Why So Much Rape in Stormblood

[BillyKaplan]

"Fridging" more refers to prominent female characters who solely exist to propel a prominent male character's tragic backstory.

And that's not what happened with Arenvald how? If anything it's made worse because his mom's portrayed as not only a victim but also an antagonist in his own personal narrative. It doesn't relate only to prominent women, btw, the term's long since been broadened.

Hence why the trope ordinates from Gwen Stacy's death as the catalyst for Spiderman.

Gwen Stacy is one of the most prominent examples of it, but it's certainly not where the term originates from. Ever wondered why it's actually called "fridging"? Wonder no more.

FFXIV has routinely placed female characters in highlighted or largely important roles, be it alongside you or in authoritative positions.

So because it did some things right we can't call it out on what it did wrong?

1. Minfillia. For the leader of the Scions, it always annoyed me how much a damsel in distress she turned out being. We constantly had to save her. Her most common lines of dialogue was yelping or crying out in pain right before we saved her. And then the story acknowledged how utterly useless she really was and got her completely out of the way, reducing her to something for Thancred to moan about.
2. Moenbryda. If we're already on the subject of fridging. Supposedly someone Yda/Lyse was very close to, but the lady who could care about Moen seems to have gotten over her pretty quickly. Instead, in the long term, all we hear about Moenbryda is from Urianger's perspective. The poor Roe was effectively fridged so that our stoic Elezen will be forced to show emotion and have a pretense of a personal arc.
3. Lyse. Oh lord where to even begin. The transition from Yda to Lyse I'm willing to forgive, but her writing's been the most erratic thing thus far. She moves from being a competent, intelligent leader and fighter, to a clumsy, incompetent klutz all based on what the plot needs her to be regardless of what she's actually capable of. The scene that pissed me off the most was when Papalymo sacrificed himself. Regardless of what you pick, I'd have expected her to run towards Papalymo, and then he'd knock her back, with us if we chose to follow. Instead she's suddenly standing there, static, and needs Thancred to Man Up for all our sakes and drag her away. You can blame shock only so much before you effectively break the character.

FFXIV does a lot of things right when it comes to its portrayal of women. It also does a lot, a LOT of things wrong. And acknowledging one doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the other.

[Dameron]

It's only a matter of time before a character tries to rape the Warrior of Light.

ACTIVE TIME MANEUVER

[C-croft]

There has been an instance where it is implied that a male was raped in FFXIV. I cannot remember exactly where it was. Maybe it had been one of the floating dialogues. But I definitely recall seeing it.

[C-croft]

It's only a matter of time before a character tries to rape the Warrior of Light.

ACTIVE TIME MANEUVER

Wasn't rape, but Ayemeric at one points tried to take my character to bed in the MSQ.

[BigRed5392]

It's inflicting something on an out-of-focus female character for the sake of tragedy that primarily affects an in-focus male character.

Yes, it is that trope.

Oh jeezum crow.......... -_- please stop. I suggest you stop watching feminin frequency, as that youtube channel if full of bs. (only someone who watches it would use the terms you used and complain about it.)

have you never read sleeping beauty? there is a adaptation where a prince rapes her, who she ends up marrying later. and that story is from the 1400s-1800s. :/ the setting of Game of thrones is story of the reality of clan wars where again rape happens.

Ever read girl with the dragon tattoo? the main character is a rape survivor and is based off a girl the writer saw gang raped.

Also please stop victimizing rape survivors, and leave the victim hood stiff at the door. There is enough shi politics in the world, lets not bring them in a game community.

[KokonoeAiyoko]

Oh jeezum crow.......... -_- please stop. I suggest you stop watching feminin frequency, as that youtube channel if full of bs. (only someone who watches it would use the terms you used and complain about it.)

have you never read sleeping beauty? there is a adaptation where a prince rapes her, who she ends up marrying later. and that story is from the 1400s-1800s. :/ the setting of Game of thrones is story of the reality of clan wars where again rape happens.

Ever read girl with the dragon tattoo? the main character is a rape survivor and is based off a girl the writer saw gang raped.

Also please stop victimizing rape survivors, and leave the victim hood stiff at the door. There is enough shi politics in the world, lets not bring them in a game community.

What an ignorant generalization. You do realize that there are tropes for all types of story related elements and them stating something is a trope is merely informing us that it's common place? Really have no idea where you pulled Feminist Frequency from in this conversation, but probably a certain planet.

[BigRed5392]

There has been an instance where it is implied that a male was raped in FFXIV. I cannot remember exactly where it was. Maybe it had been one of the floating dialogues. But I definitely recall seeing it.

well the sanguine sirens of the missing member have male love slaves, there is 1 dude who is being forced to eat oysters to keep pleasing the mi'qote.

ishgard has tons of it if you look into the drk quest, and explore the brume.

then you have drest the npc with ptsd in the severed sting in eastern la noscea by wine port. the gay couple in the wanderers palace hard mode, due to their cross breed/ inter racial (hyur x miqo'te) romance they have been abused and tormented.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

And that's not what happened with Arenvald how? If anything it's made worse because his mom's portrayed as not only a victim but also an antagonist in his own personal narrative. It doesn't relate only to prominent women, btw, the term's long since been broadened.

Actually, it does. Exception can be made, but the trope typically focuses on prominent characters because supporting or background characters aren't able to be as easily developed. The narrative simply doesn't have time to establish much beyond a foundation for the main characters to respond to. A common example would be crime or police dramas on TV. With only forty-five minutes on average, the writers have to establish the plot and can't focus too heavily on characters who won't be around for more than an episode or two. Arenvald fits into this category. Furthermore, his mother isn't killed off just to propel his backstory. In fact, she doesn't even die. She casts Arenvald aside out of shame, disgust and a myriad of other emotions that better portray her a tragic figure, albeit less sympathetic. Either way, this isn't "fridging."

Gwen Stacy is one of the most prominent examples of it, but it's certainly not where the term originates from. Ever wondered why it's actually called "fridging"? Wonder no more.

Fair enough. I did know it, but forgot. I'm more familiar with Gwen.

1. Minfillia. For the leader of the Scions, it always annoyed me how much a damsel in distress she turned out being. We constantly had to save her. Her most common lines of dialogue was yelping or crying out in pain right before we saved her. And then the story acknowledged how utterly useless she really was and got her completely out of the way, reducing her to something for Thancred to moan about.
2. Moenbryda. If we're already on the subject of fridging. Supposedly someone Yda/Lyse was very close to, but the lady who could care about Moen seems to have gotten over her pretty quickly. Instead, in the long term, all we hear about Moenbryda is from Urianger's perspective. The poor Roe was effectively fridged so that our stoic Elezen will be forced to show emotion and have a pretense of a personal arc.
3. Lyse. Oh lord where to even begin. The transition from Yda to Lyse I'm willing to forgive, but her writing's been the most erratic thing thus far. She moves from being a competent, intelligent leader and fighter, to a clumsy, incompetent klutz all based on what the plot needs her to be regardless of what she's actually capable of. The scene that pissed me off the most was when Papalymo sacrificed himself. Regardless of what you pick, I'd have expected her to run towards Papalymo, and then he'd knock her back, with us if we chose to follow. Instead she's suddenly standing there, static, and needs Thancred to Man Up for all our sakes and drag her away. You can blame shock only so much before you effectively break the character.

FFXIV does a lot of things right when it comes to its portrayal of women. It also does a lot, a LOT of things wrong. And acknowledging one doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the other.

- I have my dislikes towards Minfillia and how she's been written, however she isn't useless by any stretch. In fact, virtually all of political and influence that allows us to progress come from her. She holds considerably sway in that regard, it simply isn't an action oriented role, thus limiting her on screen role in a game where action tends to be the focal point. Minfillia is more a symptom of MMO cliches, namely pointless fetch quests because the writers were too afraid people would grow bored just reading story. While she does fall into a damseled position on occasion, she isn't a fighter but is a key figurehead. It's natural people like the Ascians would target her. Furthermore, her departure isn't an acknowledgement she's useless. She became the vessel for Hydaelyn. Keep in mind, Japanese folklore is heavily routed in spirituality and existing beyond the self. That was likely the intended reference.

- Moenbryda is not an example of fridging. She didn't exist solely to propel Urianger's backstory. Her primary role was to exposit lore regarding the Ascians and to provide us with a MacGuffin. Her death does prompt an emotional response from Unianger, but as noted previously, if we're going to liken that to fridging, it applies to nearly every example of female characters dying and male characters they were close to feeling sad over it. Basically, the trope loses all meaning.

- Have you ever witnessed someone in shock? They freeze. Lyse knows better than anyone Papalymo is essentially killing himself and there is nothing she can do. Being unable to react fits her character especially well because for all her bravado, she is rendered powerless in that moment and knows it. That can have an overwhelming effect on ones psyche hence her failure to respond. Being portrayed aggressive and competent doesn't mean she will always react to every moment in that manner.

I never said otherwise, so please stop presuming. You can criticize however you fancy, that doesn't mean it's an accurate stance nor that female characters are poorly portrayed. It's subjective at best. Personally, I find Thancred to be a rather weak character. Am I now going to claim FFXIV portrays men poorly? How about we look at them as characters and not as genders?

[Niraves]

How about we look at them as characters and not as genders?

But... how am I supposed to be triggered if I don't focus entirely on their gender?

[KokonoeAiyoko]

But... how am I supposed to be triggered if I don't focus entirely on their gender?

Funny. I see more people triggered by the OP and this topic than the OP herself. It's always the ones who use trigger sarcastically that end up being the most triggered.