On Themis [6.4 SPOILER]

[Alleluia]

The devouring parent isn't exclusively female, though. Chronos ate his kids, too.

[Eisi]

The devouring parent isn't exclusively female, though. Chronos ate his kids, too.

Yes, but he doesn't fit the archetype. He didn't fatten and smother his children but he was afraid of them taking away his position of power (which he got prophecied would happen). Chronos is distinctly unfeminine in that regard.

Another modern example that's less on the nose and more realistic would be Lysa Arryn from the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Not all of them may be as major as a central raid villain, or as over-the-top, but there's also the likes of Asahi, Nabriales, Teledji Adeledji, and some would argue Zenos (I'm not sure that I would, though, in his case), that I can think of.

True, I love all of those guys.

[TowaIsBestGirl]

In contrast, the Source is so dull to me. It's a Forgotten Realms-ass fantasy kitchen sink with themes and motifs you can find anywhere, spread out without any underlying direction. I like some of the characters, but I don't give a damn about any of these factions and places - even the interesting ones like Gridania have had all their edges filed off since 1.0. When I hear people talk about how they hope the next several expansions get away from all this cross-dimensional stuff to focus on the Source, it makes me feel like I'm going insane. I don't wanna be here! It's so boring! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!

There are no words to express just how much I feel the weight of these words in my very soul. Sometimes I wonder if I was actually in any of these bog-standard fantasy worlds if I'd be just like the villains the stories wish for you to despise for the simple fact that I see no unique value in them. I don't know, it just feels like when you've seen one fantasy world you've seen them all sometimes. There's only so much blue mountains and yellow skies you can see before it begins to grow monotonous.

Either way, I feel more apathy in response to it than exacerbation.

Yes, but he doesn't fit the archetype. He didn't fatten and smother his children but he was afraid of them taking away his position of power (which he got prophecied would happen). Chronos is distinctly unfeminine in that regard.

Another modern example that's less on the nose and more realistic would be Lysa Arryn from the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Kronos had a very masculine way of devouring his kids. Namely, that he just straight up ate them with all the stereotypical forcefulness and headstrong that is exemplary of what most understand to be masculine. Where Kronos chose the masculine approach of simple violence, generally one would expect mothers to instead undermine their children to render them powerless. Honestly I don't feel the absolute most qualified to speak here, but from my own admittedly meagre understanding of the matter that's typically what people expect the difference to be. Feel free to correct any inaccuracy on my part, however.

[Eisi]

Kronos had a very masculine way of devouring his kids. Namely, that he just straight up ate them with all the stereotypical forcefulness and headstrong that is exemplary of what most understand to be masculine. Where Kronos chose the masculine approach of simple violence, generally one would expect mothers to instead undermine their children to render them powerless. Honestly I don't feel the absolute most qualified to speak here, but from my own admittedly meagre understanding of the matter that's typically what people expect the difference to be. Feel free to correct any inaccuracy on my part, however.

The borders are as fluid as those between masculine and feminine in general I would say.

Kronos ate his children for he couldn't accept them overthrowing him and feared for his position of power. His devouring them is him claiming them as his to be undone as they originated from his seed. Thus Chronos represents a masculine tyrant obsessed with power and control.

The feminine approach would be to coddle the children, to manipulate them and keep them from developing any sort of agency of their own and keep them in total dependency, for the mother fears the independence of her children and thus to lose them and in turn herself, she identifies her children as her only source of meaning and love in life to the point she incorporates them into herself.

That's the way I understand it. Both are operating out of some sort of inferiority complex.

[Brinne]

Put like that, Athena seems almost like a blend of the two, but I'm definitely not an expert in the mythology being cited or anything!

[Eisi]

There are no words to express just how much I feel the weight of these words in my very soul. Sometimes I wonder if I was actually in any of these bog-standard fantasy worlds if I'd be just like the villains the stories wish for you to despise for the simple fact that I see no unique value in them. I don't know, it just feels like when you've seen one fantasy world you've seen them all sometimes. There's only so much blue mountains and yellow skies you can see before it begins to grow monotonous.

Either way, I feel more apathy in response to it than exacerbation.

The problem I see with this is that basically everywhere we go we get rid of all the problems, everything will eventually have all the edges shaved off. When people criticize the scions as sanctimonious goody-two-shoes to the point even an Estinien is now bland and a shell of his former self, I always ask myself why new characters would in any way be beyond that. Same with new worlds or unknown lands, if they did it with Eorzea, it will happen everywhere. Every long standing cast member will become one-note and at most "pretend" to be three-dimensional, like Gaius or Nero who nowadays fit the same mold as the scions, you can be sure they will never be at odds at least. Every Ishgard will have its Dragonsong War ended, every Norvrandt will become a Norvrandt after 5.0.