(no subject)

[scarletmorning]

Tortillas rock my goddamn socks. I've started to replace bread and Brötchen with it XD It's just so much tastier and feels lighter. OM NOM NOM.

Some more things:

- Ashnard is like Zephiel just without the issues to explain his crazy demeanor. He might even be the love child of Zephiel and Valter. ... *would ship Zephiel/Valter just for the lulz. Doesn't believe they would like each other, though*

- I have the feeling that there's an influx of Ephraim/Lyon stories lately. Am I alone in the impression?

- The Fado Survives AU is so unbelievably fun 8D

- I kinda want to post all the things. Lol, silly self, they're not finished yet. XD

- Needs more GameOne in the world. Also, I'm not a fan of RPF, but dude, I would ship them. Casually. If Wolf would just stop flirting with all the guys, I wouldn't ship anyone XD

Comments

[raphiael]

I wouldn't say there's a really large amount of Ephraim/Lyon lately. I can think of 2 fics in the past 2 months or so, and that's it. More than have been posted in a while, but. . . that's really not saying much. While I haven't seen any that stood out to me, it's nice to see it getting some attention of some kind. Seems like the rest of fandom is realizing that there's actually more to FE8 than who Eirika's sleeping with, and it's delightful.

And, re Zephiel, I think there's way more than just daddy issues fueling him. I mean, it factored in, likely, but I wouldn't say his issues totally explain him. I prefer Zephiel, but Ashnard does have an explanation in his warped ideology. Physical strength prevailing over helplessness, every man for himself, that kind of thing. Zephiel's got the same ideology element, and I think that's the main draw.

[scarletmorning]

Yeah, now it's about who Ephraim is not sleeping with XD

I believe the issues in his family kinda pushed him into the mindset that humans are worthless and that the world would be a better place if there were no humans at all. I find it quite "logical" that Zephiel would draw this conclusions from his upbringing.

[raphiael]

Eh, not really? Considering there are still more fics about Eirika and one of her love interests than there are about Ephraim total, it's really not noteworthy IMO.

I still wouldn't pin everything on Zephiel's upbringing. IMO, that makes him more of a woobie than canon presents him as, and starts to shift the blame for his actions onto his father. Looking at his upbringing brings some light to why he went as he did, but isn't a full explanation, IMO. You can easily say the same for Ashnard - by the sounds of it, his extremist stance wasn't really a huge difference from Daein's existing culture.

[raphiael]

Posted too soon - was going to say "....it's really not noteworthy IMO. More in line with a general uptick in FE8 than with a specific 'influx' of this one pairing."

[scarletmorning]

I'm more looking at recent development and I have to say that I haven't seen that many Eirika stories lately.

I... actually don't see how that shifts the blame solely on Desmond? (Especially since he's not the only one who screws up the situation. There's Bern as a whole, the court, later his embittered mother, maybe even Desmond´s lover, etc.) As I see it, Zephiel´s upbringing could have (roughly) push him in two directions; get embittered or fight actively. His personality "fit" more with the first and he decided to go through with it. Nobody forced him to decide to kill all humans, though. He was only predisposed to hate humans and see nothing good in them. He didn't have to decide for this way. He could've "just" become a sour and misanthrophic ruler.
How he deals with this belief is up to him. Parents influence a child, yes, but they are not responsible for every actions the child does. Zephiel is no puppet without his own will. His personality and character is more than just his upbringing. That would turn him into a two dimensional character.

[raphiael]

I'm. . . seeing a pretty equal amount, myself? Equal with Ephraim in the same span of time, at least. If you look since November, which I'd say is recently, there are 8 of each, so it's not like suddenly no one likes Eirika? Just, things aren't as heavily slanted on Eirika and her harem for a change. It's far from a bad thing, really.

Making it like "Zephiel is like this because his father was a dick" shifts the cause to, well, his father, I think, rather than him. His father's treatment may have made him feel that way, but judging an entire species - to which he belongs - based on one man's treatment? There's absolutely more to it than just his dad, and most of it probably comes from within him, his decisions, his - just as you can't really say Vigarde's cold treatment or the looming disaster caused Lyon's madness, or beorc cruelty in full caused Sephiran's reaction to his despair. I still don't think it's any more "explanation" than what Ashnard offers.

But that's just me.

[scarletmorning]

Hm, maybe Ephraim just spring at me more.

But... that's what I'm saying? And it's NOT just Desmond. Desmond is a bit part of his fuck-up surroundings, but I seriously doubt that the other nobles/royals are that awesome. And later his mother has also turned quite... unfriendly. Indirectly she'll have influence on him as well. I'm trying to say that theses surroundings gave Zephiel the initial push. What he makes of this "starting energy" is his decision alone. And that decision is based on his personality and the conclusions he draws from his experiences. I don't see how that takes away the responsibility from him...? Many things make up a person. Some things are bigger than others. Zephiel´s upbringing is one of those things and it's not a small one, but also not the only one.

I find Ashnard´s motives just... illogical to the extreme. I don't understand where he's coming from. He just does it for the sake of it. A bit like Valter who's just cruel for the sake of being cruel. (His "backstory" is a joke, really)