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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