Tseng Fan Club

[Octo]

It seems to me that Aerith met Tseng for the first time shortly after she had escaped Hojo's lab. She would be around seven, eight years old at the time with the memory of the labs fresh in her mind. She would have every right to hate Shin-Ra. Indecently, that would be around fifteen years before the start of the OG which is around the same time Tseng joined the Turks.

I'm not saying she doesn't have a right to hate Shinra, what I can't get my head around is how Case of Shinra suggests some sort of friendship:

Even so, Aerith shed tears for such a Tseng. She didn’t see him as one of the enemies but a friend who she had known since her childhood. Tseng thought to himself that dying through such an unexpected event wasn’t such a bad end but, he could barely make a joke about it.

I mean, after her initial reaction...why would she have anything to do with him? Even if she got used to him turning up every now and then trying to get her to cooperate, you could hardly call that a friendship.


I also think this bit of Case of Shinra is interesting:

Once he had tried to control Aerith’s mother by force and lost her as a consequence.

What does that mean?


Anyway some suggestions for the club name, I won't be offended if you guys think they're shit:

A Serious Man

A Known Unknown

Strict Machine

Hair Sniffers Anonymous

None More Black

Senpai.

Control.


@Licorice - I wondered where that pic had come from. Dang, that would have been a doujin worth reading!

@Obsidian - I'm reading that fic as we speak..uh type?


Ok so I finally pulled my finger out and finished that fanart:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/Mudskii/Bullshit/window.jpg

I'm not entirely happy with it. Its supposed to be like a reflection. He was going beddy byes (hence the lack of a tie!) but then he stopped to give some dirty looks out of the window. Possibly set to some sort of moody synth music. Yep. Also, despite the 'mako' glow there, the city is actually Singapore.......Tsengapore? I just couldnt be arsed drawing Midgar

 

[Dana Scully]

I like None More Black, personally. Just sounds cool and dark and very Tseng.

And nice work on the fanart! He looks very moody indeed, if he gave me that look I'd probably run away screaming.

...Or ignore it and attempt to do naughty things to him >.>

 

[Octo]

lol thanks. Thats what I was going for...fear...and then naughty things!

I like 'None More Black' too.....but the problem is I took it from This is Spinal Tap. When they're looking at their album cover and he says:

"It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black."

So its kind of a joke. Better than "Smell the Glove" though

 

[Octo]

Douuuble post!

Anyway. What do you guys think of Ryun Yu as Tsengs VA? Personally I don't hate it but....I wonder why they hired a Chinese dude when they didn't let him give Tseng any kind of detectable accent?

I always thought Tseng would be quite flat sounding and emotionless most of the time, but I wonder if it was too flat? I mean, next to Zacks overenthusiastic yelping, I think he ends up sounding like a robot Don't get me wrong, that would be pretty cool, Tseng would fucking kick ass x ∞ as a cyborg, but thats another story for another time!

Whaddya think?

 

[minimosey]

I'm not saying she doesn't have a right to hate Shinra, what I can't get my head around is how Case of Shinra suggests some sort of friendship:

Even so, Aerith shed tears for such a Tseng. She didn’t see him as one of the enemies but a friend who she had known since her childhood. Tseng thought to himself that dying through such an unexpected event wasn’t such a bad end but, he could barely make a joke about it.

I mean, after her initial reaction...why would she have anything to do with him? Even if she got used to him turning up every now and then trying to get her to cooperate, you could hardly call that a friendship.

Keep in mind though that these are two relatively isolated people: Aerith is social, but doesn't have friends who really understand what she is, while Tseng is a Turk. For them, their relationship may count as a friendship, even if it's a very strange one. CC implies that there was some kind of understanding between them, at least during the four years Zack was gone, as Aerith handed him eighty-eight letters to deliver. Trusting Tseng with something that personal isn't just barely tolerating his existence. It's a shame that we never do actually see positive interaction between them, but the letters seem to indicate there was some trust. She probably realized over the years that considering Tseng's line of work, she would have been forced to the lab much, much sooner if he didn't respect her and want her willing participation. The trust was probably eroded as more pressure came down to capture her toward the end, but not enough to make her see him as a complete "bad guy", just a guy with skewed principles.

I also think this bit of Case of Shinra is interesting:

Once he had tried to control Aerith’s mother by force and lost her as a consequence.

What does that mean?

Looking at the paragraph, I think it's fairly simple: he got Elmyra involved in a nasty way and lost Aerith's cooperation. We just don't know the details of the scenario. Did he kidnap Elmyra and use that against Aerith, did he threaten Elmyra herself to try to get her to give up Aerith? I can easily image a threat like burning the house down--it's one of the nicer homes in the area and probably has sentimental value to the widow. Whatever Tseng did, Aerith reacted vehemently enough to make him back down. Since it got him to reconsider his approach and we don't see him doing anything remotely like this in BC / CC, it was probably before then, early in their relationship.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I must beg to differ. The mother referred to is not Elmyra but Ifalna. Tseng used force to bring her to Hojo or keep her with Hojo; in other words, he tried to force her to cooperate against her will, and the net result was a lose-lose situation: Shinra lost their Cetra, and Ifalna lost her life. That's my take on it, anyway. The English is ambiguous, but perhaps the Japanese isn't.

 

[minimosey]

That would make sense, but Tseng wasn't even involved then, was he? Aerith didn't recognize him when she spoke to him outside of the company.

 

[Octo]

Thats what I was going to say...if it is talking about Ifalna, (and I think it is) It brings us back to the "how the fuck old is Tseng anyway?!" debate. Although now I'm 28 and not 15 anymore, I'm less inclined to care if he's over 40......fuck it, he could be 100 for all I care!

Is it possible that its a mistranslation or something? I just don't think she'd be friends or even tolerate a guy who was responsible for her mothers death (more directly responsible anyway)

minimosey wrote: Keep in mind though that these are two relatively isolated people: Aerith is social, but doesn't have friends who really understand what she is, while Tseng is a Turk. For them, their relationship may count as a friendship, even if it's a very strange one. CC implies that there was some kind of understanding between them, at least during the four years Zack was gone, as Aerith handed him eighty-eight letters to deliver. Trusting Tseng with something that personal isn't just barely tolerating his existence. It's a shame that we never do actually see positive interaction between them, but the letters seem to indicate there was some trust. She probably realized over the years that considering Tseng's line of work, she would have been forced to the lab much, much sooner if he didn't respect her and want her willing participation. The trust was probably eroded as more pressure came down to capture her toward the end, but not enough to make her see him as a complete "bad guy", just a guy with skewed principles.​

Yeah, when you put it like that It makes more sense. I just wish they'd bothered to show some interaction in Crisis Core....I mean, they remembered enough of the original game to know that Tseng was keeping tabs on her but, did they forget the whole 'crush' thing?! The nearest we even get to it being referenced in CC is when Zack asks Tseng to look after Aeris and Tseng laughs...and I'm not so sure about that.

Boils my blood it does

 

[Tifabelle]

It feels like more of an oversight than a mistranslation.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

It's possible, of course, that the reason the Turks have no backstories is because they were all genetically engineered and grown in a bottle in Hojo's lab, and thus don't age like normal people - or, as in Reno's case, they actually grow younger with each passing year.

@ Octorawk: everything he did for Zack, he did for Aerith's sake. He's just that noble and self-sacrificing. But seriously, showing any kind of significant interaction between Tseng and Aerith would have eaten up too much script time that was devoted to Zack. I think they tried to indicate that Tseng and Aerith had a relationship of some sort through his conversations with Zack, and Zack's jealousy (for want of a better word). The whole game was from Zack's viewpoint, so any scene involving Tseng and Aerith would have had to include him. That said, I agree I would have loved to see Tseng and Aerith talking to each other.

 

[Octo]

Yeah, ok maybe not interaction as such. I would have thought Zack would have asked her about it....I mean, how many guys would be happy with some guy basically stalking their girlfriend? And even if he didn't suspect some sort of sex thing or whatever- well wouldnt he be concerned that Shinra were spying on her? I just can't believe Zack would be that dense, and wouldn't think to ask her.

 

[minimosey]

Well, he is Shinra hired, so he does think they're okay up until late in the game. Since Cissnei, a Turk, was upfront with him about the Turks' activity with Aerith, he probably thought there was nothing suspicious about it: they were protecting a girl who's important because of her rare heritage. Because you know, if it was shady, why would he be told about it? ...Which means it's either a case of hiding something in plain sight (tricking Zack to think it's innocent by being upfront) or Cissnei herself didn't think it was going to come to force with Aerith.

But yeah, Zack just isn't the type to question. Whoops.

 

[Octo]

Bloody Zack!....No wonder he ended up dead! Ahem

You guys have probably already seen this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&v=kEd03IfxQj8

The translation here, is a little different. Does Tseng know (he knows all!) that Zack is lying when he says Aerith doesn't mean anything to him, is that why he says 'Then shes not anything to me as well' HMMMMMMMMM Puts rather a different spin on things..

 

[Tifabelle]

I think Tseng does know Zack is fibbing a bit. It's like saying "This conversation never took place." "What conversation?"

 

[Octo]

Yeah...but I was wondering if Tseng was fibbing too. I guess Zack is pretty easy to lie too lol.

It's possible, of course, that the reason the Turks have no backstories is because they were all genetically engineered and grown in a bottle in Hojo's lab, and thus don't age like normal people - or, as in Reno's case, they actually grow younger with each passing year.

I only just noticed this. This makes sense, this explains why Tseng is a superior genetic specimen, and not prone to going mental (bitch slap notwithstanding) and going on a rampage with a god complex.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

We've been letting Tseng down with the lack of action in his club. So I'm posting something I hope will get us talking again - a wonderful sketch on the topic of "Fanservice" by the inimitable Crimson Sun, the best Tseng artist around!

PS I'm really sorry it turned out so small. You can view it in all its glory at :
http://crimsonsun.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps&offset=48#/d2memrq

 

[Madame Mayor]

lol very cute.

 

[Octo]

lol! that was hilarious! Yes, we have been neglectful in our duties! *flagellates self*

Cute as it is, I never really got the whole Tseng/Reeve thing. Having read Case of Shinra though...and finding that Cait Sith rescued Tseng (personally I would rather die than suffer the indignity!) I dont know...maybe the Japanese fans knew something we didnt?

Thats actually the 3rd depiction I have seen of Tseng as a female....I have found them...confusing! A threat to my hetrosexuality! Can't track down the other two at the moment, but they were awesome and worksafe! I'll get on it

Right now I have a serious question for you....Am I the only one who finds Tseng too skinny in Crisis Core? Im assuming it was something to do with a tighter cut of suit being much easier to render/animate, but I can't help thinking 'Reno's supposed to the the malnourished one!' and 'Where the hell is he keeping his gun?!'

I much prefer the baggier suits, infinitely cooler.

 

[Madame Mayor]

Am I the only one who finds Tseng too skinny in Crisis Core?

I think it was a way to try and make him look younger too. Mind you it wasn't 'too skinny' for me, I think he looks his best in CC.

 

[Octo]

Yeah I agree he does look his best lol... I mean..the 3 milliseconds of AC footage dont give me alot to work with!

I suppose I just expected him to have more of a physical presence. In FFVII, when you first encounter him..even though hes made of lego... I just thought..'wow who is this guy?...he looks plain evil!' Though I may be viewing things through rose tinted spectacles.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Another Crimson Sun piece, but I can't work out how to get it off DeviantArt to post it here. Follow the link. You won't be sorry.

http://crimsonsun.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps&offset=96#/d2fvmaz

 

[Madame Mayor]

nomomomomomomomom <33333

 

[Octo]

^ I second that emotion!

I'm still working on my own stuff, but I take ages about it. So you people are just going to have to wait!

 

[Tifabelle]

I'm still working on my own stuff, but I take ages about it. So you people are just going to have to wait!

You do art?! I want to see

 

[Dana Scully]

Another Crimson Sun piece, but I can't work out how to get it off DeviantArt to post it here. Follow the link. You won't be sorry.

http://crimsonsun.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps&offset=96#/d2fvmaz

You can just right-click on the fullview image and either copy the image path directly or Save As and upload it yourself.