Same-Sex Marriage Confirmed

[Tryhard]

On the one hand 'Yay representation', but on the other hand, why do the gay options have to be the two most psychotic cast members? :/ Hopefully we'll get sane options next time.

don't you want the interesting conversations?

I suppose, yeah. Though I thought one female and one male option on each route would have been fine.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Tryhard

[Onestep]

Eh, it is what it is. And what it is is IS pandering to the fujoshi and otaku.

Wow that's a lot of 'is'.

[Sky Soldier]

I agree that there should be one of each option for each route: in my case, I would vote for Belka on Nohr and Hinata on Hoshido, but that's just me.

In exchange,..... NoA and IS can A+ support all the siblings. *runs for cover*

Edited June 24, 2015 by Sky Soldier

[Sixsmith]

Eh, it is what it is. And what it is is IS pandering to the fujoshi and otaku.

Wow that's a lot of 'is'.

Totally, because gay people are just a myth.

[Onestep]

Totally, because gay people are just a myth.

No, because Japan doesn't really care much about gay people. They have a very conservative society, where it's overall considered fine to be gay, as long as no-on knows. While there has been a marked increase in campaigning for LGBT rights in Japan over the last decade as the younger generation displaces the old, it's still quite restrained compared to say, the US. What we're seeing here is pandering to segments of the otaku market, the yuri otaku and the fujoshi, who are far larger and more known market segments than simply 'gay' and 'lesbian'. The market in Japan is quite different to the market in the US or EU, mostly due to cultural differences.

NoA are trying to sell it as progressive, and it may well be so, but I highly doubt that IS are trying to make a statement. They're trying to draw in and attract a market that they know exists and know already have an interest in their work: that of the fujoshi and yuri otaku, as they've already well appealed to the otome and mainstream otaku market. That's not to say that they don't hope to pull in some gays and lesbians, but it's likely a side goal rather than the main aim.

I don't particularly care one way or another myself. I'm not gay, so these options don't matter to me, but I guess it's nice that other people have a few options to suit them.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Onestep

[Tryhard]

The entire game was already pandering to otakus, as you said, before gay marriage got confirmed anyway, so what does it matter?

Edited June 24, 2015 by Tryhard

[Onestep]

The entire game was already pandering to otakus, as you said, before gay marriage got confirmed anyway, so what does it matter?

It doesn't matter at all, that's what I'm saying. It's just appealling to a different section of the otaku market. My comment was a non-comment. A literary shrug.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Onestep

[Tryhard]

people are rather antsy around the word pandering right now tbh lol

but yes

Edited June 24, 2015 by Tryhard

[goodperson707]

^^ but fire emblem has implied gay relationships several times before, was that pandering? And if it was why did they make it official in this game, i am sure they could have found a way to work the avatar into the implications. That seems like the better pandering route tbh.

Edited June 24, 2015 by goodperson707

[Onestep]

^^ but fire emblem has implied gay relationships several times before, was that pandering? And if it was why did they make it official in this game, i am sure they could have found a way to work the avatar into the implications. That seems like the better pandering route tbh.

Who knows? Maybe they just decided the time was right, or that Awakening had drawn in a whole new audience with it's new, more anime-esque designs, an audience that had a substantial presence in the yuri and yaoi market.

I can't read IS's mind. I'm just saying that plenty of people are reading a political or social message into this, when IS's intentions were likely far more driven by economics.

[EJ107]

I wouldn't be surprised if overshore markets were also part of the decision, given the success Awakening had in the west.

[Onestep]

I wouldn't be surprised if overshore markets were also part of the decision, given the success Awakening had in the west.

That too, though Japan has a pretty horrible track record of caring what western fans think in anything beyond Mario or Sonic.

[Phoenix Wright]

i'm happy that same-sex marriages exist in the universe, i'm just mad that in both cases you get a crazy sadist. and they're the only option.

maybe i wanted to marry kamui to aqua? or the princesses of the two kingdoms huh??

[goodperson707]

Who knows? Maybe they just decided the time was right, or that Awakening had drawn in a whole new audience with it's new, more anime-esque designs, an audience that had a substantial presence in the yuri and yaoi market.

I can't read IS's mind. I'm just saying that plenty of people are reading a political or social message into this, when IS's intentions were likely far more driven by economics.

Well let me say that you seem to be reading into this as well though less so than some others i will admit, but that still doesn't explain the making it official that part is more likely to be political or social than economical imo, plus making just one option for the yuri and yaoi crowd just seems incredibly stupid if the intention was money money money. If they cut a few things i am sure they could have added several more options per route,

[Sias]

On the one hand 'Yay representation', but on the other hand, why do the gay options have to be the two most psychotic cast members? :/ Hopefully we'll get sane options next time.

Pretty much my feelings.

I'm not going for Zero/Shara just because the option is there. Maybe I'm just shallow.

It really depends on what they're like to me. If they are creepy/insane, then it's ehhh to me.

Still, I'm glad representation exists. I wasn't expecting it at all.

This.

I think it's really nice that there are the possibilities in the game now, but...

First of all, the potential candidates being region locked is rather dumb for someone gay who wanted to go for Hoshido/a lesbian Nohr player, and additionally there are the mentioned "behaviour problems" your spouse might have. Oh, and if it's true what numerous people have claimed and you don't get Kanna/Eponine/both when you do those pairings (with adoption being only mentioned in the endings), then that's pretty unfair.

I originally intended to try out a homo playthrough when I first heard this to see how things work out, but now I'm not really so sure anymore. I dunno.

In my opinion the easiest way to go would still have been to make Aqua/Cyrus the two bisexual options.

You'd obviously have access to them in every route anyways, you'd still be able to get two children, and none of them is semi-psycho.

Honestly, the motivation for them to marry you would be rather fitting as well, with Aqua available for the whole heroine-falls-in-love-with-the-main-character-trope and Cyrus for best-friend-forever-that-just-left-his-whole-country-and-family-behind-to-follow-you.

But maybe they wanted to avoid female Kamuis accidentally marrying Aqua like it apparently happened all the time with Mu and Chrom?

Regardless of this, let's see how things work out after the localisation and such. Someone talked about more options being possibly added during this, although I personally think that this seems rather unlikely. Hm.

[Onestep]

Well let me say that you seem to be reading into this as well though less so than some others i will admit, but that still doesn't explain the making it official that part is more likely to be political or social than economical imo, plus making just one option for the yuri and yaoi crowd just seems incredibly stupid if the intention was money money money. If they cut a few things i am sure they could have added several more options per route,

Typically if things are cut, that's because they DON'T have as much time as they like to add things. They may also be uncertain about what certain cultures feel about this, and be testing the waters, so to speak. If it all turns out well, perhaps more gay options will be added via DLC or spotpass. They may also want to evaulate the real size of their yaoi/yuri fans and gay fans. After all, it's simply not worth the resources to add significant numbers of gay options if only 5% or so of the actual players use the ones provided. They may not care much about what their foreign fanbase thinks, but they may also be wanting to avoid possible controversy. There's any number of reasons, but they all seem to be based on business practices to me.

Like I said, I can't read IS's mind. It's possible that this is a political statement as opposed to a financial move. But I just doubt it.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Onestep

[Wayward Alchemist]

It's a bit weird that the only gay guy is in Nohr, and the only lesbians are in Hoshido, that we know of. Why didn't they just make one or two of each on both routes? (Don't bite my head off goodperson, they're video game characters, therefore I think of them as "options", but I don't consider real people "options".)

[Leif]

You don't get any children as a homosexual couple? Well, I suspected that would be the case.

would have been awesome to have replacements for children characters i.e. Genealogy

In all fairness, there would be absolutely NO way for Kanna to exist since he/she is already half dragon. I wondered if the writers would write Epionne as the result of adoption, but that wouldn't make any sense if Zero married a woman in another file.

Whatever. I'll have a file a homo play through, and other files for character supports, max stat units for online play, etc.

Honestly, I am genuinely grateful for the inclusion of LGBT folks in Fates. It really isn't a about who's gay or whether or not I can date so-and-so--it's the steps Nintendo is taking to acknowledge that gay people, gamers to be exact, exist. And this is a positive step forward for not only Fire Emblem but other Nintendo titles.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Leif

[Wayward Alchemist]

You don't get any children as a homosexual couple? Well, I suspected that would be the case.

would have been awesome to have replacements for children characters i.e. Genealogy

In all fairness, there would be absolutely NO way for Kanna to exist since he/she is already half dragon. I wondered if the writers would write Epionne as the result of adoption, but that wouldn't make any sense if Zero married a woman in another file.

Whatever. I'll have a file a homo play through, and other files for character supports, max stat units for online play, etc.

Honestly, I am genuinely grateful for the inclusion of LGBT folks in Fates. It really isn't a about who's gay or whether or not I can date so-and-so--it's the steps Nintendo is taking to acknowledge that gay people, gamers to be exact, exist. And this is a positive step forward for not only Fire Emblem but other Nintendo titles.

I agree, I would totally OTP Ignis and Foley!

[eclipse]

It's a bit weird that the only gay guy is in Nohr, and the only lesbians are in Hoshido, that we know of. Why didn't they just make one or two of each on both routes? (Don't bite my head off goodperson, they're video game characters, therefore I think of them as "options", but I don't consider real people "options".)

I'm not the person in question, BUT I won't bite your head off. I can tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

Anyway, if it was a true dual-route, I would've gone with Joker and Felicia. They serve YOU, so having them fall in love with you (and vice-versa) would work. . .as long as the ending wasn't something super-creepy, like making Felicia wear a diamond-studded collar all the time.

[Chastlily]

While I'm very happy to be able to do LGB pairings, I find it quite sad that the only option are only Shara and that one man (I forgot his name, apologies). [spoiler AHEAD] I read the support conversations for Shara x FeMU and it feels like it is a step forward on the border of the cliff. I would have hoped they'd have toned down the creepy stalker aspect of it but they did not, they just tried to justify it with Shara being Tharja's reincarnation and 14FeMU being 13FeMU's reincarnation.

Edited June 25, 2015 by Chastlily

[EJ107]

I think they went one for each route as another incentive to get people to buy/play both routes. That or they decided they wanted Shara to be availible for F!Kamui and went for a Nohr exclusive male to even it out. Maybe both.

I see it as them testing the waters with regards to same-gender marriages, which is why the options are more obscure characters. Perhaps they will expand them in future games if they are well-received here.

[Chastlily]

I think too that they're testing the waters, even if some characters of the past Fire Emblem games did have homosexuality as one of their trait (Heather comes to mind).

Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with the presence of LGB pairings, as it partly concerns me, but I don't think they'll manage to handle it well and that's what I'm afraid of. It kind of seems like Shara loves FeMU just because of the reincarnation stuff, rather than actual love.

[EJ107]

I think too that they're testing the waters, even if some characters of the past Fire Emblem games did have homosexuality as one of their trait (Heather comes to mind).

Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with the presence of LGB pairings, as it partly concerns me, but I don't think they'll manage to handle it well and that's what I'm afraid of. It kind of seems like Shara loves FeMU just because of the reincarnation stuff, rather than actual love.

I understand. Back when it was still uncertain whether or not they would be in I was worried they would be handled badly, but I'm honestly very pleasantly surprised with how they have done it. They get full S supports and even marriage, which was a big shock for me since gay marriage isn't legally recognized in Japan and very little Japanese media has same gender couples actually get married. After reading the S supports I thought they were handled pretty well, and that's before the localization changes.

As for the reincarnation thing, I think the S support made it clear that it was truly about Shara's love for Kamui, not the reincarnation thing.

"...Well it's about that but, I don't like it... Meeting again after reincarnation."

"I've gotten tired of wishing for a "next time". If I'm expressing my feelings I want to convey it with this body.. with this voice...I... love you. I love you more than anyone else."

Edited June 25, 2015 by EJ107

[FutureKnightX]

My two cents on the matter (probably more than that, but whatevs lol):

It is awesome that this is in here.Truly, it is. I am happy and grateful Nintendo listened to fans and included this. BUT, this is just baby steps. I tolerated no LGBT stuff in Awakening, as I thought all that would be a one-time thing and I will tolerate this, as it is a first time Nintendo is doing this sort of thing, but I will stop tolertating this if it keeps happening like how this game does it. What is there to tolerate, you ask?

*Only two options, one for each gender. They could have added a few more. Not saying everyone, but some variety would have been nice.

*Each option is locked into a route. Too bad for any lesbian Nohr players or gay Hoshido players. Guess you're gonna either have to buy DLC or suck it up! Could have easily added characters available in both routes as options (Silas and Azura would have made great additions!)

*They're still S rank support for opposite sex Corrin. Nothing against them being bi, but it's clear they felt the need to have a hetero option for them to please the straight pairers. Can't help but feel like this is a bit of a double standard due to them being the sole options.

*Why did the only options have to be psychotic characters? Nothing against them (and I do like them somewhat), but is this a 90's horror movie? Do you have to be unhinged to be gay or something?

*Why are the only gay pairings between Corrin and somebody? Why can't others have that option with others? Azura x Effie, Camilla x Luna, or Foleo x any male child (because have you seen Foleo?!?) as examples.

*I've seen the S support endings involving them and without giving out too much, it is clear that they are held back by Japanese culture seeing such relationships being taboo. A few lines from those come straight out of yaoi and yuri (and I read a fair amount of the former and a little of the latter, so I should know that those lines are practically word for word in a number of cases). The conversations are sweet, however, so it's hard to really sin them. I just wanted this bit to be heard, is all. As long as the sweetness is kept, they can do these convos until the end of the series, as far as I'm concerned.

There, I hope this has been enlightening to any of you who are failing to see why some are still complaining.