I feel like I’m the only person who actually likes Eirika’s DLC.
It’s unusual and heteronormative and a little bit sexist, but…it doesn’t bother me that much, for some reason. Maybe I just like the dress.
Tag: FE13
They have a cream for that.
This is the first time I’m seeing the silly fortune teller thing in English. I wonder if his comments toward same-sex pairs are as offensive as in the original Japanese…
Though, yes, this one is quite hilarious all around. They reallly seem to be pushing the limits of a T rating (in dialogue, anyway).
So…
In response to my already extreme shipping problem for Fire Emblem Nintendo decided to add MARRIAGE AND BREEDING INTO AWAKENING WHERE YOU CAN MAKE CHARACTERS FALL IN LOVE AND HAVE CHILDREN THAT HAVE SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS OF BOTH CHARACTERS SWEET JESUS I CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE THIS GAME I WILL MAKE ABOMINATIONS GOD FUCKING DAMN IT NINTENDO UGHHHHHHHHHH.
If it makes you feel better, this mechanic was already in FE4 (for SNES, never localized), so it’s not completely new. Given how much FE fans like to ship even in games with little to no paired endings, though, I doubt it could possibly make it any more rampant than it already is. If anything, bringing breeding back into the series marginalizes non-normative pairings (such as, most annoyingly for me, same-sex pairings), so it makes some shipping harder and confined to fanwork.
Fire Emblem Awakining – War Cleric
So…the metal-frame skirt is a general feature of the class design, not just a bizarre fashion quirk of Lissa’s? I know a few followers of mine who are very knowledgeable in early modern fashion and who could therefore describe far better than I how impractical this would be as a form of armor (not that FE has ever aimed for perfect realism in that department…).
It’s also interesting to see a mace in any FE media considering they don’t exist as a weapon type in-game, but considering it’s common for European-esque fantasy verses to associate maces with the clergy and that, in FE, maces = axes (ex. the hammer), I understand NUNSWITHAXES now.
Now, I haven’t played a Fire Emblem game since the GBA days so I’m a lil confused. When did they add the ability to have children?
FE13 is bringing back this mechanic from FE4 (for SNES). However, various characters from FE7 have children who appear in FE6, though of course those children are born regardless of what you do with their parent(s) in FE7.
I think that’s one thing FE13 was trying to improve upon regarding its support system, as characters can reach A support with any number of other characters, but they can only have one S support (and their only options for S supports are always heterosexual, non-incestuous pairings). The privileging of these kinds of relationships is pretty annoying, but it’s understandable since breed-your-own-2nd-gen is back from FE4.There’s also all the games that lack paired endings or only have them in very specific instances (every game but 7 and 8, really), and in those games the endings rarely cancel each other out. The only one I can think of (and I’m not too familiar with the Japanese-only games, by the way) is Mist remaining forever unmarried if she doesn’t get with Boyd.
I think that’s just a side effect of not limiting the number of “support points” you can distribute (with FE6-9 capping at 5). I mean, is that really so different from having infinite support points and hitting B all you want, but A with only one character? The exclusivity, having to choose one ending above all others, is still there. (Except now it’s only for baby-producing relationships. Hooray. -_-)
But you are correct in that many games offer no real choice in the matter, and really only let you opt in and out. (As you say, this is true of Radiant Dawn with the exception of Ike’s two options.) I think FE6 and FE9 don’t quite apply to this situation, however. FE6 allows Roy to basically marry anyone he ever talks to, which I think is a carried-over concept from FE4 (where anyone could bang almost anyone of the opposite gender who’s single). It does have “exclusive” pairings outside of Roy, but I suspect that it’s because they didn’t want to spend the time and effort to develop multiple possibilities for other characters. As for FE9, the epilogue line for each character changes slightly if they have an A support with Ike, but the others are the same, for much the same reason as in FE6 and because of FE10’s continuity, I suspect.
Basically, I’d categorize FE4, FE6, and FE13 as having “harem-style” options, while FE7 and FE8 let you select among options for multiple characters, and the rest more or less have a creator-defined vision of how things went (which you can opt out of, but not altogether change*).
* Unless you’re the localizers. Then you can change anything you want, apparently. FE13 in the English is looking to be a somewhat different work from the Japanese, and in this instance I might wonder if it could end up being *better*. (If they allow same-sex unions with adoption I will take back every insult I offered to them re:Tellius.)
Yeah, a localization with more diverse S support options would be great, but with all the additions it would require I highly doubt it. Writing new S convos would be the least of their problems – they’d have to come up with a way for adopted children to somehow still be tied to two parents in terms of stats, skills, etc., or you’d just be crippling their potential if you decided not to go with the conventional pairings.
Feelings about Ostians: Hector/Oswin C
This is what I get for not paying much attention to supports involving characters I rarely use – not a big fan of generals (even if Oswin’s probably the best of the GBA generals). It doesn’t help that the conflict/development/resolution model of supports (with the A support being the most romantic/sexual, if there’s any of that present at all) is so common that a piece of a C support that never gets brought up again doesn’t really stick in the mind.I’m rather glad that FE7 didn’t go the Marth/Caeda or Sigurd/Diadora route just because it was a prequel, locking Eliwood and Hector into set relationships to anticipate the birth of their necessary children. That way they can have their homoerotic subtext while (apparently) not preventing the births of Roy and/or Lilina. Of course, in the bizarre logic of FE7-8 A supports, intimate friendships and sibling relationships (with *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* in full effect when relevant) prevent the characters from getting married to anyone in the playable cast. Not that Hector/Oswin is fortunate enough to have a bara ending…
You’d be surprised what an ensemble cast of friends with fringe obsessions will do to your knowledge of canon. 😛
(Or maybe not so surprised.)
I like the support system of FE9 the best. Pacing the supports with the chapters lets the supports involve the main story. It works really well in some cases like Ike/Soren and Mist/Jill. Even with the GBA system though, many of the supports do pretty compelling stuff with the format.
I guess I never gave much thought to the fact that you could only pick up one paired ending for each character, though. Is there any game (period) that doesn’t ask you to pick just one?
I think that’s one thing FE13 was trying to improve upon regarding its support system, as characters can reach A support with any number of other characters, but they can only have one S support (and their only options for S supports are always heterosexual, non-incestuous pairings). The privileging of these kinds of relationships is pretty annoying, but it’s understandable since breed-your-own-2nd-gen is back from FE4.
There’s also all the games that lack paired endings or only have them in very specific instances (every game but 7 and 8, really), and in those games the endings rarely cancel each other out. The only one I can think of (and I’m not too familiar with the Japanese-only games, by the way) is Mist remaining forever unmarried if she doesn’t get with Boyd.
As much as I’d like to start fanboying in earnest over FE13, the Fire Emblem tag continues to disappoint
I suppose it’s to be expected of a video game fandom (and how condescending that statement is!), but most of the tag is comprised of fanart, normative ships, and maybe some mild gameplay discussion. It’s almost as though the hardcore tier list creators and number-crunchers at Serenes Forest and similar sites represent the only efforts at in-depth analytical fanwork. That’s all very good for them, had I any serious interest in statistics and maximizing efficiency and the like.
*sighs* Maybe when the game actually comes out I’ll independently stumble upon something worth commenting upon.
Maybe you should look at places that aren’t Tumblr? Or…more than just a couple pages into the tag? Because we are a damn analytical fandom, considering the smaller size, if you turn over more than two rocks before you sneer at us for not being “academic” enough.
Seriously. And that’s just a bit, leading off into the piles of kickass meta this fandom has to offer. Look harder before you cry disappointment into the tag and contribute to the exact problem you’re complaining about.
And if it’s just for Awakening? It’s not even out in English. Come on.
I didn’t know about Fire Emblem Academy – thanks for the link. Many of the articles certainly look like they’re worth perusing when I get a chance, especially the LGBT ones. Academic queer theory is my specialty, and one of the main draws of FE for me is its non-normative sexual relationships (even if their depiction isn’t always been the best, at least there are some – more than many video game series can claim).
Most of my lurking in the FE fandom is on SF, which is extremely informative as far as gameplay information goes (I’ve completely spoiled FE13 for myself in almost every way imaginable at this point, for starters) but perhaps a bit lacking otherwise. And I’m so used to long text posts dominating tags of a fandom, considering that’s what I write and what, prior to the release of the recent movie, the Les Misérables-related tags primarily comprised. I’ve been writing mostly in that fandom for the last month and a half, but the releases of the English versions of Hyrule Historia on Tuesday and FE13 next week have made me want to dip into my video game fandoms for a bit as well.
As much as I’d like to start fanboying in earnest over FE13, the Fire Emblem tag continues to disappoint
I suppose it’s to be expected of a video game fandom (and how condescending that statement is!), but most of the tag is comprised of fanart, normative ships, and maybe some mild gameplay discussion. It’s almost as though the hardcore tier list creators and number-crunchers at Serenes Forest and similar sites represent the only efforts at in-depth analytical fanwork. That’s all very good for them, had I any serious interest in statistics and maximizing efficiency and the like.
*sighs* Maybe when the game actually comes out I’ll independently stumble upon something worth commenting upon.
I do a little statistical analysis every now and then, but it’s only for myself and certainly nothing I could bear talking about at length. I write mostly meta myself, and as most of my major Tumblr fandoms are literary that means I spend much of my time doing analysis of characters, themes, etc. However, I’d also definitely be interested in reading more of the kind of work you mentioned in your last paragraph – whether I end up ever producing any myself remains to be seen.
Gallophilic Cultural Posturing: A Case Study: As much as I’d like to start fanboying in earnest over FE13, the Fire Emblem tag continues to disappoint
I suppose it’s to be expected of a video game fandom (and how condescending that statement is!), but most of the tag is comprised of fanart, normative ships, and maybe some mild gameplay discussion. It’s almost as though the hardcore tier list creators and number-crunchers at Serenes Forest and…
1) To be fair, the blogging style of Tumblr doesn’t really lend itself to number crunching and linear discussion the way a forum does. I’ve seen meta but it’s just really hard to keep up with if you aren’t watching it constantly.
2) We haven’t had an (entirely) new game in how many years? I expect there will be an uptick after FE13 but for now everyone is paranoid about spoilers and it’s hard for me personally to gauge anything without playing through once or twice and seeing how the mechanics work. Even the demo’s rather empty in that regard.
Otherwise, yes. But Tumblr work great a an art / media medium… not so much for anything else. Take it or leave it but don’t knock the medium too hard for the way it’s set up.
I admit I’m probably jumping the gun as far as plot/character/thematic/fandom meta, and most of what I post on Tumblr is (usually long) meta on that sort of thing. Like I said I’ll probably find something to talk about after I’ve played the game. As an academic queer theorist in particular FE’s approach to non-normative sexualities is alone worth contemplation (I’ve already done one of those on FE9-10, months ago when I was new on Tumblr and experimenting with the medium).
I also probably shouldn’t switch completely to a different fandom – most of my followers now are interested in my Les Mis (book, musical and movie to a lesser extent) meta, so I’m afraid that if I go full FE (or Zelda or WoW or anything else) I’d just bore them all to death. Balancing fandoms…yay.
Gascon-en-exil: Gallophilic Cultural Posturing 