Ike and Micaiah Shipping rankings

[Anacybele]

11 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

Yeah, fate yanking Gatrie around is kind of cruel, considering the guy was a bit of a flirt, but he was chivalrous about it...like giving that con artist woman all of his money for an "operation" to cure her "brain stones," and treating all of his dates out to nice dinners. ...Jesus, the dates that he gets are horrible people, now that I think about it, to take advantage of such a sweet guy. He doesn't seem to have any real ulterior motives. Poor, dopey Gatrie. Even Shinon makes fun of him.

But now that I think about it, it is kind of weird that Mist x Rolf wasn't the pairing, and they went for Boyd instead. Maybe it's because Rolf is the younger of the two? You don't see too many older woman x younger man pairings, whereas the reverse is much more common, and true with Boyd x Mist. Hmm. 

Yeah, I'm skeeved out by any of the royal x Corrin pairings in Fates, for the Nohrian royals because you regularly see them interacting as siblings and calling each other "brother and sister," and for the Hoshidans because they're blood related and consider themselves siblings.

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okay, not technically, but still

But never had that reaction with Geoffrey and Elincia. I guess it helps that Geoffrey never considered himself Elincia's brother the way Lucia considers herself Elincia's sister. And it helps that they never referred to each other as "brother" and "sister" like they do in Fates.

But then again, I'm also one of those people that doesn't like Alm x Cellica because they were childhood BFFs, and looks like we're actually gonna see them in Echoes running around and being friends. Why couldn't they stay platonic, IS? DX

Yeah, some friend Shinon is there. Poor Gatrie is just so gullible and too desperate for his own good I guess. :(

Yeah, but you can definitely get older girl x younger guy pairings in Awakening... I mean, Donnel is actually younger than Lissa, and Cordelia, Cherche, Panne, etc. are definitely older than him and Ricken as well... Maybe back when PoR was made, this was less accepted in Japan or something?

True, but I also found the idea of Geoffrey and Elincia not considering one another siblings to be odd. Elincia closely grew up with both, but only called one of them her sibling? That just doesn't make much sense to me. It almost feels like IS is forcibly trying to excuse two siblings getting married just like in Fates, only in Fates it's a lot worse.

I find that one's feelings about different pairings can be weird sometimes. I sometimes find myself not wanting to like a pairing for seemingly no reason. I can't put my finger on it, a pairing just rubs me the wrong way sometimes for who knows why.

EDIT: Augustein, did you miss my statement that the artbook actually says they were foster siblings? Like I said, this now makes it feel even more like IS didn't say so in-game just to excuse the marriage.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Anacybele

[Extrasolar]

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, some friend Shinon is there. Poor Gatrie is just so gullible and too desperate for his own good I guess. :(

Yeah, but you can definitely get older girl x younger guy pairings in Awakening... I mean, Donnel is actually younger than Lissa, and Cordelia, Cherche, Panne, etc. are definitely older than him and Ricken as well... Maybe back when PoR was made, this was less accepted in Japan or something?

True, but I also found the idea of Geoffrey and Elincia not considering one another siblings to be odd. Elincia closely grew up with both, but only called one of them her sibling? That just doesn't make much sense to me. It almost feels like IS is forcibly trying to excuse two siblings getting married just like in Fates, only in Fates it's a lot worse.

 

Well, he does cheer up Gatrie by offering to pay for a dinner after he's done mercilessly teasing him. That's just the kind of "friend" Shinon is. I think we'd all be so lucky as to have a Shinon by our sides (not really. Having Shinon around would actually kind of suck, cause the guy is a dick. Great shot and all, but still a douche.) Wait...that's it! The OTP for Gatrie all along was Gatrie x Shinon! Shinon is just sending mixed signals because he's too shy to tell Gatrie how he truly feels!

*shot*

Yeah...that was always kind of weird. I can imagine that the reason you gave there is why they downplayed any sibling-like feelings between Geoffrey and Elincia.

[Extrasolar]

10 minutes ago, Augestein said:

Well that would be because they didn't get married as the whole concept of two men getting married wasn't really a thing when Radiant Dawn came out. That was what...? Almost 10 years ago? So that's a bit more risque at the time really. Heck, Boyd's ending is terrible too! He doesn't even move on to become like some great axe fighter, just some guy aspiring to not lose to "some rookie." Lame.  Most endings are just bad in RD. 

Haar x Jill is bad because of the fact that Haar knew Jill as a baby, which is just... I can't even. Geoffrey x Elincia all it said was Elincia and Lucia were "milk sisters" that means that they were both nursed by the same woman. That's not quite the same as the Nohrian siblings. It'd be like having a local baby sitter that raises both of you in the neighborhood. It's more like that than anything else. 

RD just dropped the ball when it came to running characters. 

3

Boyd will always be a legend to me. He deserved so much better. /solemn

[Anacybele]

9 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

Yeah...that was always kind of weird. I can imagine that the reason you gave there is why they downplayed any sibling-like feelings between Geoffrey and Elincia.

Exactly. Now I feel like I would've liked the pairing more if the whole foster sibling thing was scrapped entirely and the trio were just plain friends growing up. I probably still would've liked Ike x Elincia too, but at least I would've liked BOTH and not disliked one or the other.

But speaking of people just being friends, I feel like this should apply to some same-sex pairs of friends too. I mean, it seems like EVERY pair of good friends, regardless of gender, gets shipped by a lot of people. I see more fanart for Kent x Sain than any of their actual canon marriages for example, and Sain is definitely straight! I see a lot of Chrom x male Robin fanart too (even though admittedly, their supports are way better than Chrom x female Robin). It's a miracle that I find just about as much Ike x Elincia fanart as I do Ike x Soren fanart.

This has gotten to a point where I've written a pair of male best friends that are amazingly close, but get with women, and yet I can still foresee many fans shipping them as a gay couple if the story they're in was an actual game just because they're so close. Closer than Ike and Soren, I would say. I'm going to write them giving each other an emotional hug while in tears for god's sake. Yet they still have realistic romances with their women too, I would say. One has a good marriage with the typical bumps associated with building a strong relationship while the other actually has his romance kinda fall apart and really get complicated when the girl ends up pregnant after the only couple of times they ever had sex.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Anacybele

[Extrasolar]

Just now, Anacybele said:

Exactly. Now I feel like I would've liked the pairing more if the whole foster sibling thing was scrapped entirely and the trio were just plain friends growing up. I probably still would've liked Ike x Elincia too, but at least I would've liked BOTH and not disliked one or the other.

But speaking of people just being friends, I feel like this should apply to some same-sex pairs of friends too. I mean, it seems like EVERY pair of good friends, regardless of gender, gets shipped by a lot of people. I see more fanart for Kent x Sain than any of their actual canon marriages for example, and Sain is definitely straight! I see a lot of Chrom x male Robin fanart too (even though admittedly, their supports are way better than Chrom x female Robin). It's a miracle that I find just about as much Ike x Elincia fanart as I do Ike x Soren fanart.

This has gotten to a point where I've written a pair of male best friends that are amazingly close, but get with women, and yet I can still foresee many fans shipping them as a gay couple if the story they're in was an actual game just because they're close. Closer than Ike and Soren, I would say.

 

I feel your pain. So many times, I've liked two male characters as a best friends/bromance sort of way, only to run into the usually VERY vocal minority of slash shippers or even those people that say "x and y looked at each other for more than three seconds or touched one another's hands for a split second? must be a gay couple!" There's absolutely nothing wrong with shipping two same-sex people, of course, but does every time a male character shows even the slightest bit of emotion or tenderness toward another male character have to be romantic in nature? It's just frustrating.

I know, men are supposed to be unemotional and stoic. It's the media. But damn if it isn't annoying in fandoms and works.

Why can't Ike be the casual, aromantic guy he is in canon, and still be there as a supportive pillar to comfort Soren when he needs it? Why can't Soren be the cold, snappy guy who has exactly zero interest in romance, and still care deeply for the person who saved his life? WHY DO WE NEED TO FORCE ROMANCE INTO EVERYTHING ARGH.

Sorry for caps. Just...that's one of my biggest pet peeves.

[Jave]

10 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

EDIT: Augustein, did you miss my statement that the artbook actually says they were foster siblings? Like I said, this now makes it feel even more like IS didn't say so in-game just to excuse the marriage.

It is stated in-game. In the character relationship tree.

[Anacybele]

8 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

I feel your pain. So many times, I've liked two male characters as a best friends/bromance sort of way, only to run into the usually VERY vocal minority of slash shippers or even those people that say "x and y looked at each other for more than three seconds or touched one another's hands for a split second? must be a gay couple!" There's absolutely nothing wrong with shipping two same-sex people, of course, but does every time a male character shows even the slightest bit of emotion or tenderness toward another male character have to be romantic in nature? It's just frustrating.

I know, men are supposed to be unemotional and stoic. It's the media. But damn if it isn't annoying in fandoms and works.

Why can't Ike be the casual, aromantic guy he is in canon, and still be there as a supportive pillar to comfort Soren when he needs it? Why can't Soren be the cold, snappy guy who has exactly zero interest in romance, and still care deeply for the person who saved his life? WHY DO WE NEED TO FORCE ROMANCE INTO EVERYTHING ARGH.

Sorry for caps. Just...that's one of my biggest pet peeves.

Yeah, exactly! It's the other problem I have with the vocal idiots that are begging for Elsa to be lesbian in Frozen 2. Can we have more Disney princesses that don't get a romance (Merida is the first and only other example so far)?! There's no need to force Elsa to get with anyone! Kristoff and Anna haven't even gotten married yet either, god damn...

And dude, men can be emotional if they want. Men shouldn't have to feel like they aren't allowed to cry or be sad or soft or things like that. Check out one of the two best friend characters I mentioned, Bryan. He was actually quite a crybaby growing up, and very sensitive and emotional. He's still pretty emotional as a man. He has scenes where he cries, gets super pissed off (this was something he never did as a child), and even super scared and some trauma resurfacing. And like I said above, emotional teary-eyed hug with his best bud. Some people still belittle him for his sensitivity (he was bullied a lot growing up, in fact), but the lesson here is that he learns that being who he is is okay.

EDIT: Well then, Jave, that just makes the pairing even weirder to me.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Anacybele

[Extrasolar]

7 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, exactly! It's the other problem I have with the vocal idiots that are begging for Elsa to be lesbian in Frozen 2. Can we have more Disney princesses that don't get a romance (Merida is the first and only other example so far)?! There's no need to force Elsa to get with anyone! Kristoff and Anna haven't even gotten married yet either, god damn...

And dude, men can be emotional if they want. Men shouldn't have to feel like they aren't allowed to cry or be sad or soft or things like that. Check out one of the two best friend characters I mentioned, Bryan. He was actually quite a crybaby growing up, and very sensitive and emotional. He's still pretty emotional as a man. He has scenes where he cries, gets super pissed off (this was something he never did as a child), and even super scared and some trauma resurfacing. And like I said above, emotional teary-eyed hug with his best bud. Some people still belittle him for his sensitivity (he was bullied a lot growing up, in fact), but the lesson here is that he learns that being who he is is okay.

 

I know that men have emotional ranges, I was just saying that the media treats it like the very second a man has an emotional reaction to something (or, better yet, someone), it's either a.) a sign of weakness or b.) a sign that they must be romantically attracted to said person, male or female.

Not to mention, can we stop treating every positive interaction between a male and female character as a sign of blossoming romance? Like...what if they're just being nice friends to one another? Why can't they just chill and chat without everyone reading romance into it? Why can't I have my platonic interactions?

Speaking of which, we need more platonic supports in the series that don't end with two opposite sex characters marrying. Can people just hang out, chill, maybe open up an archery school or something without being married and having kids? Please, IS?

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

I know that men have emotional ranges, I was just saying that the media treats it like the very second a man has an emotional reaction to something (or, better yet, someone), it's either a.) a sign of weakness or b.) a sign that they must be romantically attracted to said person, male or female.

Not to mention, can we stop treating every positive interaction between a male and female character as a sign of blossoming romance? Like...what if they're just being nice friends to one another? Why can't they just chill and chat without everyone reading romance into it? Why can't I have my platonic interactions?

Speaking of which, we need more platonic supports in the series that don't end with two opposite sex characters marrying. Can people just hang out, chill, maybe open up an archery school or something without being married and having kids? Please, IS?

Ah, okay. I definitely agree with all of that. I'd like to see more platonic supports between opposite sex characters too. Not every opposite sex relationship has to end in marriage and kids, seriously...

[Iris]

I don't think the poll options are set up very well, especially considering (at the time of this writing) 27% of people prefer an 'Other' pairing for Micaiah. Super "crack" pairings such as Micaiah x Tauroneo, Laura, Aran, or more should have been replaced with options like the Black Knight or Pelleas, both of which have a reasonable shipping base. I for one accept that Micaiah is canonically with Sothe, but I like reading about her interactions with the Black Knight, personally.

As for Ike. . . I don't know, he very much strikes me as aromantic (not necessarily asexual, but. . .). I think it's pretty clear to me Elincia kind of had a thing for him in PoR (which he either didn't notice, or just wasn't interested); Soren also seems very attached to Ike--- I don't mind seeing one-sided stories, but it's hard for me to grasp that Ike would ever see wither in a sexual or romantic manner. Despite this, amielleon's dreamwidth analysis of Ike's sexuality is an interesting read which I recommend to anyone who likes to really analyze FE dialogue and games. It's interesting to see how the NoA translation of PoR wrote Ike's dialogue to make him seem less aromantic.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Iris

[Anacybele]

Yeah, the original Japanese doesn't have Elincia getting all cutesy around him either. I was surprised, because I felt that NoA's version made them seem more human and likeable, and in comparison, their Japanese dialogue makes them feel like robots. :/ And thus, I feel that this building into an actual possible Ike x Elincia romance would've made the story even better, as great as it already is.

I do admit though, that a platonic ending for them instead would be different and interesting, and as a result, I wouldn't have minded this either.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Anacybele

[Magical Glace]

15 hours ago, Iris said:

I don't think the poll options are set up very well, especially considering (at the time of this writing) 27% of people prefer an 'Other' pairing for Micaiah. Super "crack" pairings such as Micaiah x Tauroneo, Laura, Aran, or more should have been replaced with options like the Black Knight or Pelleas, both of which have a reasonable shipping base. I for one accept that Micaiah is canonically with Sothe, but I like reading about her interactions with the Black Knight, personally.

As for Ike. . . I don't know, he very much strikes me as aromantic (not necessarily asexual, but. . .). I think it's pretty clear to me Elincia kind of had a thing for him in PoR (which he either didn't notice, or just wasn't interested); Soren also seems very attached to Ike--- I don't mind seeing one-sided stories, but it's hard for me to grasp that Ike would ever see wither in a sexual or romantic manner. Despite this, amielleon's dreamwidth analysis of Ike's sexuality is an interesting read which I recommend to anyone who likes to really analyze FE dialogue and games. It's interesting to see how the NoA translation of PoR wrote Ike's dialogue to make him seem less aromantic.

I already explained why the options are what they are.   Twice.

The options chosen were characters who had conversations with the lord in the beta list of FE10 supports.  Pelleas is not in Micaiah's options for that reason alone.

I wanted to stick to the rules I used for the Roy one, which was the ten people he could support with (Marcus, Allen, Lance, Wolt, Shanna, Sue, Lilina, Lalum, Cecilia, and Sophia).  Since FE10 uses generic conversations and everyone/everyone, I had to turn to the next best thing, which was the beta.  

So yeah.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Glaceon Mage

[Augestein]

18 hours ago, Anacybele said:

EDIT: Augustein, did you miss my statement that the artbook actually says they were foster siblings? Like I said, this now makes it feel even more like IS didn't say so in-game just to excuse the marriage.

Yeah, I know. The game says "milk sisters" though. One of them could be a mistake, and I don't know which, but that's all we have. 

 

17 hours ago, Extrasolar said:

I feel your pain. So many times, I've liked two male characters as a best friends/bromance sort of way, only to run into the usually VERY vocal minority of slash shippers or even those people that say "x and y looked at each other for more than three seconds or touched one another's hands for a split second? must be a gay couple!" There's absolutely nothing wrong with shipping two same-sex people, of course, but does every time a male character shows even the slightest bit of emotion or tenderness toward another male character have to be romantic in nature? It's just frustrating.

I know, men are supposed to be unemotional and stoic. It's the media. But damn if it isn't annoying in fandoms and works.

Why can't Ike be the casual, aromantic guy he is in canon, and still be there as a supportive pillar to comfort Soren when he needs it? Why can't Soren be the cold, snappy guy who has exactly zero interest in romance, and still care deeply for the person who saved his life? WHY DO WE NEED TO FORCE ROMANCE INTO EVERYTHING ARGH.

Sorry for caps. Just...that's one of my biggest pet peeves.

Well I mean, sometimes that happens, but it's not always going to happen when people write well with their characters. Like say... Ike with Oscar. I don't really know anyone that ships them romantically, and they certainly had a bit of dialogue with each other in PoR. And there's some tenderness between the two when Ike loses a part of his family, and still no one ships it. 

He can. I think it's just that people legitimately think that it could be a good pairing. I mean people ship Pelleas and Micaiah together, and Micaiah behaves towards Pelleas as Ike does to Soren. It's really not terribly surprising either. And we do have some good platonic relationships still... Like Micaiah and Sanaki, or Mia and Rhys, or Jill and Lethe, or Shinon and Gatrie. There's quite a few platonic ships around here. 

[Extrasolar]

Just now, Augestein said:

Yeah, I know. The game says "milk sisters" though. One of them could be a mistake, and I don't know which, but that's all we have. 

 

Well I mean, sometimes that happens, but it's not always going to happen when people write well with their characters. Like say... Ike with Oscar. I don't really know anyone that ships them romantically, and they certainly had a bit of dialogue with each other in PoR. And there's some tenderness between the two when Ike loses a part of his family, and still no one ships it. 

He can. I think it's just that people legitimately think that it could be a good pairing. I mean people ship Pelleas and Micaiah together, and Micaiah behaves towards Pelleas as Ike does to Soren. It's really not terribly surprising either. And we do have some good platonic relationships still... Like Micaiah and Sanaki, or Mia and Rhys, or Jill and Lethe, or Shinon and Gatrie. There's quite a few platonic ships around here. 

 

Oscar is a comparatively minor character in comparison to Soren, which is why I believe that Ike x Oscar doesn't have the following that Ike x Soren does. Pretty much everyone who's not Shinon tries to comfort Ike in the wake of Greil's death, though.  Not to mention, Oscar doesn't interact with Ike nearly as much as Soren does. I think the biggest Oscar pairing is Oscar x Kieran, for obvious reasons, considering their support, as well as Kieran's focus on Oscar.

I mean, I'm not saying that people can't ship Ike x Soren, because there's nothing wrong with that, but I am tired of people treating it like it's the be-all, end-all word of canon when it is 100% not. When I tell people that the game itself points to Ike as being aromantic/asexual, they treat me like I'm insane or making stuff up out of nowhere. When I tell people that I don't like the pairing and prefer Ike and Soren as close friends, I get looked upon as "someone who hates slash pairings," usually with people accusing me of bigotry. So I've had something against rabid fans of that pairing and that pairing in general for a while.

Those are all good platonic relationships, but they get 100% overlooked in favor of the romantic pairings, which is a real shame. And that's not just in the Tellius series or FE as a whole - that's everywhere, much to my frustration.

[Augestein]

12 minutes ago, Extrasolar said:

Oscar is a comparatively minor character in comparison to Soren, which is why I believe that Ike x Oscar doesn't have the following that Ike x Soren does. Pretty much everyone who's not Shinon tries to comfort Ike in the wake of Greil's death, though.  Not to mention, Oscar doesn't interact with Ike nearly as much as Soren does. I think the biggest Oscar pairing is Oscar x Kieran, for obvious reasons, considering their support, as well as Kieran's focus on Oscar.

I mean, I'm not saying that people can't ship Ike x Soren, because there's nothing wrong with that, but I am tired of people treating it like it's the be-all, end-all word of canon when it is 100% not. When I tell people that the game itself points to Ike as being aromantic/asexual, they treat me like I'm insane or making stuff up out of nowhere. When I tell people that I don't like the pairing and prefer Ike and Soren as close friends, I get looked upon as "someone who hates slash pairings," usually with people accusing me of bigotry. So I've had something against rabid fans of that pairing and that pairing in general for a while.

Those are all good platonic relationships, but they get 100% overlooked in favor of the romantic pairings, which is a real shame. And that's not just in the Tellius series or FE as a whole - that's everywhere, much to my frustration.

Maybe, I just know that the dialogue for Ike and Oscar is pretty good. Even better if you had Boyd die. The conversation is actually pretty sad. Dialogue wise, Oscar only slows down after chapter 10. Before then they interact pretty often. But I can see your point. Although do people actually ship Oscar x Kieran? Kieran has a total rivalry going on? How's that romantic? 

I honestly don't ship Ike with anyone, and if I did, I like Ike x Aimee, because I think it's funny more than anything else. As for shippings, that's just what people do in games with optional shippings. Press their favorite one the most, it's like how people will fight you tooth and nail that Chrom x Sumia is canon despite the fact that Awakening's whole time travel nonsense would lead anyone to believe that NONE of the paths are canon or all of them. Ike x Soren I don't really like as a pairing because I honestly think that Soren would be better off without Ike, as Ike would continue to act as a crutch for him and not let Soren truly blossom into his own person. 

Maybe, but how can people not like the platonic ones? Basillo x Male Robin is hilarious. Like... I wish that guy had more supports. 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Augestein

[Loki Laufeyson]

16 minutes ago, Augestein said:

Yeah, I know. The game says "milk sisters" though. One of them could be a mistake, and I don't know which, but that's all we have.

milk siblings is an old term that means they shared a wet nurse. In the Elincia/Lucia case, they were also raised together, but the term refers to sharing a wet nurse. 

Anyway, i like Soren/Ike because it works and Ike reciprocates in a way he does not do with any other character he supports with. While this support/pairing can be interpreted as platonic, it also can be interpreted as romantic because of how Ike responds. In RD, that convo that opens up during Endgame if you transferred an A support from PoR, really has a bunch of subtext in it. (Ike basically holds Soren as he cries in Ike's chest.) Ike just...doesnt have this kind of relationship with any other character. 

Micaiah/Sothe only because SHE wants to be with him. I dont like Sothe and think shes better off with Pelleas, but honestly, i am gonna take a character's affections into account here cuz this pairing is not one-sided in the least. 

[Extrasolar]

8 minutes ago, Augestein said:

Maybe, I just know that the dialogue for Ike and Oscar is pretty good. Even better if you had Boyd die. The conversation is actually pretty sad. Dialogue wise, Oscar only slows down after chapter 10. Before then they interact pretty often. But I can see your point. Although do people actually ship Oscar x Kieran? Kieran has a total rivalry going on? How's that romantic? 

I honestly don't ship Ike with anyone, and if I did, I like Ike x Aimee, because I think it's funny more than anything else. As for shippings, that's just what people do in games with optional shippings. Press their favorite one the most, it's like how people will fight you tooth and nail that Chrom x Sumia is canon despite the fact that Awakening's whole time travel nonsense would lead anyone to believe that NONE of the paths are canon or all of them. Ike x Soren I don't really like as a pairing because I honestly think that Soren would be better off without Ike, as Ike would continue to act as a crutch for him and not let Soren truly blossom into his own person. 

Maybe, but how can people not like the platonic ones? Basillo x Male Robin is hilarious. Like... I wish that guy had more supports. 

 

 

1.) Letting Boyd die is tantamount to sacrilege. The guy is too good to just be thrown away like that. But that's just my own bias, haha. I really should have a Boyd avatar and not a Pelleas one...

2.) Yup, lots of people ship them. They consider Kieran's obsession with showing up Oscar and their "rivalry" as a way of concealing a strong crush on him, considering that Kieran at one point breaks down and says that Oscar leaving the Crimean Knights devastated him, and he never really got past it. I don't ship them, because I find Kieran's cluelessness and Oscar just standing there humoring him hilarious, but I can see why the pairing is popular.
 

Yeah, I know that shipping wars have been a thing since the beginning of time, and that they're always going to be a thing. But Ike x Soren fans are imo the worst in the rabid department, which is a real shame. I know people that have been driven away from the fandom or the Tellius games simply because they didn't like the pairing. It's that scary.

It's not that they don't like them, it's just that they're unfortunately never as appreciated as the romantic pairings. Platonic shipping is...not really a thing in a lot of circles, which is why it's always so unusual when people talk about it. People tend to forget that asexual/aromantic people exist. Like, you don't hear about how much someone likes the Sora/Riku bromance, just throwing out an example from another fandom with a huge slash following. Nope, it's all about the Sora/Riku romance.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Extrasolar

[Augestein]

13 minutes ago, Loki Laufeyson said:

milk siblings is an old term that means they shared a wet nurse. In the Elincia/Lucia case, they were also raised together, but the term refers to sharing a wet nurse. 

 

I know. I'm just noting that it's not quite the same as "foster siblings." 

 

Quote

1.) Letting Boyd die is tantamount to sacrilege. The guy is too good to just be thrown away like that. But that's just my own bias, haha. I really should have a Boyd avatar and not a Pelleas one... 

2.) Yup, lots of people ship them. They consider Kieran's obsession with showing up Oscar and their "rivalry" as a way of concealing a strong crush on him, considering that Kieran at one point breaks down and says that Oscar leaving the Crimean Knights devastated him, and he never really got past it. I don't ship them, because I find Kieran's cluelessness and Oscar just standing there humoring him hilarious, but I can see why the pairing is popular.
 

Yeah, I know that shipping wars have been a thing since the beginning of time, and that they're always going to be a thing. But Ike x Soren fans are imo the worst in the rabid department, which is a real shame. I know people that have been driven away from the fandom or the Tellius games simply because they didn't like the pairing. It's that scary.

It's not that they don't like them, it's just that they're unfortunately never as appreciated as the romantic pairings. Platonic shipping is...not really a thing in a lot of circles, which is why it's always so unusual when people talk about it. People tend to forget that asexual/aromantic people exist. Like, you don't hear about how much someone likes the Sora/Riku bromance, just throwing out an example from another fandom with a huge slash following. Nope, it's all about the Sora/Riku romance.

 

It was my death playthrough where I let 1 person die every other chapter. I love Boyd. He's cool. Fighters are cool. Yeah, I always use them when I can. 

 

2) Yeesh. Shippers are scary. 

I can see that, but trust me, I remember Eliwood x Ninian shippers being awful too back in the day. 

Platonic relationships are my favorite things. Like... I once told a friend that and she didn't understand what I was saying at all. Cue about 3 years later of us being friends and she's a platonic lover too. Haha. 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Augestein

[Iris]

9 hours ago, Glaceon Mage said:

I already explained why the options are what they are.   Twice.

The options chosen were characters who had conversations with the lord in the beta list of FE10 supports.  Pelleas is not in Micaiah's options for that reason alone.

I wanted to stick to the rules I used for the Roy one, which was the ten people he could support with (Marcus, Allen, Lance, Wolt, Shanna, Sue, Lilina, Lalum, Cecilia, and Sophia).  Since FE10 uses generic conversations and everyone/everyone, I had to turn to the next best thing, which was the beta.  

So yeah.

I would have then renamed the thread to something that isn't 'shipping' because shipping denotes a romantic connection, of which Mist x Ike is . . . .well this isn't FE4, to put it simply. It's whatever though.

Also with regards to Geoffrey and Elincia and Lucia, I agree with Augestein about "milk siblings", all it means is that Geoffrey/Lucia's mother was a royal wet nurse for Elincia, not that they were raised as foster siblings. The concept was first used in FE in Binding Blade, where Rebecca, Wolt's mother, was the wet nurse for Roy. I don't think IS intended for Geoffrey and Elincia to have a sibling bond at all---made pretty clear that Geoffrey love Elincia romantically in his A support with Calill, and there's nothing sibling-esque in his support with Elincia (pretty generic Princess and Knight support). The only thing is that the NoA translation refers to his mother as Elincia's foster mother, but I would like someone to reference the original Japanese text since I suspect they meant more along the lines of wet nurse.

Anyways, PoR supports make it pretty clear to me that Geoffrey is definitely into Elincia, Elincia probably likes Ike, Soren is attached (not sure if romantic) to Ike, and Ike has no interest in romance. I think RD was super lacking in endings (where is my Laura x Aran, dang it). I would have loved to see more Paired Endings for everyone, supports, of course, and I would have been okay with a platonic ending for Ike and Elincia.

[Extrasolar]

32 minutes ago, Augestein said:

2) Yeesh. Shippers are scary. 

I can see that, but trust me, I remember Eliwood x Ninian shippers being awful too back in the day. 

Platonic relationships are my favorite things. Like... I once told a friend that and she didn't understand what I was saying at all. Cue about 3 years later of us being friends and she's a platonic lover too. Haha. 

 

 

Tell me about it. And the worst part is, a lot of the time they give regular, sane fans a bad name. I know plenty of Ike/Soren shippers that are perfectly reasonable people who don't try to force their ship into canon territory...and then there are those shippers. Eugh.

But that's good to hear! I wish I knew more people that shipped platonically like me. Too many people call platonic shippings "boring." They don't know what they're missing.

43 minutes ago, Loki Laufeyson said:

Anyway, i like Soren/Ike because it works and Ike reciprocates in a way he does not do with any other character he supports with. While this support/pairing can be interpreted as platonic, it also can be interpreted as romantic because of how Ike responds. In RD, that convo that opens up during Endgame if you transferred an A support from PoR, really has a bunch of subtext in it. (Ike basically holds Soren as he cries in Ike's chest.) Ike just...doesnt have this kind of relationship with any other character. 

Micaiah/Sothe only because SHE wants to be with him. I dont like Sothe and think shes better off with Pelleas, but honestly, i am gonna take a character's affections into account here cuz this pairing is not one-sided in the least. 

 

4

I've always considered their relationship more brotherly than anything. Ike and Soren met as children, and since Ike is literally Soren's savior, the fact that he would be comfortable only opening up to Ike makes sense, not necessarily out of romance. Ike isn't the supportive pillar to anyone else, so it makes sense why he acts only this way with Soren. He knows Soren is a...different person. What's that he said? That Soren is actually "a big softie"? That was pretty funny, especially Soren's flat reaction to it.

I can't ship Pelleas with anyone, considering the guy is just...kind of there, being yanked along by everyone else until the very end (of the second playthrough and on). Just my opinions though.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Extrasolar

[Loki Laufeyson]

Oh sure, when i first played PoR, i interpreted Ike/Soren as totally platonic. But then RD came along and i saw some extra dialogue that is unlockable. It kinda changed my view of the pairing. I do think that even with that, you can still find it platonic and even a bit siblingy. I just dont really see it too much like that anymore. I do feel that Ike is hard aromantic that would only pair with someone he had a deep connection with. Another option i find with Ike is Ranulf. Another one that can be either platonic or not. I lean more on the platonic/"i trust this person and i get this person" kind of relationship for Ike/Ranulf.

As for Elincia, I felt that she had a mild crush on Ike because she assumed she might not see Geoffrey again. But Keiran tells her Geoff is fine, and shes so visibly relieved, that she could fall over. However, the idea of seeing him again seemed almost dim and full of uncertainty. So she tried to connect with Ike. Ike saw her as a friend and a friend only. I think she got that by the time they arrived in Daein. By the time she is reunited with Geoffrey, Elincia is almost having kittens with the idea that shes going to see him again. (was it chapter 24 or something...?) Once Geoff is in the picture indefinitely, Elincia seems to not be seeing Ike as a potential suitor at all, but as a friend and someone she has huge respect for. Thats just...how i always saw it. When RD came along and there was like, no subtext at all between Ike and Elincia, thats when i figured i was on to something.

[Anacybele]

Ike hugging Soren does not mean he's romantically into him. Men can hug other men without being in love, you know.

I just described earlier that I'm going to have a pair of best friends in one of my stories have an emotional hug and both are men. They don't do this with any other characters either, not even their actual love interests (one of them DOES hug the woman he gets with, but not like this. They don't get all teary eyed and stuff like these two best friends do). I guess I'm also doing this scene to make a point, as well as to flesh out their friendship.

I feel like Ike and Elincia would've been great together not just because I think they're cute and all, but I felt they had the best chemistry and connection. They both can relate to one another a lot despite their differing backgrounds. They both watched their parents get killed by the enemy, they both got thrown into conflicts much bigger than them and they had to work together for a long time to get through it. They had to be support for each other as they did so. These are the kinds of things that let people grow really close to one another and a lot of the time, become lasting romance as far as I've seen. Also, Elincia showed Ike that she's different from other royals and nobles, that she's honestly much like him in the sense that she was practically raised as a commoner. Ike showed Elincia the world, if you think about it. She wasn't even very familiar with the concept of a town. These are things you develop big respect for people for.

Also...as much as Elincia loves her people and kingdom, she seems like she would've preferred her simpler life at the villa. She said to Leanne that she didn't want to be queen. She didn't mind helping Mist with some chores. She cherishes the memories of her childhood with Geoffrey and Lucia. And so on. I feel bad for her here. I feel like she'd have been happier if she'd been able to settle down with Ike instead of thrust onto a throne with little experience. If Renning had been rescued sooner...god forbid if she didn't let him rule instead.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Anacybele

[Party Moth]

A tangential note to consider related to Ike's "leaving forever" character ending: If you choose to give Ike and Mist an A support in Radiant Dawn, Mist has support lines specifically for Ike. The A reads as such...

Mist: Ike, you idiot… I told you we’ll be together to the end. Stay with me forever.

...which then leads to Ike ignoring her request, setting off for Ashera-knows-where, and Mist not having an A support with Boyd and thus living alone. Not related to the shipping poll necessarily, but I think it speaks miles of Ike's strange urge to just up and leave Tellius regardless of connections to friends and family.

As for who I ship Ike with (to keep on topic), it changes without much consistency. Elincia, Soren, Lethe...I'm not one to hold characters to a single pairing most of the time with a few exceptions here and there. Ike's one of those characters who's difficult to interpret due to him simply not being explicit in his affections in general.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Party Moth

[maybe]

44 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Ike hugging Soren does not mean he's romantically into him. Men can hug other men without being in love, you know.

not necessarily, but it's not exactly a stretch to think there might be something romantic between them when soren basically cries on ike's shoulder as he remembers how they first met and how much he desired to see him again, followed shortly by them leaving their home together and abandoning everyone they know

like, i'm not even saying there is anything there, because there's still no real confirmation, but at that point it's perfectly possible

[Anacybele]

2 minutes ago, unique said:

not necessarily, but it's not exactly a stretch to think there might be something romantic between them when soren basically cries on ike's shoulder as he remembers how they first met and how much he desired to see him again, followed shortly by them leaving their home together and abandoning everyone they know

like, i'm not even saying there is anything there, because there's still no real confirmation, but at that point it's perfectly possible

Well yeah, it's possible. I'm just saying that you shouldn't automatically assume they're in love just because they had an emotional hug.

And Party Moth, exactly why I hate that ending for Ike so much. I just can't really see him actually doing something like that after he was shown to value family so much.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Anacybele