Branded/laguz aging theories

[Dragoncat]

This was posted in the fanart thread. Scroll down and you'll find people saying they don't like that pairing because she's branded and much older than him...got me thinking, how do branded and laguz ages convert to beorc ones anyway? If her appearance is any indicator, she's still in his age group or equivalent to it. I for one think they're adorable together but meh. I figured this topic would be less likely to make people mad/start an argument. And more likely for there to be an intelligent discussion.

My theory: brandeds live for around 100 years regardless of the tribe their laguz blood comes from, aging slows down at puberty. Micaiah might be...late 20s early 30s, while Sothe is late teens early 20s. Might be a gap if they were both pure bred beorc, but that's not the case...making this pairing no more awkward/wrong/whatever than the average childhood friend pairing. And honestly? I'd love to see how their kids turn out xD But anyway...

It would be a bit of an evolutionary disadvantage if say, the dragon laguz were helpless babies for decades. I'll knock the Ena being pregnant for 3 years down to being bad writing/IS throwing it in at the last minute for the dawww factor. I'm willing to bet all laguz have the same gestation as beorc and it takes their kids slightly longer to reach adulthood, but not extremely long.

Thoughts?

[Anacybele]

Well, I do understand why people wouldn't like the pairing. I'm kinda neutral to it myself because Sothe will keep aging while Micaiah will look young for a long time. It'd be awkward seeing a young lady with an old man. But I do think they have a cute relationship anyhow.

I like to think that for a short time, laguz and Branded age just like beorc, but then start aging really slowly at their teen years. Nasir actually says something along the lines of this, if I recall correctly. And both Micaiah and Soren look like teenagers, but are actually older than that.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

I was always under the impression Micaiah raised Sothe since Sothe was a young kid. I think there's a CG showing Micaiah looking close to her appearance in RD with small child Sothe.

Mmmm http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fe10-micaiah-and-child-sothe.png this one.

Sothe's a bit older in the picture than I remember. -shrug-

Edited March 15, 2015 by L95

[Radiant head]

I honestly thought that Micaiah and Sothe were more like step-siblings up until the ending reveals they get married. And I think I saw a picture once of an adult Micaiah meeting a little kid Sothe. So yeah that pairing always felt kind of weird to me.

EDIT: Ninja'd by L95.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Radiant head

[Anacybele]

I don't know about her RAISING him. That'd be even weirder. o.O

[Kon]

All branded age differently depending on what Laguz they are descended from, with Herons and Dragons being among the most long-lived. Micaiah is I think at most 26, since she wasn't old enough to remember or was no longer in Begnion when the Serene's Massacre occurred. IIRC Sothe was around 15 in PoR, making him 18 in Radiant Dawn, so they're at the most 8 years apart. Soren I think is around the same age as Micaiah, if not a little bit younger (like maybe 23)

[Book of Ereshkigal]

I don't know about her RAISING him. That'd be even weirder. o.O

…A long time. I met him when I was hiding out in the back alleys of Nevassa, over ten years ago. He was so skinny, but his gaze was so piercing… I wondered how such a young boy could look like that. One day, I noticed he was standing close to me, just watching. He continued like that for a few days. One day, I held out my hand. He was suspicious of me, but came over anyway. He looked like a scared animal. Then his little hand slipped into mine. It was shaking. His fingers were so thin and frail. I couldn’t let go after that. After that, we traveled together all over the continent. No matter where we went, we were always together.

I may have looked too hard, but Micaiah and Sothe were together from when Sothe was a young age (he looked pretty young in PoR, probably hit puberty between PoR and RD?)

If Sothe was 18 in RD Micaiah met Sothe when he was at the most(since Micaiah says over 10 years ago) 8, and Micaiah would be at the most 16 at the time.

Edited March 16, 2015 by L95

[Ownagepuffs]

I swear I can only imagine Sothe's proposal.

"Micaiah, you complete me. When I'm around you, I feel like I've gained +2 Atk, +8 Hit, and +15 Avo. Won't you be mine?"

"Oh, Sothe..."

[Dragoncat]

I swear I can only imagine Sothe's proposal.

"Micaiah, you complete me. When I'm around you, I feel like I've gained +2 Atk, +8 Hit, and +15 Avo. Won't you be mine?"

"Oh, Sothe..."

Brilliant. You've won a million internets, sir.

Funny how I tried to make this topic not about that pairing and it ended up that way anyway. And yeah, I don't think she raised him. I think more like...raised beside each other in an orphanage or something along those lines...I mean if she raised him that would be like somebody being in a romantic relationship with their mom.

For their sake, I hope my theory is correct. 100 years seems like a good lifespan for brandeds. Longer than the average beorc and they age slower, but...It'd just be awkward for Sothe to explain to people why his wife(mother of his child?)looks like she's a teen and he's middle aged. He'd be labeled a pedophile.

[Kon]

Well, it was the topic you started off with, so I don't see why you're surprised ~o3o~

I doubt your theory is. It's been stated that all of the Laguz have differing life spans, and I can't see the Branded being all set to the same life span (which isn't all that longer than a normal Beorc's, going by your theory). Even then, given that Micaiah becomes the Queen of Daein, I highly doubt Sothe has to bother explaining anything.

[Dragoncat]

You've got to remember that they're part beorc, so that might cancel it out a bit...

And yeah, true. He'd still have to explain it if all the continents were on the same world and people from Elibe or wherever showed up, but that's a big if anyway...

[Kon]

Not to the point that every Branded ever only lives ~20 more years than the average Beorc. That seems a bit ridiculous. It also doesn't make sense due to how Micaiah is stated to look the same as she did 10 years ago by Sothe, unless you're saying that despite their appearances Branded never outlive Beorc by long?

Edited March 16, 2015 by Kon

[Dragoncat]

Not to the point that every Branded ever only lives ~20 more years than the average Beorc. That seems a bit ridiculous. It also doesn't make sense due to how Micaiah is stated to look the same as she did 10 years ago by Sothe, unless you're saying that despite their appearances Branded never outlive Beorc by long?

I can say...maybe 50 more years? Idk. But yeah, the bold sums it up.

[Wen Yang]

Eh, at most there's like a decade age difference.

I've seen worse cases. Never had issues with that.

(by worse cases I mean literally "raises the guy from birth, is also a couple millenia older).

[Dragoncat]

Eh, at most there's like a decade age difference.

I've seen worse cases. Never had issues with that.

(by worse cases I mean literally "raises the guy from birth, is also a couple millenia older).

This. But OMG, where does your worse case come from? Which pairing we talking...

[Kon]

I can say...maybe 50 more years? Idk. But yeah, the bold sums it up.

That doesn't really make any sense though. Why would the Branded be so concerned with not staying among the same people for long if the life span gap was really so small?

[Dragoncat]

That doesn't really make any sense though. Why would the Branded be so concerned with not staying among the same people for long if the life span gap was really so small?

Where does it say they are? I thought Stefan's branded village was, well, a place they can go and not be treated differently/badly.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Micaiah mentions it. (this is why I don't think she's just 23, she's not really old enough for her not aging to be noticeable yet?(she's already past looking like a little girl) Maybe I'm thinking about it wrong.)

http://old.serenesforest.net/fe10/script/1_Fa.html

"I've avoided people most of my life to conceal my brand...and my powers. But there's no way to hide how very slowly I age. I just keep moving through Daein. The same holds true now... I won't be able to stay in this army long."

Also, Stefan's village is a secret, I imagine.

Edited March 16, 2015 by L95

[Dragoncat]

Yeah I think I remember that. Might be just her being paranoid though...

[Junkhead]

I always thought Micaiah couldn't be much older (if older) than 28...Sothe's probably 18.

Edited March 16, 2015 by The Red Queen

[Kon]

Where does it say they are? I thought Stefan's branded village was, well, a place they can go and not be treated differently/badly.

I should have clarified, "among the same Beorcs"

All of the Branded with the exception of Soren have spent their entire lives relocating from place to place since once it became apparent they weren't aging like everyone else they would be outed as a Branded and ostracized as a result.

Micaiah: I've avoided people most of my life to conceal my brand...and my powers. But there's no way to hide how very slowly I age. I just keep moving through Daein. The same holds true now... I won't be able to stay in this army long.

Stefan: It's easy to hide among beorcs. You just cover the brand, avoid getting close to anyone, and never settle down. Pretending you're normal.

Oh hey, I dug some digging and here's the part about their slowed aging. Thank you Stefan~

Stefan: You're Branded--there's no doubt about it. I can tell. I'm just like you.

Soren: ...

Stefan: You've grown quite good at hiding it. But, it's merely a matter of time before your heritage becomes...evident.

Soren: ...Evident?

Stefan: You may have already started to notice. We age differently than the beorc. Of course, the specifics of it depend on the type of laguz blood that flows in your veins.

Soren: I thought I was aging normally... Well, until about three years ago.

Stefan: You won't be able to remain in the same place. Beorc aren't very observant, but even they will soon catch on.

Soren: That may be true... But I will not leave Ike's side.

Stefan: One day, the laguz blood shows itself, marking the child's body with a brand. How old is that girl, hmm? I don't think she's as young as she looks. The other curse is that we age differently from beorc. It depends on what laguz blood the child has, but it always slows how fast we age.

[BrightBow]

It's interesting that Stefan seems to think that little Amy might be older then she looks, seeing how Soren said that he believed himself to be aging normally until merely 3 years ago. And since Ike described him as a boy his age when they were still in Gallia and Soren looks now slightly younger then Ike (and unlike Ike, is getting occasionally categorized as a child), that's probably correct. It also fits with how Nasir described the Dragon Laguz as stopping signs of aging upon a certain maturity. It would also be a problem for an Apostle if she would keep the appearance of a child for too long.

Well, maybe they were just looking for an excuse to highlight Amy. At the very least I would bet that Micaiah was only as old as she looked back when she first meet Sothe.

I think it's convenient to link to the CG in question.

http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fe10-micaiah-and-child-sothe.png

Edited March 16, 2015 by BrightBow

[Kon]

It's interesting that Stefan seems to think that little Amy might be older then she looks, seeing how Soren said that he believed himself to be aging normally until merely 3 years ago. And since Ike described him as a boy his age when they were still in Gallia and Soren looks now slightly younger then Ike (and unlike Ike, is getting occasionally categorized as a child), that's probably correct. It also fits with how Nasir described the Dragon Laguz as stopping signs of aging upon a certain maturity. It would also be a problem for an Apostle if she would keep the appearance of a child for too long.

Well, maybe they were just looking for an excuse to highlight Amy. At the very least I would bet that Micaiah was only as old as she looked back when she first meet Sothe.

I think it's convenient to link to the CG in question.

http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/fe10-micaiah-and-child-sothe.png

Stefan is talking about Micaiah, not Amy. That quote came from his conversation with Yune, and he mentions nothing of Amy. ~o3o~

[BrightBow]

Stefan is talking about Micaiah, not Amy. That quote came from his conversation with Yune, and he mentions nothing of Amy. ~o3o~

Yes, I know that convo. And Yune mentions the "little girl who stays by the queen of Crimea".

Edited March 16, 2015 by BrightBow

[Anacybele]

You know, all this talk about how long the Branded live makes me wonder if the age of this one Branded character I have makes enough sense. I have this Dracoknight named Lartz. He is a wolf laguz Branded. He looks to be in his twenties, but he's really around 80 years old and has not aged much in a couple decades or so.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Anacybele