Favorite Pairings for Elodie (endgame spoilers)

[Runespoor]

*cautiously revives thread*

I tried making a list of my fave Elodie end-pairings, but let's just say it was inconvenient.

It's easier to name the ones I'm less fond of: Linley, Adair, and the Foreign Duke of Intrigue, mostly. (I ant my marriages of convenience to be with people I've annoyed during the game, thanks.)

Ignatius gets a special mention for having an epilogue I find very sweet when Elodie's an angel of music, and yet... this epilogue paints him in an unpleasant light as far as I'm concerned. (I killed your sister, Ignatius. The least you could do is poison me. Or attempt to kill me on our wedding night. Or, I don't know, politely turn me down while citing you don't actually resent what I did. Anciet doesn't marry me when I do away with his aunt or uncle, and the Good Lady knows he wasn't close to them by any measure!) Very sweet and very funny when Briony's alive, but I don't like to dwell on this outcome aside from that.

I'm inordinately fond of the endings where Banion and Elodie are on the same page - whether it's the flowerboy wedding or the affair behind Thaddeus' back. The more I play the more I like Banion, really, he's so terrible. It's not just that he's doing his utmost to marry Elodie evey way he can, it's that... so many of the things he does are dangerous or counter-productive. Why is he sending an assassin after you then disappointed if he accidentally kills you in a duel the vey next week? Why does he take Elodie up on her offer to carry on an affair behind Thaddeus' back? That's not the straight-forward powerpowerpower he aims for. Truth is, I think Banion likes complicated things. (My opinion on Banion is that he has way too much free time and has delegated the actual managing of his domain to a series of administrators that may or may not be embezzling wildly out of Maree's treasury.) His sneaky, smiling, intrigue-and-conversation back-and-forth interactions with Elodie make me very happy.

Also very very fond of the Brin, Banion-and-Brin, Briony, and Evrard endings. I adore the Kevan ending - whether it's normal Elodie or cruel Elodie. See what I meant about it being hard to choose? My favourite Thaddeus marriage is the angel of music version (so heartwarming!) - and, again, the one with the Banion affair. Which is still pretty heartwarming in a weird way and which can fit an OT3 narrative. I like Talarist when you choose him at the end of the game, especially when you've suspected him of having Adair killed. Anciet's epilogue is unbearably cute, as is the Earl of Pastry.

I haven't done as many variations about Brin as I'd like to - and so far most of my runs have been rather vanilla (aiming for Best Possible Endings and avoiding civil wars and rebellions and votes of no-confidence >_>), so there's still some room for things to evolve. I did get the incredibly bittersweet ending where Elodie marries Brin. The one I'm set on figuring out next is getting Joslyn to marry Brin so I can marry Banion without it turning into an OT3.

This did take a while.

[Shogeton]

I think Ingatius plain old doesn't like his sister. After all, the old Duke of Ursul made a point of disinheriting him so Juliana could inherit. Possibly something to do with magic? Perhaps Ignatius refused the magic, or perhaps he didn't have a talent for it and Juliana did. Anyway, if you imprison Juliana and he comes to visit, he doesn't try very hard to get her out. He's decent enough that he's not actively lobbying for her to remain in the dungeon, but if the Queen decides she stays locked up and he gets to be duke, he's perfectly alright with that, and IIRC will absolutely vote for you if you face the no-confidence vote.

[Runespoor]

Iirc, he abstains rather than plainly siding with you, but I get your point. But there's a difference between "resenting one's sister because she was Dad's favourite" and "being happily married to person who killed your sister", or at least I think there is. It's pretty bad when the character I'm considering loses out to Banion on moral ground.

Otoh I'm fine with Bennett actually siding with Elodie during the vote if Elodie had Brin executed. Maybe because Bennett gets his shining moment with Lieke and Gwenelle at Gwenelle's birthday party - he hates his siblings, but he cares very much for the family he made for himself. Ignatius doesn't have a scene that would make him similarly sympathetic imo.

I agree with your theory that Ignatius got passed over because he wasn't a Lumen, and raise you the following. We don't know whether children of a Lumen all potentially possess Lumen powers or not, but we do know that all the dukes/duchess before 200 ago were Lumens (and Julianna doesn't mention that Elodie/Charlotte/whoever might not have Lumen potential). I think the canon skews toward the idea that every child of a Lumen can potentially become a Lumen. That would mean either that Ignatius got passed over for that, too, or that he didn't want it.

I think Ignatius didn't want it. He didn't want to be the Lumen Duke. Paulus and Julianna are both considered at best as eccentrics. They're scandalous (in part because Lumen is closely linked to queerness in the game), and Ignatius... Ignatius is the guy who stayed with his wife when she started having an affair with her brother. If he'd left without having his own land to go back to, it would have been a huge scandal; everyone would have wondered what could have possibly happened (what Corisande could possibly have done) to make him leave. He buys into the status-quo. (Then Corisande goes and starts a liaison that's more scandalous than anything either Ignatius' father or his sister could have cooked up. I feel a bit sorry for the guy.)

So he turns his chance at getting the title down, because no way Paulus would've handed the title without the Crystal, and then he resents Julianna and probably hates himself a fair bit for every single choice he made. Then again it's quite possible Julianna was their father's favorite even before the Lumen issue, what with their peculiar-for-the-setting stances on marriage.

[ReEmmeline]

Yeah, I share the headcanon that Ignatius was disinherited for rejecting the Lumen crystal, though I suspect that the Ursul family dysfunction goes beyond that. I actually have an idea for a fanfic on that subject that I'll probably never write unless I can get some bits of the timeline worked out (including but not limited to: when Julianna was illuminated, when Paulus married Hyacinth, and whether Ignatius was still living with them. That must have been a weird year.)

Back on topic, I feel like I'm the only fan who thinks Brin doesn't deserve Elodie (or a title). And while Talarist has just about everything going for him, personally and politically, I just can't get over the near-certainty that he's the one trying to kill Adair.

On the other hand, Kevan is farther from perfect than either of those, and his "good" ending is my absolute favorite. "Good" is in quotes because I actually find it really sad, even though - or especially because - it's the closest thing to a happy ending he's likely to get. On the fluffier side, the Briony ending is adorable.

[Tzaphquiel]

My favourites are Linley and Anciet. I cannot quite decide which, since I like both of them. Based on the descriptions, both should be rather sweet marriages. Then, there are the political benefits of tying either Kigal or Sudbury closer to the crown.

[Shogeton]

A lot of Ignatius' defense depends on the exact nature of his disinheritance, which is strictly in the realm of headcanons. If it was just a 'sorry, Ignatius, but if you're not willing to take the Lumen Crystal, you cannot be the Duke' it reflects badly on him, but if he was actually fully cast out, disowned and spat out by his dad and sister for unwillingness or inability to be a Lumen, then I can't really blame him for not exactly shedding too many tears for her when that very 'being a Lumen' ends up getting her imprisoned. I tend to think that the Ursul household was a pretty cold and stark place, simply judging by Julianna's cold and ruthless nature. She's on our side and all, but she has zero problem killing innocents, pressuring a young girl into doing dangerous things for the greater good and it's not for a personal loyalty to Elodie. So, given those traits, I don't imagine she's been much of a sister to Ignatius, so I don't consider his indifference towards her a moral failing.

But I do like the ending, because it gives poor Ignatius a break. I mean, his dad passed him over in favor of his sister, so he got married except his wife cuckolds him with her brother, then the divorce happens and he loses his child too. Guy got the rawest deal, and then, suddenly BAM, he's the king-consort (and of course, he got to be Duke again by then).

[Ariel Schnee]

Even though it's not in the game I really favor an Elodie and Charlotte pairing.^_^

[Team Corvid]

I know Elodie/Linley's pretty bland, but it's still sweet and peaceful. I can easily see their family being a big, loving, considerate bunch. Though Adair has to die to achieve that path, I kind of like Elodie marrying Linley, Duke of Elath. Proves he's not a scholar who only hides inside his study all day.

Elodie/Earl of Pastries and Elodie/Evrard is also lovely. I especially loved the Taste Tester ending where she actually ends up with Evrard. Also touching to see that the commoners' reaction-it's like the only people upset with Elodie are the nobles and she has her people's love, or that the commoners' hearts are big enough to be happy for their Queen despite her screwups.