Mudshipping/Flameshipping Vs. Steamshipping/Valeshipping... In the eyes of Midnight C


Updated June 23rd, 2003



Ok, here we go. This incoming e-mail was from Midnight C. Spoiler Warning for TLA. Spoilers may be present. Yeah, legal stuff. Mia, do the thing you do.
Sure, fine.

Triad!

I'm so glad someone brought this issue up and that you actually posted a sort of mini-rant/explanation about it! Bravo! You covered the arguements very well, but if you would, I'd like to offer a little more interpretation about the whole Jupiter Lighthouse incident since I've played through it a few times. Of course, I'm as ardent a Mudshipper + Flameshipper as you are, so I freely admit that this interpretation might be slightly biased. ^_^ I only wish I had screenshots to prove my points!

Point 1: Isaac's very first spoken word EVER is actually "Mia." Yup, that's right. Funny thing, Ivan's speech icon pops up first when he calls out to Garet, meaning that Garet has already fallen, and yet Isaac calls out to Mia. Strange...he's known Garet his entire life yet he calls out Mia's name first? You can't tell me that's not significant!

Point 2: Yes, Garet would go after Mia just because he is a good guy. He doesn't have to like her "that way" in order to want to help. And when Isaac shouts down to them, he still tries to reassure Mia first, even though Garet is clearly in greater danger. And Mia calls up to Isaac and assures him that she's all right and THEN begs him to think of a way to help Garet. Now, I can see why some people might be tricked into thinking this means she has feelings for Garet, but personally, I think it shows how much Mia trusts Isaac. She can't pull Garet up herself (he's too heavy!), so she turns to the one person she knows she can trust: Isaac.

Point 3: As Garet dangles by his one arm, Karst and Agatio show up to confront Isaac and Ivan (remember that Karst is out for blood and they both want the Mars Star which Isaac still has). It doesn't take long for the four of them to get into a fight. Karst takes on Ivan and big bad Agatio battles Isaac. While this is going on, down in the corner of the screen you can see Mia frantically looking back and forth between Garet and Isaac. She's worried about BOTH of them, not just Garet. Again, what you want to make of this is up to you.

Point 4: While all of this is going on, Felix's party is watching from below. They exchange a few words before deciding to help and (wouldn't you know) JENNA is the one that asks "what if Garet falls while they're fighting?" OK, Isaac's facing off against the most powerful warrior in the Fire Clan by himself and Jenna's more worried about GARET?! Come on people, that's so BLATANT!

Point 5: When Felix's party finally makes it to Isaac, he's already gotten the crap kicked out of him (poor Isaac-chan!). Agatio moves in for the kill and Jenna says something about "not going to let that happen." Of course, Valeshippers pounce on this, but Jenna doesn't have to LOVE him to not want to see him get killed! Sheesh!

Point 6: Felix and Picard head on up to the Aerie to light the beacon while Jenna, Sheba and Kraden stay behind to help Isaac's group. At the Aerie, Felix and Picard begin battling the two not-so-nice Mars Adepts by themselves, then Jenna shows up, then Sheba. Interesting that Jenna left both of her potential suitors behind to help her brother (blood must be thicker than hormones). It's not until Sheba appears that we learn that both Isaac and Garet are safe. This part still confuses me. Jenna is the master of mixed signals!

Point 7: If Felix loses the fight to Agatio, the game actually keeps going. Karst and Agatio make their escape just as Isaac shows up (you get to hear him say "Blast! They got away!" which is rather amusing). Since Felix's party isn't in very good shape, Isaac asks Mia to heal them, and she does so without question. Isn't that odd? As good and caring a healer as Mia is, it seems strange that she doesn't even falter at the idea of aiding Felix (who up to this point has been her enemy). I see this as even more evidence of Mudshipping. Mia trusts Isaac's judgment so much that she's willing to do what he says no matter what. Even a loyal friend will often question another friend's judgment (and if I remember correctly, Garet does), but a lover is less likely to.

Point 8: If you win the fight, after some brief bickering, Isaac agrees to wait for Felix in Contigo and warns him that he'd better show up. The dialog here gives no solid indication of any pairings. Maybe this is just me, but if Isaac were madly in love with Jenna, wouldn't he say something to her at this point? I sure think he would!

Point 9: When the two parties meet in Contigo, Isaac never says anything directly to Jenna. A few of his speech bubbles COULD be aimed at her, but they could just as easily be aimed at Felix. Ivan says something like "Isaac's been worrying about Jenna this whole time" but that's the only real Valeshipping indicator in the whole conversation. And why did IVAN say it? Again, if Isaac were madly in love with Jenna, I think he would've said this himself. Jenna apologizes for running off at Venus Lighthouse and for "making you worry," but the timing and wording of this statement is such that she could be saying it to EITHER Isaac or Garet (maybe both?). Also, Isaac himself never looks towards Jenna, and she and Garet look directly at each other A LOT! Naturally, game graphics are rather limited, but of all the places the programmers could've made Jenna stand, why across from Garet? I maintain that if Isaac and Jenna are the great reunited lovers, they would talk and look at each other at least once! But that's not the case here at all.

Much later in the game, there's even more evidence of Mudshipping and Flameshipping (Flameshipping in particular), but I don't want to spoil the game's ending for anyone. Honestly, I don't see how anyone who's played through both games can see ANY indication of a true Garet/Mia romance. Between all the bickering they do in GS1 and GS2, I can't see the two of them as being anything more than friends. Yes, he tries to save her, but that doesn't instantly make him her lover. The Isaac/Jenna thing is much more probable in comparison, but I still think she prefers Garet, and we've already established that Mia and Isaac seem to be sending signals to each other, so... ^_^

Don't jump to conclusions about the couples from one or two lines of dialog, my friends. Take a step back and look at the big picture first and THEN make your judgment. Its simultaneously frustrating and fun that Camelot left romance a gray area in this saga. We'll be having this debate for the rest of time...unless the characters get married in GS3 or something!

Wow, that got to be pretty long. Anyway, hope this helps further everyone's understanding of the Golden Sun couples! ^_^

~Midnight C.

Well, there you go. I think Midnight brought up some excellent points and made some interesting viewpoints. If you want to support Midnight's arguments, send an e-mail to the link provided on the main "War of the Ships" page and use the subject line of "In support of Midnight" or something like that. If you want to try to rebuke, say "In counter of Midnight and Triad" or something along those lines. All right. Go check out Omniflyer's e-mail next if you haven't already.

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