Xenogears Ships and OTPs?

I know there are deeper things to talk about than shipping, and with Xenogears, that is especially so, but for those that do have them and do that shipping thing, discuss!

My big ships are Ramsus/Dominia, Ramsus/Sigurd and Fei/Elly (I know I rage against most of the popular ships, but I can't not root for Fei and Elly).

Aha, this is where my backed up posts prove useful!

*copy & paste* ('cause I'm lazy 8D)

Xernova wrote:Well, for starters, Xenogears doesn't have as much pairings which I like as Xenosaga does, but there are still a few;

<inevitable SPOILERS included>

Fei x Elly: I don't see these two being with anyone else than eachother. The story pushes them being together too hard for me to even consider pairing them with anyone else. Xenogears' OTP, but not mine (I don't have one in this game).

Bart x Margie: Probably the "cute & fluffy" pairing of the game. I kinda ignore the fact that they're cousins (I don't think it was meant to be something to frown upon either way; royalty marrying cousins isn't exactly unheard of). I really like Margie, and Bart is cool too. So yeah, I just think it's a nice pairing.

Miang x Ramsus: Ohoho! The "evil" pairing. Though I like to think Miang isn't completely without feelings for Ramsus, if only because of her host's emotions seeping through.

Citan x Yui: Like Fei and Elly, the game shows a strong bond between those two (imo), so I just feel like they belong together. Xenogears' romantic pairing, I'd say.

That's all. Yes, that's right; Xenogears has no yaoi pairings I like. The closest thing would be Bart x Billy, but I don't like that pairing enough to add it to this list.
[I've noticed most people who ship this pairing use Bart's little speech to Billy about "Don't you ever say 'sell your body' in front of me ever again!" as the basis for starting this pairing. I can't say it triggered my yaoi senses, but I guess I can kinda see where they're going with that. xD]

Hooray for backups!

Re: Ramsus/Miang, I do feel extremely bad for the host Miang, because her true feelings for him probably never did get to get through. Bad guy Miang is still mega cool, but I tend to feel a strong sense of steam against folks who get close to others in order to use them for power. Though I don't think Ramsus would have gotten to where he was without evil Miang. It's a long way from Krelian's garbage disposal to being the top general.

I too am in the same boat on Fei and Elly not really being with anyone else. It just feels wrong. I certainly feel bad for Krelian, but I don't think his feelings are healthy. Sticking around for hundreds of years and cracking dna codes on your crush is major stalker material.

I'm not really much of a shipper, but I do like Bart/Margie.

Xernova wrote:I kinda ignore the fact that they're cousins (I don't think it was meant to be something to frown upon either way; royalty marrying cousins isn't exactly unheard of).

I used to get kinda squicked out about that, but I've grown to ignore it as well. XD

I really liked Bart/Margie, but it's one of those many situations where I feel like Takahashi is just screwing with me. I can still see Bart coming around to Margie after he's grown up a bit. It's funny that she seems like the more mature one.

As for the cousins element of it, that part did not bother me because they don't seem to treat each other in strictly a familial sense. I don't remember if they were raised together or what, but I didn't get that icky vibe. It's more like Downton Abbey cousins than what I think of as cousins.

Perfect Works actually has a nice official artwork of Bart and Margie's would-be wedding and a bit of info written next to it;


^^^^click for full view^^^^

Perfect Works wrote:Marriage of best friends

Aveh and Nisan have been allies since long ago. From the time Bart's grandfather and Margie's grandmother were married, both countries were tied closer yet. Ever since someone among the people started saying ["both countries' Prince and the Great Mother get married"] Bart and Margie grew so embarrassed they don't speak of it. In particular Bart, who sees Margie more like a little sister. However, Margie's thoughts about Bart say that at least, she definitely wants the promised wedding to come about.

They didn't really mention how Bart feels towards Margie near the end of the game, although I had the impression he was slowly beginning to see her in a different way (after dealing with Shakhan).

Gee, the Takahashi crew seems to like these awkward pairings with a cute girl pining away, and reluctant male who sees them as a friend or sister.

It makes sense from Bart's perspective if they were raised close to view her in a non-romantic sense because he's the older of the two. It can take a long time to understand what a person is like as an adult in the present, when you've known them all of your life as a child. That said, I really do like how the presentation of the two's relationship suggests character development for Bart. Like with Fei/Elly, I feel like the characters are very archetypal, but the way that they are used in the game's story makes them more memorable than that.

I think it's a little more culturally acceptable in Japan for cousins to marry. It weirds me out a little bit, but not too much? Both of them are kind of adorable, and it makes sense to keep the family line in tact by intermarrying a little (but not, like, Game of Thrones level), but by the end of the game, it doesn't really seem necessary since

Spoiler:

I think if we got to see Margie and Bart grow up and mature together, I'd be more behind it, but I do think they're cute.

Do they officially state which level of cousins they are? Were their parents siblings, or are they removed by a few families?

According to Xerno's post a few posts ago, apparently their grandparents were married to each other? I guess that removes it a generation...

It's still hinky culturally speaking of course, but I think that legally and genetically speaking, second cousins are okay.

Fei x Elly of course.

But how about the "dark" version of this pairing - Grahf x Miang.

I always took it as very interesting that a distraught Lacan found Miang and he even saw her as Sophia at first.  Grahf is essentially an evil reflection of Fei while Miang is the same for Elly. They did work together (as much as Miang "works" with anyone since it's more like manipulation) for quite a long time as well.

Of course there is the little hiccup of Grahf being an entity of hatred and Miang not really caring about anything except reviving Deus...but hey, it's my imagination.

Miang/Grahf is an interesting pairing, indeed! I've always seen pictures of Id and Miang around and saw that as the parallel pairing at first, but I like the idea of that possible long standing relationship that's much more interesting.

I'm glad you like. ^^ I've seen a couple fanfics for Grahf/Miang too and I might try my hand at writing one someday.

Oh and I forgot to mention that Miang, upon seeing Fei (who looks exactly like Lacan) said  he was "handsome". Also in Grahf's little The Power speech, the original Japanese has him referring to the "beautiful Mother of Destruction."

Who could that be I wonder....

As for Id/Miang, that be extremely weird. It's already weird enough that Miang was manipulating and taunting Fetus Ramsus before sleeping with him a few decades later. With Id, she is responsible for his creation by torturing Lil' Fei while in the body of their mother. And even if you ignore the pseudo-incest stuff, (which honestly doesn't bug me), I always got the impression that Id was very childish. Maybe due to when his personality was created, he's immature and simplistic and can't think of much else besides destroying everything.

JSR_GUMMY wrote:Others include Margie/Bart, and the most randomness pairing I could think of: Billy/Maria. I don't know, they don't have any interactions ever. But I thought it was cute   :.

Billy/Maria reminds a little bit of Kurando/Anastasia from Shadow Hearts Covenant. Maria is just less silly and the pairing itself was never hinted at in the game.

Somehow, it's too bad. I mean, they both would have felt less forgettable if the game developped a bond between them and other main characters (Billy had Bart and that's about it and the game dropped this relationship in Disk2, and let's not talk about Billy and his dad).
Maria could have had a slight crush on Billy, she could have fought a bit with Bart (I can so see him tease her often calling her "squirt", he did call her that the first and last time they spoke to each other I think *and I think it's optional*), the game could have established that she felt sort of adopted as an Uzuki family member (remember how Midori called her "Big Sis"), creating a special bond between her and Citan (and since I like to think Maria enjoy tickering with machines, they would have one thing in common lol). Also, I enjoy Maria/Rico fanarts (he could be the grumpy teddy bear to younger ones maybe). This one makes me laugh :

Lol... funny how I imagine Maria more getting along with boys here. I guess she would have a complicated relationship with Elly, maybe more complicated than Elly/Bart. With Margie and Emeralda, I honestly don't know.

I think creating bonds between all the characters can make you enjoy and even remember underdevelopped characters (see, the cast of FF13... or Reyn from Xenoblade, who has nothing going for him expect that he is a childhood friend of the hero and heroine and have a crush on Sharla *I personally can't stand the guy but I enjoyed him being supportive of Sharla and I liked the childhood trio dynamic he formed with Shulk and Fiora*).

Welp, I got carried away  :biggrin2: ... I guess I will copy and paste my own list from another thread :

- Contact/Antitype : while their soulmatey thing have a depressing side (how much free will do they really have in this?), they're just very cute and heartbreaking together. And dat 10000 years old love story, seriously. I'm such a sucker for love beyond time, space, death etc...
- Krelian/Sophia : another sort of heartbreaking. There is a beauty to their bond I think. Krelian was important enough to Sophia that Lacan first thought they were a couple. I guess I love the protector/protegee thing, Krelian's absolute love and faith towards her (and how he was a better man for a while thanks to her) and how it wasn't meant to be.
- Dominia/Kelvena : I like the chemistry and dynamics.
- Citan/Yui : cute one. And for some reason, I think it would fit Yui to be a teacher. The badass teacher and doctor and their psychic creepy daughter. Such a family.
- Jesiah/Racquel : I think they must have been a cool and cute pair (Racquel was probably like family to the Elements). I always wanted to draw a badass fanart with all the Black together.
- Ramsus/Miang : the dark manipulative one. And they're sexy. I don't ship it like the others. It's not a healthy relationship but it's a fun relationship to explore (plus all the jokes you can make, it's fun messing with poor Ramsus). I also like the tragedy of it. Maybe Ramsus would have found the love he never had if Miang never possessed her host.

I also get amused at the idea of Krelian/Miang as the mastermind team and I'm okay with Dominia/Ramsus. Oh, and, while Bart/Margie gave me sibling vibes (plus, they're cousins), I still find them cute. Talking about them, I was thinking how much more interesting it would be if Margie and Bart had been separated after the coup d'état (Margie would stay at Nisan, being raised as the future Holy Mother while Bart would be raised on the Yggdrasil, his survival really kept a secret *in my mind, Margie  and a few chosen nuns would know but Margie wouldn't be allowed to see him*). Bart saving Margie would have been so much more emotional and interesting if it was the first time they saw and spoke to each other for years. I don't think it's that far-fetched actually. Actually, maybe it's what happened and I didn't understand it right. What do you think ?

Eh, I probably shouldn't bump this thread with a post consisting of 'I don't have any ships of note for this one, I'm a cold fish like that', right?

Hmm...

I guess that Lacan/Sophia and him meeting the next iteration(s) of Elly would be my choice. There is very little fluff and very much of grief to be had if guidelines set by canon are to be (however loosely) observed though.

Same with Ramsus and the tangle of women he finds himself with over the course of the story. A whole lotta awkwardness and uncomfortable truths with no happy endings in sight in there. (Unless... Ramsus as a harem-shounen anime protagonist? I usually detest those, but for some reason imagining Ramsus in it cracks me up right on the spot.)

Miang/Grahf? I think 'Miang' might have tried to pull that just to motivate him in the direction she wanted - it came off as if this was the usual modus operandi for her - but I doubt it would've worked. I think if one were to write something like that, a possible starting point would be her trying to get under his skin the usual way just out of habit, repeatedly failing and the actual genuine chemistry developing over time after that.

Bart/Margie? I'll pass. It is, IMHO, either trolling or the usual JAPAN! stuff one is better off not to think about too much. Yeah, royal lines are like that, but the narrative didn't have to bring it up repeatedly in such a manner, did it?

Fei/Elly? The only variant I think I could accept outside of just fluff for WAFF's sake would be if the current 'Fei' did not love Elly romantically. Personally, I've found that him declaring undying love the way he did in canon felt as an asspull for me.

XXX

Not directly on the topic, but I feel that 'Miang' was supposed to look completely differently much more often than the version released as final has shown. The game being unfinished and a visual method to help the audience differentiate the characters are the likely reasons 'Miang' appears only in three different ways ('Miang - Miang', 'Miang-Karen' and 'Miang-current-Elly') - Elly suddenly changing her color scheme close to the game's end was just for us players, she didn't actually look different beyond body language, mannerisms and maybe some power manifestations (that we never see).

So, the 'Miang' Lacan came upon in Shevat's prison block was likely the second iteration of Elly he met in his lifetime - it's just she was already overtaken by 'Miang' and the 'force ghost' effect we see in the scene that made it into the game is just a way to convey that when there are no more character sprites or text panels to be had.

Similarly, 'Miang' we see in one of the slides found in the optional dungeon under the lighthouse should not look like the 'Miang' we saw either.

Hell, the name itself likely belongs to the woman whose mind 'Miang' camped out in at the time the game begins.