I get that there’s other pairings that make more sense for Ingrid and Ignatz. I get that people have headcanons for both of them that usually lean towards them being thirsty for the same sex. And I get that their support is not the greatest (but I still like it a bit). Hell I don’t think i can rank this as my favorite (not when Ashe/Petra & Lorenz/Leonie exist) However, there’s something very compelling about this pairing that you are all totally sleeping on…if only the supports had followed upon this.
A good chunk of this is just me headcanon dumping as well…so be warned.
Ingrid/Ignatz is a ship that I hadn’t even considered at first and actually paired them off by accident as I had them at A+ and they seemed to be paired off due to Dorothea/Sylvain taking precedent for some reason (I was trying for Ingrid/Sylvain as I found their dynamic interesting). I did really enjoy their support even though it was pretty simple, Ingrid/Ignatz wasn’t really a ship that struck me unlike other ships but then I got to thinking and realized that they really did have a fascinating sort of mirroring of each other.
Ingrid is from House Galatea in the Kingdom of Faerghus. She is the first in a long time to bear a Crest, which is the Crest of Daphnel. House Galatea may be a noble house, but they have fallen on hard times due to infertile lands so her family grew up poor. However, she was the favored child due to her bearing a crest. It is stated that Ingrid has brothers and sisters but nothing is said of birth order. However, I do headcanon Ingrid as being the youngest of her family. This also kind of brings on some dark tones here because this suggests that the Galateas were amongst those whom tended to have babies until they had one with a Crest. She is the hope for a better future for her family.
Ignatz on the other hand is a commoner from the Leicester Alliance. Despite his family’s status as commoner, they are actually wealthy merchants whom reside likely around House Riegan. Ignatz is the second son, which is a bit of a burden for him. Since he is the second son, which means he has nothing to inherit as his older brother would be the one to take over the family business once his parents retire. I headcanon Ignatz as being the youngest as well, with him and his brother being the only two children. He is the hope for a better name for his family.
What ties them together is familial obligations that they both are stuck with, in spite of them going against their personal dreams.
Ingrid is obligated to be married off to a noble family in order to increase her family’s worth and to help save the lands. Her father sends her proposals constantly which she either ignores or flat out rejects, which her father does honor those rejections. However, what Ingrid really wants to do is to become a knight. She dreams of living those lofty ideals of knighthood, protecting those who need protection. I headcanon that her father allows her to attend in hopes that maybe she will find a suitable nobleman husband there (her father seems to think that Margrave Edmund’s son is a viable suitor…even if he did flirt with Count Galatea’s mother that one time…) and really wishes that she’d just stop those lofty dreams of knighthood.
Ignatz is obligated to become a knight in order to bring further honor and prestige to the Victor name. Ignatz’ brother will take over the merchant business while Ignatz is to train to become a knight and to serve a noble house. Headcanon says that Ignatz’ family thinks this could be a pathway to potential nobility. Ignatz, however, wants to become and artist and utilize his talent in painting. He believes his parents would never approve and really wants to appease them and help them bring honor to their family name. However, that dream of painting is just too strong.
I have this feeling that Ingrid would probably look at Ignatz’ situation and be jealous of his parents’ obligations for him. She vies for knighthood and it’s frustrating that Ignatz is here rejecting that path that she so very much wants to take. She would fail to recognize that commoner life is not as simplistic as she thinks it is. She also wonders why he feels like he has to give up painting for the knighthood in the first place.
I also feel like Ignatz wouldn’t understand why Ingrid would want to go into knighthood when she has a crest and is a noble. He wonders why she wouldn’t use her privilege (for lack of a better term) to help others less fortunate and fails to understand that not every noble is wealthy. He’d think it would be absurd that she’d want to subject herself to that as his understanding of knighthood is more something that commoners for honor.
Seriously…they had potential to be one of the best supports in the game if they had gone with this….I may or may not try to write a fic of this.
