I bet you’d have something interesting to say about these ships: Niles/Leo, Sothe/Micaiah, Heather/Nephenee or, if you’d rather, talk about a ship you do enjoy?

No longer on mobile, so easy typing (and bold/italicized text) all the way:

Niles/Leo

What I like: Could be extremely kinky between the master/servant dynamic and Niles being Niles, also makes for a nice OT3 if Odin joins in.

What I don’t like: The aforementioned dynamic has a disturbing side to it as well, even more so than Sephiran/Zelgius.

How I ship it: Probably more as an OT3 because they could really use Odin to lighten the mood, but it could theoretically work on its own. The circumstances of their meeting could be vastly better, of course, and it’s probably doomed in Birthright where Leo has to be king and so have even more authority over his subjects.

Sothe/Micaiah

What I like: The parallel with Ike/Soren (yes, again) that shockingly even gets mentioned in text, plus the fact that for a cover art het ship it’s surprisingly disturbing if you think about it for more than five minutes. 

What I don’t like: The player can opt out of the pairing so as not to impede the free-for-all support style of FE10, which is just weird considering how many moments they get in the main story.

How I ship it: As a marriage that’s probably more than a little uncomfortable for Sothe, both in his suddenly becoming the consort to a queen and that his new wife is the woman who raised him from early childhood. Their later years will be even worse, with an elderly Sothe being supported in his dotage by someone who still looks like jailbait. Eesh.

Heather/Nephenee

What I like: Hey, Heather’s not as much of a predator as a casual read of her character makes her out to be. And for all that some fanboys love her Nephenee is quite available as a romantic partner.

What I don’t like: Thanks to Heather not existing in Path of Radiance they have like two short scenes worth of dialogue. 

How I ship it: Easy, they go back home to their village after the war, stuff happens, and Nephenee now has much more pleasurable things to blush over.

And now for an extra FE one of my own, chosen more or less at random:

Eliwood/Hector

What I like: This may have been the first FE pairing I was aware of liking, even before more obvious FE7 picks like Raven/Lucius. They have a warm and touching friendship that’s essentially the emotionally core of their game.

What I don’t like: FE6 dooms this pairing in multiple ways, at least in the sense of them growing old together as a couple. Not that doing so would have been realistic given their positions, anyway….

How I ship it: Mostly as a romantic friendship in the traditional sense, though I could them coming to an arrangement where they meet every so often and their wives understand (their wives can potentially be sisters after all, or Lyn who knows them both very well). They still won’t last because Durban said so, but they’d have a few more years together watching their kids grow up together and develop a quasi-incestuous romantic bond like Naga (St. Elimine?) intended.

demoiselledefortune said

i kind of felt that lindsey was a bit… hmmm bashing french culture in that video review actually. Not directly, but compared to the thing she talked positively about. Was that only me?

I thought it was par for the course for Anglo(?)-Americans and how they usually talk about French history and culture, especially in the time since 1789 when we’ve looked (to them) just so wacky and politically unstable. The point about celebrating Disney’s Hunchback for its context-free social justice themes is grating, but it’s in line with the musical version of Les Mis which likewise significantly pares down the political themes to appeal to an international audience largely unfamiliar with the particulars. 

I’m actually glad she didn’t really go into the specifically Catholic elements of the novel and its adaptations, because France’s relationship to the Church is an incredibly complex subject far beyond the scope of a Disney movie. Also, based on one of her reviews from years ago I’m pretty sure Ellis is not herself Catholic; she had to outsource commentary on religious representation in the Sister Act movies to one of her reviewing partners.

How about Link/Sidon vs BotW Link/Zelda?

accordingtomii:

gascon-en-exil:

accordingtomii:

gascon-en-exil:

Might get to your other ask a little later, since I’m on mobile and typing these long responses is a bit of a pain.

Link/Sidon:

What I like: Sidon is such an endlessly positive doofus, and he really leaves a good impression in spite of limited screen time and the nagging feeling that he’s sort of playing the rebound to his own dead sister. The erotic undertones of the assault on Vah Ruta are also easy shipper bait.

What I don’t like: The size difference makes it a little tough to imagine the two of them together in that way, and that’s not even getting into the giant double shark dicks. Thankfully Link seems like the type who can really take a pounding….

How I ship it: I can see it happening easily after Vah Ruta and into postgame, with their relationship developing at a distance and then occasionally together culminating in the inevitably freaky sex.

BotW Link/Zelda

What I like: They have actual relationship development unlike about 80% of Zelink, including some that handwaves Link’s silence. Who’d have thought?

What I don’t like: Link is still supposed to be a self-insert per the developers, and Zelda is a woman. Sorry. The implication that Zelda only unlocked her powers via predestined True Love is pretty eyeroll-inducing as well.

How I ship it: See above – I don’t. But the material to ship it is readily available if one is so inclined, so it needs no help from me.

Please keep your opinion out of the shipping tags. This is exactly how dumb fandom wars start.

This was in response to an ask meme, and despite how the ask phrased it this wasn’t necessarily meant to contrast the two. The shipping and character tags help these things get out to people who may not follow me, particularly since I don’t often post Zelda-related content.

Anyway, isn’t nearly everything in shipping tags apart from direct references to canon an opinion of some sort?

it wasn’t meant to contrast the ships???? and yet that’s exactly what you did. And since you ask for what are the ships tag. Let me explain how i use them. I use them to seek content for the ship of my preference, not for my notps or to see opinions of ppl who don’t like them. Infact, if you browse through the zelink tag you won’t find ppl making comments in regards to othet ships because we try (at least i do) to keep things peaceful and not get involved in figths.

They’re only in contrast insofar as they’re mutually exclusive outside of a three way pairing, which might be interesting to float as an idea though it’s not one I’ve ever really thought about it in this instance. I don’t often browse shipping tags for any fandoms, though when I do for the larger ones I consider it a safe assumption that there will be posts in the tag that don’t support the ship in question but still include the tag for the sake of discussion. It was fitting for this meme in my opinion since part of it entailed how specifically you ship it, with the understanding that many ships (particularly in the Fire Emblem fandom, where the OP originated) require significant alterations to canon to have any hope of existing in a reasonable form. It’s the kind of ask that prompts more dispassionate consideration of various ships (which, again, is better suited to FE and its hundreds of characters, but I like to diversify my content a bit) than anything else.

How about Link/Sidon vs BotW Link/Zelda?

accordingtomii:

gascon-en-exil:

Might get to your other ask a little later, since I’m on mobile and typing these long responses is a bit of a pain.

Link/Sidon:

What I like: Sidon is such an endlessly positive doofus, and he really leaves a good impression in spite of limited screen time and the nagging feeling that he’s sort of playing the rebound to his own dead sister. The erotic undertones of the assault on Vah Ruta are also easy shipper bait.

What I don’t like: The size difference makes it a little tough to imagine the two of them together in that way, and that’s not even getting into the giant double shark dicks. Thankfully Link seems like the type who can really take a pounding….

How I ship it: I can see it happening easily after Vah Ruta and into postgame, with their relationship developing at a distance and then occasionally together culminating in the inevitably freaky sex.

BotW Link/Zelda

What I like: They have actual relationship development unlike about 80% of Zelink, including some that handwaves Link’s silence. Who’d have thought?

What I don’t like: Link is still supposed to be a self-insert per the developers, and Zelda is a woman. Sorry. The implication that Zelda only unlocked her powers via predestined True Love is pretty eyeroll-inducing as well.

How I ship it: See above – I don’t. But the material to ship it is readily available if one is so inclined, so it needs no help from me.

Please keep your opinion out of the shipping tags. This is exactly how dumb fandom wars start.

This was in response to an ask meme, and despite how the ask phrased it this wasn’t necessarily meant to contrast the two. The shipping and character tags help these things get out to people who may not follow me, particularly since I don’t often post Zelda-related content.

Anyway, isn’t nearly everything in shipping tags apart from direct references to canon an opinion of some sort?

Thoughts on Gray/Tobin. Also hope you’re doing well with the double work shift.

I’m managing, but not especially well. I may next have a day off sometime in February; I wish that were an exaggeration.

Anyway, Gray/Tobin:

What I like: They have an easy bantering camaraderie that’s fun to read, and I can easily buy this as a romantic ship given some more introspection.

What I don’t like: Mostly that Gray/Clair exists and is awful for both their characters, and we’re meant to see Gray and Tobin in a rivalry over Clair even though she barely interacts with the latter.

How I ship it: Quietly and a little sadly on Tobin’s end, but Gray might wise up in the end (especially if Clair doesn’t just settle with him, bleh). They’d probably be the same with each other as a couple as they are as friends, just with lots of bickering sex and endless competitions over who’s better at fucking and sucking and being fucked and so forth.

How about Link/Sidon vs BotW Link/Zelda?

Might get to your other ask a little later, since I’m on mobile and typing these long responses is a bit of a pain.

Link/Sidon:

What I like: Sidon is such an endlessly positive doofus, and he really leaves a good impression in spite of limited screen time and the nagging feeling that he’s sort of playing the rebound to his own dead sister. The erotic undertones of the assault on Vah Ruta are also easy shipper bait.

What I don’t like: The size difference makes it a little tough to imagine the two of them together in that way, and that’s not even getting into the giant double shark dicks. Thankfully Link seems like the type who can really take a pounding….

How I ship it: I can see it happening easily after Vah Ruta and into postgame, with their relationship developing at a distance and then occasionally together culminating in the inevitably freaky sex.

BotW Link/Zelda

What I like: They have actual relationship development unlike about 80% of Zelink, including some that handwaves Link’s silence. Who’d have thought?

What I don’t like: Link is still supposed to be a self-insert per the developers, and Zelda is a woman. Sorry. The implication that Zelda only unlocked her powers via predestined True Love is pretty eyeroll-inducing as well.

How I ship it: See above – I don’t. But the material to ship it is readily available if one is so inclined, so it needs no help from me.

Clive&Fernand, Clive&Lukas… as both need a lot of fixing!

Clive/Fernand:

What I like: I sympathize with both of them more than might be expected as a classist quasi-aristocrat, and their pre-game past is an intriguing prospect.

What I don’t like: Clive is ridiculously dense. Also, Fernand’s behavior being partially motivated by internalized homophobia and the societal pressure to be straight would have been much more interesting if that were actually in the game (you know, like Leon?) and not just a reasonable headcanon.

How I ship it: I don’t see it really working even in a no-war AU unless Clive is also into guys, and even then they’re not Forsyth and Python – they have the future of their noble houses to secure. Maybe an OT3 with Mathilda? If Clive could wrap his head around the concept?

Clive/Lukas:

What I like: Not much honestly, but on a meta level Lukas’s admiration of Clive benefits from the contrast with Forsyth’s comically exaggerated exuberance.

What I don’t like: It’s a guy with homoromatic leanings crushing on an oblivious straight guy who’s already found his True Love – what’s not to hate? The total lack of interaction with Celica’s group is also a missed opportunity; Leon/Valbar is going through the very same motions but without any of the Deliverance’s characteristic coyness.

How I ship it: OT3 with Forsyth and Python until Lukas can gradually get over his crush. He’s well on his way there after his various supports. It *might* work with an ace non-aro Lukas paired with a more understanding Clive, like a gay version of courtly love where there’s (adulterous) adoration without sex, but would that really be satisfying for Lukas?

Sephiran/Zelgius

What I like: the parallels with Ike/Soren, how lowkey but still resonant it is for an antagonist pairing

What I don’t like: how it feels decidedly unequal, plus Levail is also there making things kind of awkward (also Valtome, but at least there’s definitely nothing mutual or healthy there)

How I would ship it: hard to imagine it ending well except in some major AU where Sephiran isn’t omnicidal, but it could still (and probably did, because Tellius) work while it lasted as a dark mentorship with unexpectedly intimate comfort sex that left Sephiran more confused than anything

kingedmundsroyalmurder:

vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo:

I still haven’t read Notre Dame de Paris so I honestly don’t have a lot to comment on this but I thought I’d share.

I don’t always agree with everything Lindsay says, but I 100% respect her as a critic, and you can tell she does her research. (Although I have to argue with her saying that there is an “undertone of socialism” in LM. I’m pretty sure it’s more than an undertone…) But she makes a good case for the Disney film, both the good and the bad, and it’s a well put together video.

And here I was just referencing her earlier video on Saving Mr. Banks to talk about how I’ve dealt with appropriation of French culture by Disney and others.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)