Why So Much Rape in Stormblood

[Pinkie_Pie]

If you speak to npcs in the waking sands throughout 2.0 they tell you a garlean forced himself on Arenvald's mother.

Ah. Nevermind, never saw that dialogue.

[Pinkie_Pie]

Thing is here that context is important. In the lore it's pretty clear that many Ala Mhigans were raped in the sacking of their country by Garlemald and that many in Fordola's generation are the product of it. You can chose to believe it's a case of love gone wrong, but given the other instances and the what his mother did to him it's pretty clear to me that his birth was of a more insidious nature.


This person collects lore to help the RP community, including transcribing every bit of dialogue they find. These are the posts pertaining to Ala Mhigo, including straight NPC dialogue, and let's just say it's not pretty. (All of this was compiled pre-SB as well.)

War. War never changes.

[Ametrine]

"Why"?

Because the writer wanted to make the audience stop sympathizing with the Garleans.

This is the most straight and honest answer you'll get.

This is it though.

I never wrapped my head around the people who could gloss over Garlean atrocities from facts like "they have amazing technology that could make everyone's live better!" to "The aesthetic is amazing!"

When these kinds of revolting crimes against humanity were always there. Apparently forced takeovers, enslavement, and genocide aren't that bad if it means we get microwaves. :/

[Mahri]

This thread isn't full of utter jackassery, so I'm less disappointed in it than I thought I'd be.

I'm not a huge fan of sexual assault in fiction I consume, because most writers are utterly clueless about how to use it, tend to fall back on it for shock value or as cheap shorthand for showing how "evil" a villain is. It can be used well, but it is incredibly rare. Far more often, it just makes a work of fiction flat-out unenjoyable.

Game of Thones keeps coming up. Game of Thrones, and even more so the books it's based on, is a flaming garbage heap of luridity dumped unceremoniously on what is otherwise basically good storytelling. Praise the great acting and visual artistry that goes into it. Nothing else.

As far as FFXIV is concerned: They could have done better with a few things (why not actually bring Arenvald's mother into the story as a survivor rather than being effectively "fridged" for the sake of his tragedy?) but they could have done a whole lot worse, especially since the arc we're in now is all about the grotesquerie of conquest. Most of the characters stated plainly to have been victims are there to tell you their story upfront, which is the preferable way that this should be handled.

To anyone here who has actually suffered this kind of abuse in real life: Never stop telling us your actual stories. If it were more visible than it is, a whole lot of things might get better -- the least of it would be trends in fiction to use this element with greater discretion and respect.

[CosmicKirby]

As far as FFXIV is concerned: They could have done better with a few things (why not actually bring Arenvald's mother into the story as a survivor rather than being effectively "fridged" for the sake of his tragedy?) but they could have done a whole lot worse, especially since the arc we're in now is all about the grotesquerie of conquest. Most of the characters stated plainly to have been victims are there to tell you their story upfront, which is the preferable way that this should be handled.

I don't recall Arenvald saying his mother is dead. Did he bring it up? I thought he was merely abandoned by her, or he ran from her after getting the scar on his head.

Being 'fridged' effectively or not would require her to be dead or something of a similar tragedy. Her being alive but hating her son isn't fridging her in any sense of the trope. And while there's a story to be told there sure, I don't think it's really needed? Fordola currently represents a similar angle. And both of them are in the running for dramatic death this xpac already.

[Mahri]

I don't recall Arenvald saying his mother is dead. Did he bring it up? I thought he was merely abandoned by her, or he ran from her after getting the scar on his head.

Being 'fridged' effectively or not would require her to be dead or something of a similar tragedy. Her being alive but hating her son isn't fridging her in any sense of the trope.

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.

[CosmicKirby]

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.

I would 'really' hesitate to throw it around here when it's purely for a character's backstory, involving a character who doesn't even have a name, in a piece of media where:

1.) The 3 leaders of the major factions are all female
2.) Half of the NPC leads in the current story are female. the main NPC lead is currently female as well.
3.) The character isn't dead, nor being injured to up the ante in any way. It seems like the only reason you're calling it friding here is because Arenvald is male. Is any male product of rape fridging their mother?

It's a very evocative phrase with a very negative connotation to anyone that knows of it. And using the term in a situation where it isn't particularly the case serves only to devalue it. The term's value lies in how it criticizes objectification of a female character. Arenvald's mom took action here entirely on her own, that's not objectification.

[Mahri]

I would 'really' hesitate to throw it around here

I wouldn't.

It's there.

It should be called out.

This is a critique. It's a very, very fair one. If you don't like the term "fridging", okay. You don't have to like it. It's nothing more than jargon for a storytelling device that is frequently a problem. I'm going to repeat what that problem is, for the sake of total clarity:

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

Please remember that critiques are not condemnations.

[Quri]

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.

It's child abandonment trope.

[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.