Final Fantasy Female Character survey

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Not mine, I hasten to add! I thought some of you might want to take part in this person's survey on FFVII female characters in canon and fanon. Here's a quote from the preamble to the survey:

"I'm putting together a panel for my local con in the fall that's going to be dealing with deconstructing mischaracterizations and problematic ways that the fandom views the female cast of the FF7 compilation. I'm very passionate about a few of the ladies and have already put together a few things for them, but there are so many other women in the series that I want to talk about that I'm not as familiar with, so I'm opening it up to you guys!"

 

[tron]

Not mine, I hasten to add! I thought some of you might want to take part in this person's survey on FFVII female characters in canon and fanon. Here's a quote from the preamble to the survey:

"I'm putting together a panel for my local con in the fall that's going to be dealing with deconstructing mischaracterizations and problematic ways that the fandom views the female cast of the FF7 compilation. I'm very passionate about a few of the ladies and have already put together a few things for them, but there are so many other women in the series that I want to talk about that I'm not as familiar with, so I'm opening it up to you guys!"

Just sounds like your everyday tumblr cancer

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

You don't think it's an interesting topic, then?

 

[tron]

You don't think it's an interesting topic, then?

As interesting as microaggressions against digital women can be, I guess

 

[Jason Tandro]

 

[Roger]

The bother of having fill in nothing but open questions about a female character or characters of your own choice is gonna drive most people away tho. The survey will end up with a really small sample size.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I guess only people who really have something to say about the characters (like me!) will bother to complete it.

 

[Octo]

I was going to fill it out talking about Elena, but then I realised it wouldn't really fit. I mean, if anything the 'fanon' interpretation of Elena is a million miles away from the canon version. If someone wants to view Elena as a ditzy klutz then y'know they're more or less right because thats how she is canonically for the most part. And that's okay. The compilation gives her slightly more depth, but the compilation has is tonally off compared with the OG if you ask me.

I mean it's only really Tifa and Aerith who get misinterpreted based on their looks it seems, cos I guess some people don't really pay that much attention to the plot. For the rest of the female characters - and most of the male characters - what you see is what you get.

evidence presented in the actual compilation with the endgoal of disproving erroneous ideas and highlighting why each female character is a unique and necessary part of the player experience and the storytelling.

Yeah like this, I mean really? Some of these characters aren't really unique or necessary, look at Elmyra - shes pretty much disposed of after the first disc (lol I just realised even Aerith doesn't seem too concerned with trying to contact Elmyra after they leave Midgar) Or Scarlet - she could have been a man, she could have not existed at all. Doesn't really make much of a difference to the story does it? This isn't limited to female characters either.

I dunno, I feel like this survey is framed in such a way that it's going to be preaching to the converted.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

The survey maker is trying to get material for his/her panel discussion; I don't mind helping out because running a decent panel is hard, which is probably why I've rarely seen one.

 

[tron]

Not really, mate. Stuff like that is just not my cup of tea.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Not really, mate. Stuff like that is just not my cup of tea.

Fair enough. I hear "microaggression" and "cancer" and I assume troll.

 

[Tennyo]

The bother of having fill in nothing but open questions about a female character or characters of your own choice is gonna drive most people away tho. The survey will end up with a really small sample size.

I see this being the case as well. Fascinating, yes, but I don't know if it is realistic to expect even the most hardcore of fans to have the time to write all this.

Also, is it bad that I anticipate most people to write about only Tifa and Aerith for the sake of the LTD? Or have I just become that jaded?

 

[Clement Rage]

If there were specific questions I might be more enthused. As it is, there's not much to say that isn't general knowledge.

f someone wants to view Elena as a ditzy klutz then y'know they're more or less right because thats how she is canonically for the most part.

Well, if you take her boss battle appearance as relevant to character, you have her significantly more dangerous than either of the peers that spent the whole game bullying her, which could be a mini arc.

 

[Octo]

True, but I don't know if I ever take battle mechanics and stuff as relevant to characters, except in stuff like the Nibelheim flashback where it's used to illustrate Sephs superhuman strength compared to Cloud.

I mean even if we do, being good in battle is just one part of the role of a Turk, and she's still fucked up a few important things ie: Blabbing about Sephiroths direction, getting caught by Corneo. I suppose one could look at her being strongest in that battle as shes mega pissed off, she means business - at that point in the game she's angry enough (presumbably about Tseng) to maintain focus.

Don't get me wrong though I like Elena, but I'm not personally offended that shes written the way she is, I still find her a fun and interesting character. TBH I probably wouldn't be as interested in her if she was a straightforward super efficient Turk.

 

[Starling]

As a young rookie, it makes sense that she'd have some missteps here and there. She actually does get some stuff done though so it's just a matter of balancing it out.

 

[Octo]

Well kind of, except the Turks are supposed to be efficient black ops types and in that context the stuff she did was very dumb - someone who screws up like that would never have made it into such an organisation, but obviously the game isn't 100% serious, so we let it slide. Canonically - in the OG at least, she's been written as a ditzy klutz and I'm having a hard time finding anything in there that contradicts that.

 

[Starling]

That's why I liked the alternative character interpretation where some of it was an act, like the mythril mines bit. If you're playing up the Turks as competent and dangerous opponents, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd want to pit their enemies against each other and deal with whoever's left while keeping tabs on the situation. Otherwise they'd have to have been to rushed to train Elena to avoid those slip ups before sending her out with Reno and Rude.

About the survey, is anyone planning on talking about more than one character?

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

The promotion of Elena to the Turks despite her competence issues may be one of the few areas where the Compilation did improve upon the original narrative. With having just lost more than 10 Turks in the events at the end of Before Crisis and then Reno unexpectedly going on temporary medical leave, it becomes more believable that Shin-Ra might hastily promote a cadet who happens to be the younger sibling of one of the more skilled lost operatives.

 

[Octo]

It was totally because Tseng saw her in that schoolgirl unifor- oh shit this is the wrong thread for such a thing

 

[Clement Rage]

I could talk at length about how they're all pretty unprofessional, but I'm pretty sure no one wants that.

 

[Starling]

The Turks as a whole really didn't come across as much of a threat after leaving Midgar, to be honest. To be fair to Elena, at times she seems to be the one putting the most effort into being professional, while Reno doesn't and Rude just goes along with him.

Back to the survey, I ended up filling it out about Lucrecia.