Meta Month, Day 27: Marriage, arranged and otherwise

[mark_asphodel]

First off, a word about marriage in general in Fire Emblem-- there seems a fair amount of evidence that formal marriage, though practiced across classes, is more of a concern to the upper and titled classes and that overall the inhabitants of Fire Emblem 'verses are quite comfortable with the practice of shacking up.

Comments

[amielleon]

Astrid's deal with Lekain is the tip of the iceberg in Begnion tradition:

Astrid:
But there's no freedom!
My brothers are the pride of the house.
As soldiers, they lead glorious lives.
But my sisters are traded like commodities, promised to fiances they don't even know.
They don't know love.
I receive letters from them once every few years.
The pages are warped and stained from tears.
Astrid/Sothe A
(Can I say that I would have liked it a lot better if Astrid ran off to join the Dawn Brigade than if she went and shackled herself with a derelict alcoholic and gambler?)

Royals elsewhere (Micaiah and Elincia come to mind) seem to have the liberty of choosing who they want to marry, although the fact that their parents are dead might have to do something with it. And, while permitted, it does not keep nobility from turning their nose up at it.

Aristocrat: Yes, Lady Lucia! Please refrain from speaking if you have not been

[mark_asphodel]

Can I say that I would have liked it a lot better if Astrid ran off to join the Dawn Brigade than if she went and shackled herself with a derelict alcoholic and gambler?

I nearly pointed that out. I mean... Makalov? That's not even funny. :/

although the fact that their parents are dead might have to do something with it.

I think that has a lot to do with things overall. We have no idea what the parents of Marth or Nyna or Leaf or Eirika/Ephraim or countless other characters actually wanted, because hey, they're dead and their plans are inoperative.

And the philandering Lord of Velthomer drove many a plotline to its sad conclusion.

Jugdral is arguably the most "realistic" in some aspects, as in acknowledging that hey, adultery and broken marriages and bastard children all exist and it's not always the 100%EVIL characters involved in such.

[hooves]

I think her relationship with Makalov is totally just...jfld;sjfdskfjd;alsjfds

But you know what? I kind of like it. I had ideas to write about it, but it's a complicated thing to write about and it's something I'd rather not screw it up.

But I kind of chalk up Astrid's, uhh, decision in a romantic partner, there, to be her being rebellious. To an extent. :U But that's probably just me.

[amielleon]

I am not totally against Astrid/Makalov because it's between them that Makalov's better side emerges.

Astrid
Oh, I hope to be as good a knight as Sir Makalov someday! How I dream of that day!

Makalov
Heh.

Marcia
I don't believe this.

Makalov
...You don't wanna end up like me, baby.

But Astrid with the DB would've been cooler.

Jugdral is arguably the most "realistic" in some aspects, as in acknowledging that hey, adultery and broken marriages and bastard children all exist and it's not always the 100%EVIL characters involved in such.

Jugdral had the best bastard children.

And the best shitty father.

Oh Levin.

[hooves]

Very interesting take on things, I say. :D

[mark_asphodel]

Fandom in general has a silly view on many things related to marriage-- "Five year age gap? GROSS! First cousins getting married? INCEST NO WAY!!!"

Which is kind of funny, but I look at it quite like the real world even today: even now there are arranged marriages going on

Indeed. Hell, one of my husband's best friends is a native of India. His wife, a very sweet lady, was selected for him by his parents. It took some getting used to for both of them (imagine getting to know your husband and a foreign country... at once), but they seem to be doing very well. I also have an acquaintance with a mail-order bride from Ukraine. They've lasted a few years now-- and she's a smart, articulate, educated woman, not a teenager sold off by her parents for the vodka money or anything like that.

And my parents had known one another for all of two weeks when they married, with the desire to move out of Army barracks and into couples housing being a STRONG factor. They're still together.

[hooves]

mail order bride stuff intrigues me like nothing else. I always meant to write a 'fic about that (AU of course) but never did. (As with so many other things.)

That said, I agree that fandom has silly ideas about marriage and relationships in general. I've seen a lot of EWWWWWW ___year age gap, GROSS! When these same people express an interest in celebrities even older than the gap they just said was "gross".

I mean, if we were all marrying to satisfy people's desire to see us wed to someone our own age, then why bother marrying for any other reason? Oh hey, you're only ONE year older than me! YOU'LL DO JUST FINE. /end sarcasm

[xirysa]

mail order bride stuff intrigues me like nothing else. I always meant to write a 'fic about that (AU of course) but never did.

Do eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. >8D

[sailorvfan10]

There appears to be something equally dodgy in the backstory of King Jiol and the mother of his daughter Sheema-- not so much an arranged marriage as "I want, I take." Yikes.
Jiol is just a pretty dodgy character over all. It's amazing Sheema turned out so awesome. (I bet she takes after her mother and not her father. At least that's what my headcanon tells me.)

Dunno about courtesans or kept women, but men who don't love their wives have many options.
Oh dammit now I want to write Catria/Marth/Caeda fic where Catria is his courtesan. And there are threesomes.

This is why I shouldn't take naps and then read my flist.

[mark_asphodel]

IDK. Sheema's mother might've been a doormat, but we never get to see her, so who knows? I find Jiol compelling in a weird way... from a twisted perspective, he was doing what was right for Gra as an independent nation. If, perhaps, Sheema's right to the throne wasn't acknowledged by Altea, eliminating the elder branch of the family was the only thing that would keep Gra secure. And it was Hardin who installed Sheema as the ruling princess-- we just don't know if Cornelius would've accepted Sheema as a legit heir, or if he would've said, "Nope. Mine, as it should've been all along, thank you very much." And given how loyal Cornelius was to Nyna's father, the king of Archanea probably would've signed off on the plan.

But, fate being what it is, Jiol's plans totally backfired and Marth got everything anyway.

And there are threesomes.

Hah. I've been playing with something along those lines, but not in a straightforward sense. And without the threesomes.

[sarajayechan]

There appears to be something equally dodgy in the backstory of King Jiol and the mother of his daughter Sheema-- not so much an arranged marriage as "I want, I take." Yikes.

I think Shimizu Hitomi was the one who came up with "he snapped up some random lady to bear him a child" theory, but I believe this. He saw a woman who looked desirable enough, told her she was going to be his bride and since he was the fucking king she couldn't exactly say no. I definitely believe there was "I want, I take" but I can also see the woman thinking "well at least I'll be marrying into status". Possibly to ignore the fact that he was just snapping her up.

[mark_asphodel]

Yeah, I first saw that in Hitomi's fic and meta but I can never be sure if she invented something or if she saw something in the Japanese script/notes that I can't read.

Possibly to ignore the fact that he was just snapping her up.

Yeah. Certainly Cellica's mother wasn't comforted much by the king of Sofia snapping her up. I think he gets the Worst Lord[*] Parent award.

* Yeah, yeah, she's a priestess/princess. Whatevs.

[kyusil]

What about Desmond and Hellene? I'm not sure I'm picking up what you're saying, exactly...

[mark_asphodel]

Another wholly negative portrayal of a state political marriage, one with bad effects that go far beyond two unhappy people.