#text connections

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

Here's my hot(?) take: Ike is a better power fantasy than the avatar characters, especially if you are noticeably different from your peer group, but NOT because you are richer or more popular.

[zootopiagush]

I have a shameful confession to make.

I recently watched the Netflix show Dead to Me. And didn't realize until I was in bed that one of the main characters named Judy was briefly dating a guy named Nick. Who was a(n on-leave) cop.

I failed you all and I'm sorry.

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

The character people think fills the niche of "unrequited obsessive admirer of the lord": Soren

The character who actually fills the niche of "unrequited obsessive admirer of the lord": Aimee

I don't know if they just don't think Aimee can count because she's not playable, but I don't know how you could miss the whole "Ike and Soren have a proto-S support and a paired ending" thing

Now, you could make the argument that some characters like Tharja fit the mold more-or-less despite having those, but the difference is avatar characters have tons of support ending options. Non-customizable lords tend to have significantly fewer, and Ike in particular has two. And only one of them has a proto-S support or even explicitly states they are together in the ending--the one with Soren.

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

The way Ike says Soren's name on Cataclysm+ makes me think of that one meme where Will Smith is presenting The Greatest Thing Ever.

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

I have admittedly not played much of Fire Emblem Engage yet, but I did spoil myself in some of Soren's bond conversations, and I want to highlight 2 in particular.

Clanne asks Soren if he likes meat since he was found researching it, and he responds in the most Soren way possible: "Not personally, no." He tells him both 1. he doesn't care for it himself and 2. he's doing it specifically for someone else. Because we know exactly what Soren thinks of meat recipes as he told Aimee: they're perfect for wooing Ike. So of course he panics when Clanne stops trying to offer the recipe.

This just took a suspicious "why do you know that?" From Path of Radiance and turned it into confirming exactly why he knows that. (So he can do it himself.)

Hortensia says "what's wrong with you?" when asking why Soren isn't affected by her cuteness. He replies "NOTHING is wrong with me" with such confidence. Good for you, Soren, getting more comfortable with your differences.

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

The art book says something about how Ike's "sense of how dear Soren is to him was renewed" upon regaining his memories. Putting aside absolutes for a second, let's think of this comparatively.

Ike and Soren were extremely close friends throughout the entirety of Path of Radiance and in Radiant Dawn up until that point. This sentence suggests a change in their relationship. If they started and ended as close friends, where would the change be?

You know what this reminds me of? The end of the Nightmare Before Christmas. The characters have a relationship upgrade once person A realizes just how much person B is willing to do for them. Which is romantic in the Nightmare Before Christmas. And wouldn't make sense not to be in Radiant Dawn, given the statement in the art book.

This also implies that before then, they were not a couple, but the love was there. Meaning that using the "friends" comment in Path of Radiance to argue against it is even weaker. (Speaking of TNBC, Jack's first line in his romantic duet involves calling Sally "my dearest friend". So even more holes there.)

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

Ike and Raphael Kirsten are not the same character but a lot of people seem to get them confused.

It's an easy enough mistake, right? They're both commoners, they both have little sisters whom they want to protect, they both know how wrong it is to blame people for things their parents did even if their insecure friends believe they deserve to be blamed, they're both buff and nice, and they both like training and meat.

If the character is:

* Dumb

* Heterosexual

* Extraverted

* Obsessed with training and/or meat rather than just mentioning it in passing

Then that is Raphael Kirsten. Ike is the one who is not those things.