41 of Empire, so there is likely some form of established  religion even predates Rhea taking over.

[Marihilda shipper 2456]

But I don’t think the problem is that flayn looks young, she is literally biologically related to byleth. And in her dragon years he isn’t even legal. This ship is gross on so many levels, even if you ignore both of those points, flayn is centuries older than byleth.  Y’all gross. 

[Zeake]

This conversation is moronic. There are far worse deviant pairings of sodomite persuasion in this game, that folks could and should be pointing fingers at and deriding. 

 

Max Flayn's support with Setteth, and you will know of an absolute assurance that Flayn is not a child, nor is she even as young as the "in game code" would suggest. 

 

All students in this game post time skip are older than 18. Pairings with any of them, male and female, display no illegitimacy. Byleth is not related to Flayn or Rhea. Sitri was a girl who was given Sothis' heart (her crest) to survive, and Jeralt was saved by healing through Rhea's blood. That's the only relation they could possibly have. They're not related, they're not blood, and she is even not a dragon anymore. Research needs be doing before conclusions can be formed, about anything. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Zeake

[eclipse]

4 hours ago, LelouchUzumaki said:

Feel free to have disagreements about Flayn but don't call others "creepy" for liking or romancing her. With everyone claiming that Nabatean x Byleth relationships are incestuous (which I don't agree with), someone could easily call you creepy for saying Seteth is "perfect spouse material" (IE what is that, some weird daddy fetish?). Everyone deserves to have their opinions respected if they aren't disrespecting others.

And YOU can start by not projecting your insecurities all over the other posters.  If you're going to assume that you'll be attacked for expressing this opinion, then I suggest taking a good, long look at who you are and what you value, because getting this worked up over a video game opinion is worrying.

24 minutes ago, Zeake said:

This conversation is moronic.

Lovely.  If it isn't for you, get out.

---

I refuse to pair Byleth with any of the students on principle, and Flayn is no exception.  So no, I'm not going to give this pairing any more weight than the other student ones (yes, even Mercedes, despite the fact that she's older than Byleth).

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

29 minutes ago, Zeake said:

This conversation is moronic. There are far worse deviant pairings of sodomite persuasion in this game, that folks could and should be pointing fingers at and deriding. 

Uh sodomy is awesome though.

[NolanBaumgartner]

51 minutes ago, Zeake said:

This conversation is moronic. There are far worse deviant pairings of sodomite persuasion in this game, that folks could and should be pointing fingers at and deriding. 

i_dont_think_you_know_what_that_word_means.jpg

[I Love Flayn]

20 minutes ago, eclipse said:

And YOU can start by not projecting your insecurities all over the other posters.  If you're going to assume that you'll be attacked for expressing this opinion, then I suggest taking a good, long look at who you are and what you value, because getting this worked up over a video game opinion is worrying.

Unfortunately I don't have to assume; I and others have been attacked on places like Reddit and YouTube for expressing fondness for Flayn. Also, my having an opinion and wanting it respected is "worrying"? There is no need to make this about me as a person, so also ask you to not project things onto me either.

[Crysta]

4 minutes ago, LelouchUzumaki said:

Unfortunately I don't have to assume; I and others have been attacked on places like Reddit and YouTube for expressing fondness for Flayn. Also, my having an opinion and wanting it respected is "worrying"? There is no need to make this about me as a person, so also ask you to not project things onto me either.

Has anyone actually attacked you here yet?