Why So Much Rape in Stormblood

[Vahlnir]

If we're forced to drop topics because "it might trigger someone" then no one would be allowed to talk about anything ever again. There are people out there who get triggered by bananas.

...

They are yellow and this offends me.

[AlthusRitoto]

If we're forced to drop topics because "it might trigger someone" then no one would be allowed to talk about anything ever again. There are people out there who get triggered by bananas.

...

And they are people who get triggered by Grapes.

[ViolaCrossfire]

And they are people who get triggered by Grapes.

Member people getting triggered by behemoth? OOh I member!

[Enkidoh]

Neither character's backstory is visually shown with said depiction. They both do make mention of it in the Stormblood story however, with Yotsuyu talking about it along with her sadism in the 4.0 story and Arenvald mentioning it in 4.1.

Stormblood isn't even the only occurrence of rape in the game either, instances of sexual abuse on npcs (usually by men towards women) has been a part of the game's story since ARR's launch - the very first dungeon after all (Sastasha) is full of women whom the Serpent Reavers abducted from villages and towns the pirates pillaged from and enslaved - one (optional) part of Sastasha is the disturbingly named 'The Hole' which is a cell full of women they've turned into sex slaves - one of these poor women even pityingly pines "I'm not one of them! I swear on what little virtue I have left!", hinting that she is being raped repeatedly (even more horrifyingly, these poor women never even manage to escape - they're mutated into lamia by the time of Sastasha HM and plead to be put out of their misery). It should also be noted a lot of the Serpent Reaver pirates are actually women themselves (including one of the guards of the aforementioned 'Hole').

Then there is Glaumunt's sad story during the lead up to freeing Minfilia and the rest of the Scions from Garlean captivity at Castrum Centri, where he reveals how the Garleans raped his mother and sister repeatedly while they were in a Garlean gulag in Ala Mhigo, so much so that they ended up killing themselves rather than suffer any further.

So it is not just Stormblood that rape is referred to as occurring. Either way, it should be clear that SE most definitely are not condoning rape against anyone, rape is an absolutely horrible thing regardless of who it's afflicted on, man or woman, but sweeping it under the rug and pretending it doesn't occur in a setting that is clearly dystopic only serves to make such acts look acceptable, which they most definitely are not.

Every time rape is mentioned in FFXIV it's always shown in a disapproving or negative light, to make the player sympathize with the victim and hate the perpetrator, it's never blaming the victim for it or to make the perpetrator look good. And the references to it in Stormblood are no exception. Rape is absolutely evil and horrible, but to pretend it doesn't happen in a fictional setting like Eorzea is simply ignoring the elephant in the living room.

[MoroMurasaki]

Member people getting triggered by behemoth? OOh I member!

Laughed really hard out loud in public at this.

Thanks for making me look dumb.

Also on topic I feel like it's been hammered home pretty well but I'd also like to point out that the max number of characters who underwent any sexual abuse seems to be 3 at this point, correct? Only two of which have any significance to the main story.

This is not an epidemic. This is not "so much rape." This is just portraying war with some semblance of realism... Even if the war does involve cat people and sentient potatoes

[BigRed5392]

snip

i wasn't gonna comment then you pull this. STOP BEING A VICTIM

my g/f was abused and she has no issues with the story, it makes it more realistic. and your reply is very crude "hey if you like so much lets rape men" sorry but that's pretty immature. If you was abused seek help, not air your personal life on a forum.

also men are very much abused in ff14, or did you gloss over the dialog for wonders palace hard mode? did you forget about the imperial soldier with ptsd during titan quest line? cid losing his memory due to the calamity. -_-

drop the victim hood its un-befitting a WoL.

[dragonkyn20]

Stormblood isn't even the only occurrence of rape in the game either.

Oh I'm very well aware that Stormblood is not the first time this subject has been brought up in FFXIV, but it is definitely the time where the spotlight is being shown on it due to a few central characters having suffered through variations of abuse.

[Ametrine]

What about the whole human trafficking plot we foiled way back in the Rogue quests? Both men, women, and children there.

The opening DRK quests have you rescue a women, there is mass prostitution all over Eorzea (with some implying they do it for survival), Etc. Etc.

It's not supposed to be a comfortable subject. Same with the racism, violence, ethnic cleansing, genocides of beast tribes, erasure of religion and history, forced conscription, and human experimentation.

It's war. And we're the heroes beating the evil that does these nightmarish down.

[Lufir]

If you enjoy playing RPGs as a whole, it is hard to escape any sort of tragedy whether it be sexual abuse, suicide, violence, murder, or abandonment (of children and adults). These are found in most RPGs because you are usually dealing with war and/or some kind of cataclysmic event. It's trying to get an emotional impact out of you. You'll find most of these tragedies in games going as far back as Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana up until modern day RPGs like Nier, Witcher, or Final Fantasy.

Anyone who has dealt with tragedies knows it is difficult to bring up. It's odd when people mention it in passing just to help their argument.

[Vrankyl]

Since someone brought up the DRK quests I'd also like to point out that the very first Dark Knight in lore was a Temple Knight who killed a priest for sexually abusing a child. Final Fantasy 14 has never been a happy place as people have pointed out. It has many dimensions to it, both happy and heartbreaking. Writers will use horrifying things to garner sympathy for victims and hatred for villains, this is just simply how writing is done. The audience must be made to FEEL for the character.