#traincat talks fire emblem

[traincat]

hi!! ikesoren height anon again, thank you for the detailed answer!! i honestly loved how thorough it was, but you talking about the height and weight stats in-game also made me think—soren's probably not wearing any armor into battle with a weight stat like that, huh?? ike being even heavier than he is tall makes sense because he's got armor and a big sword and whatnot, but soren is really just charging into battle in nothing but a shirt and cloak... i know mechanically it's somewhat normal for mage classes in these kinds of games to only wear light/leather armor or even just cloaks, but i wonder how ike feels about soren waltzing into fights with zero padding lol

Hi height anon! Yeah, like you said, it's pretty typical for Fire Emblem mages not to wear much in the way of armor. Typical fantasy RPG things. (His strength stat in FE9 starts at, uh. Zero.)

But on the general topic of Ike worrying over Soren/being protective over him, there's a couple of things this ask brought to mind, like these quotes from Soren's introductory chapter.

Shinon: All right, Ike. Let’s see how you handle the role of captain. Well? What are your orders, boy? We’ll do what you say, so long as you hurry up and spit it out! Ike: I know, I know! I’m thinking! Give me a moment, will you, Shinon? Shinon: Bah. Useless! We’d be better led with Mist than this soft, untested whelp. Ike: Let’s see…We’re in the middle of the road, and there’s not much cover. Soren and Rhys are vulnerable, so we have to protect them from enemy attacks…Right? Soren: That’s a sound strategy, Ike. I can attack from behind your defenses. Good thinking. Ike: Do you mean that? Um…all right! Let’s do that then.

(FE9, Chapter 4.) For context, Ike's the son of a mercenary commander and this is the first job he's been given lead over, so he's very much still learning how to command -- so this is a little bit tutorial-y for players, built into the script, since Soren is your first mage and positioning him behind a character with better defense like Ike is a pretty good strategy for training him up. (There's also some boss dialogue much later where Shinon accuses Soren of, quote, "hiding behind Ike's apron.") The above is the default, where everyone is alive, but there's this variation if you've (somehow) gotten multiple other characters killed.

Soren: Ike, do you have any ideas on how you want to approach this fight? Ike: Let’s see…We’re in the middle of the road, and there’s not much cover. You’re vulnerable, so I have to be sure you’re protected from enemy attacks, right? Soren: Right. Er…sorry for the trouble…but I appreciate the consideration. Ike: Sure. All right, let’s do that then.

I think the awkwardness of this variation is really cute, tbh, down to Soren apologizing for the trouble. It fits considering how young they both are at this point in the game, and that it takes place in the early chapters before war breaks out.

And then a variety of "death" quotes -- Soren is too plot important to actually be killed before the very final chapters of FE10, so if you do get him killed, Ike will order him to retreat. (Classic Fire Emblem has permadeath for characters, and it's sort of an in-joke-that's-not-entirely-a-joke that a lot of players, including me, will just reset if characters die. Listen, it's the right way to play. But I always like looking at the death quotes, they tell you a lot about the characters, and Soren has a lot of special ones.)

Soren: Oof! That was…poorly done. Ike: Retreat, Soren! You’ve done all you can here! Soren: But, Ike… Ike: You heard me. Fall back! You can still help us with our planning. Besides, if you tell us all what to do, we’ll be better off, right? Soren: I… I understand… Please…be careful!

(Up until FE9, chapter 17.)

Soren: Oh… Ow! Ike: Hold it, Soren! You’re not staying in this a moment longer! Withdraw! Soren: Ike, I can still– Ike: Our tactician isn’t allowed to make faces like that. Ever! Listen, we need you planning our strategies at base, so leave that attitude behind. That is unless you have a problem with the two of us in command. Soren: Of-of course not! I didn’t see… … I understand. But listen… Stay safe, Ike.

(FE9, chapter 18 until the endgame chapter.)

Soren: Argh! Not now… It’s the last battle… How could I be so careless? Ike: Soren! Just fall back! This may be the last battle for Crimea, but it won’t be the last battle for us, will it? Soren: What? Ike: We’re mercenaries. After this battle, there will be hundreds, maybe thousands of fights ahead. Am I wrong? Soren: I… No… Ike: Right. So get out of here. Our little group needs you! Do you understand? Soren: Ike… I understand. I will withdraw… Ike! Don’t let me down!

(FE9, endgame.)

Soren: …Ugh… What a terrible place… to die… Ike: Soren, retreat! Soren: But, Ike… Ike: Aren’t you supposed to be my strategist? Use your head! I need your help. Soren: …I see. As you command…

(FE10, part 3.)

And, okay, listen, not on the subject of Ike being protective, but Soren's endgame actual death quote is a lot.

Soren: Ike… Please live… Even if all the cities burn, and the seas swallow Tellius… You mustn’t die… Not you…

(FE10, part 4 endgame.)

There's also some fun game mechanics at play -- if you have Ike and Soren next to each other in FE9, Ike negates critical hits against Soren. Soren is the only character he does this for, notably.

The possessed version of Ike from the mobile game also explicitly warns only three characters to stay away from him so he won't hurt them -- Mist, his sister; Titania, his surrogate mom; and Soren.

[moonwolfhowl]

Fic Author Tag Game

AO3 Name: Nightmoonz

Fandoms: BnHA has the most fics (due to Seroroki for sure), Shades of Magic, Octopath Traveler, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Star Trek (RIP NEVER FINISHE), Hawkeye Matt Fraction run, Teen Wolf, Promare 

Number of fics: 32 although there were some that were orphaned on Ao3. 1 on LJ, a number on FF but we do not talk about the fandoms or fics on FF and I know thankfully none of you will ever find them

Tagging @zerounitrgb​ @walkingtheplankonasinkingship​ @ellieb3an​ @thecookiemonster77​ @slumbrslumbrs​

1) Fic you spent the most time on: err well we have several WIPS that are partially published but if we’re talking finished fics then it’s Soba Saturdays and it’s honestly my favorite work I’ve ever written. I wish more people would read it but it’s primarily a gen fic with a sprinkling of a rare pair so it doesn’t shock me that it’s not as read as others... Still it’s a brother bonding fic between the Todoroki brothers (Natsuo and Shouto). Ngl it’s kind of a love letter to my younger self explaining that it’s okay to not know how to feel about an abusive figure in your life (I think you guys know who I mean in this scenario). It transitions to Natsuo ruining Shouto’s life by being 5000% obnoxious when it comes to Shouto’s crush on Todoroki. >:3  Basically I just love this fic a lot and I am super proud of it. For Fics I have yet to complete it’s If You Could Hold Me Closer... (Tiny Dancer). So this has been in the works for a long time and the reason for this is well life happened, but also I know how I want it to end but every time I go to write it... the words just aren’t coming out right and this fic means a lot to me especially since @zerounitrgb​ gave me the title and it’s been so much fun to work on I just really want to get that ending right yk?

2) Fic you spent the least time on: The least amount of time? Mind You Always for Octopath Traveler. So This was for an exchange, see I was a mod for it and one person disappeared off of the face of the planet so I had to be a pinch hitter. I had less than 24 hours to write this and uh I did the damn thing. I got super inspired and my friend and co-mod beta’d it. Despite the rush, I think it turned out really well and I really like it.

3) Longest fic: this should probably surprise no one Little Words, I think my claim to fame Kiribaku fanfic XD

4) Shortest fic: Adorable Idiots in which two characters are just talking for 554 words XD

5) Most hits: Again, should surprise absolutely no one, Little Words 

6) Most kudos: ... Little Words

7) Most comment threads: XDDDD Little Words

8) Fave fic you wrote: So, I’ve explained why Soba Saturdays means so much to me and that it’s my absolute favorite so let me feature my 2nd favorite: All Tongue Taped :,D I love this fic so much This is just a straight up romance fic full of pining fools, angst, 4 times the didn’t tell each other how they really felt and the one time they did, idiots to lovers and... they’re roommates

9) Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: There are so many... I guess the most notable has to be If You Could Hold Me Closer... (Tiny Dancer) which is the most ridiculous crack fic of all time but I left it on the worst cliff hanger imaginable but that is because I did not know how I could possibly expand it without ruining its crack like nature...

For a serious pick I would say I'm my old college roommate's fake date to his sister's wedding like I actually have an outline-ish idea for this expanding but I don’t know if I could actually sit down and write it. if anyone wants I could post my ideas/outline for it but YEEEEEAH LMAO I have a lot of ideas for this, maybe I will finish it but I would really like to finish If You Could Hold Me Closer... (Tiny Dancer) first.

10) Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: kjdhfgjsk... I have far too many. I have like two for FE3H, one for Pokémon SWSH, like... 5ish for Seroroki, but tbh I don’t think I’ll post those... but heck if you want to send me an ask for one of them go ahead and I’ll post a little. 

Oh and Thank you @traincat ^___^

[traincat]

ive never played the games so i dont know what to picture when im reading your fics, how tall do you think soren and ike are?

I said recently that they have a Mulder and Scully level height difference and I stand by that statement. This one is a little hard to answer, because I don't think there is a definitive answer -- it's not like comics where there's an official handbook with heights and weights listed, although there is like, a vague equivalent. I'll get to that. I know recently some people deduced heights by, I think, converting the measurements of their respective models in Fire Emblem Engage, the anniversary game for the series that featured both characters, but I'll be honest, that's too much math for me, and I'd rather rip into the text of the original games until I come up with my own answer. So I'm gonna give you my thoughts, and the canon evidence that backs them up, but it's just my opinion.

Anyway I'm going into this with the same amount of thought that I go into with all my comics meta. I'm sorry about that in advance.

So two things about Fire Emblem 9 and 10. The first is that the games aren't new -- FE9 came out in 2005, and FE10 in 2007. Graphically, they hold up well, but it's because they're not very complicated. The majority of conversations take place involving still portraits with text underneath -- there's only a few fully animated cutscenes. (Soren is in exactly one FE10 cutscene, and they're not standing next to each other.) The second is that the games take place over a period of a few years (each game takes place over about a year, with a three year gap in between FE9 and FE10). Ike starts FE9 at 17, and he's about 20 at the start of FE10. And he evolves like a Pokemon.

This is not meant to be to height scale; I just wanted these three pieces of official art next to each other for comparison. Graphic design is not my passion.

Also, this has nothing to do with height, but I'm going to point it out anyway: Ike's FE10 artbook page literally ends by talking about how he's in love with Soren.

(credit to Kantopia for the translation.) (did I mention that, by FE rules, the ship is canon. because it's canon.) The character designer, Kita Senri, also drew this picture of FE9 and FE10 Ike standing back to back, which. Yeah. Okay!

By FE10, at least, so by age 20, Ike is tall. (His parents come from the Tall People Country, Daein.) His size is remarked upon a couple of times in the script, too, by people who hadn't seen him for a few years:

Ike: Tormod, it's been a while. Tormod: Holy moly! You are absolutely huge! I feel puny next to you… Ike: That's because you are puny. Magic clearly doesn't give you much muscle tone. (...) Tormod: Nah, you just can't see me properly because all of your blood gets pumped to your muscles, away from your brain! [leaves] Ike: A little touchy, Tormod?

(FE10, Part 4 Chapter 4)

Volke: You’ve grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you. Ike: Everyone loves telling me that. Volke: You’re starting to look like Greil. Ike: That might be true, too. He IS my dad.

(FE10, Part 4 Endgame-1) It should be noted that Ike's dad, Greil, was pretty huge.

Engage also has it remarked upon, with one character saying that Emblems (essentially FE main character force ghosts in-game) are big, and Ike remarking that that's not an Emblem thing, he's just huge. (He's the funniest Fire Emblem main character except for his co-star, Micaiah, Little Miss War Crimes, and I'm barely even biased at all.)

There are in-game stats for height and weight (build/constitution and weight, respectively), as they relate to mechanics -- if one character is significantly bigger and heavier than the other, the smaller character can't rescue them or shove them. Weight varies because, for example, if a character is on a horse, the horse factors into the weight, or if they're wearing heavy armor, etc. Build, for me, is the best indicator of general (not exact) height. In FE9, Ike's build and weight start off at 9, which is pretty average, and then 10/11 upon class promotion. In FE10, his build is 12 and weight is 13, which is on the bigger side -- I'd say compared to other human men in the game, but there are a lot of big guys in this game. Again, he's twenty, so he's probably still growing, and everyone is already remarking that he's huge. I'm almost always gonna go with what the text says, and the text in FE10 says he's huge, pretty unequivocally.

Soren... is not huge. Soren is, debatably, pretty tiny.

If we're going to use build/weight as a metric, and I think for these purposes we have to, then Soren is a 6 build and 6 weight to Ike's 12 build and 13 weight. So half Ike's size. Either way, 6 build and 6 weight is small -- the only people who are smaller than him are a handful of the female characters, including the one with literal bird bones. How much this reflects on his actual height is up for debate -- I think when that FE Engage height math was done, it was determined that, based on his model there, he was probably 5'10", which is obviously not that short, but if that's the case he's probably very thin to account for that weight stat. His father and his eldest uncle, if not also his mother, are very tall, so there is that to factor in. Soren is half-dragon and he ages slower than an average human, so there's potential for him to end up quite tall -- but it could take twenty, thirty years. (Soren is 19 in FE9 and 22 in FE10.) It's kind of a big shrug in his case. I don't think he's particularly tall, but I think it's more up for personal interpretation how tall he is, as opposed to Ike where the text is repeatedly shouting "HE'S HUGE!!!" at you. He is, pretty clearly, quite a bit smaller than Ike.

I'm going to wrap up this insane person analysis with this pretty art of Soren which does nothing to suggest anything height-wise. I just like to look at it.

(PS thank you for reading my fic even though you haven't played the games! It always makes me really happy to hear that people like my writing enough to do that. but also I have like, fully conspiracy theoried my way into believing they'll rerelease the games.)