On (Genderswapped) Fury
May. 22nd, 2013 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mark_asphodelWell, I touched on this in the comments of the previous post, but there was more I wanted to say about it.
Fury occupies a special place in Jugdral canon as the only one of the "breeder pool" of FE4 ladies to have her marriage, uh, canonized via FE5 and other sources like the current Jugdral family tree. She's Lewyn's wife, reigning queen of Silesse in his absence, and mother of Forseti!Ced and Fee. She's also dead by the time Year 776 rolls around, but that'd be true regardless of her status re: Lewyn.
Anyway, there's a lot about Fury that's related to us that's really compelling. Once Lewyn bails, it's Fury who has to hold together the tattered remains of the kingdom from their court in Thove/Tovae while at the same time raising and educating Ced'n'Fee. The kids, quite plainly, think the world of her. I love the detail in FE4 about how Fury inspired Fee to become a crusader by telling her stories about Sigurd's campaign. It feels real and natural and yet so many kids kind of blunder into the war or have it otherwise forced upon them that it gives Fee a unique dimension to her character-- and it's all the better for being a warrior mother inspiring her daughter. Lewyn references her stubborness and Ced notes that his mother "could never turn a blind eye to somebody in trouble," traits her crusader kiddies share. Offstage!Fury is all kinds of awesome.
[She's also totally hot. Let us not minimize this aspect of Fury's appeal.]
The Fury get we on screen, however, kind of underwhelms.
She's a SERIOUS KNIGHT and we get the impression she's pretty up-there in the Silessian ranks-- one of the Four Angelic Knights and all that. And Chagall is a bad guy and an all-around dick, so having him call Fury "stupid" doesn't mean all that much. Of course he thinks she's stupid-- he's a manipulative dick and Fury is forthright, honest, and good. But from the opening conversation with Lewyn, we get all this... stuff... that punctures the idea that Fury is the second coming of Palla. Even though she looks like Palla.
"It's nice of you to be so trustin', but you wouldn't last a day in the city!"
"Levin, who's Sylvia?"
"Fury, you're not gonna start cryin' on me too, are ya?"
"Fury! I'm jokin'! Don't be so damn gullible."
I hope the fan-adaptation team made all this stuff up. :/
Anyway, from the moment she's recruited we find out, apparently, that this angelic knight is a wide-eyed (and teary-eyed) naif who will fall for just about any line of BS and zeroes in on the mere hint that Lewyn's doing something with his, uh, magical staff. (She does acquit herself in a thoroughly professional manner when talking to Sigurd, though.) Then come Chapter Four, we see Fury spazzing out at Mahnya over her crush on Lewyn and THEN the "Sylvia's jealousy" conversation, in which Fury is either being oblivious or passive-aggressive. She might just be oblivious. Her romantic conversations indicate she's that way, pretty much.
So this is all pretty deflating when it comes to the image of Fury as a tragic warrior queen. Sigh. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Strong Female character without the gullibility and crying and the implied catfight and the...
Well, hold on a minute.
With Fury in particular, I always have to wonder if I'm overly irked about the gullibility and the obliviousness and Lewyn obsession purely because Fury is female and I'm applying some kind of double standard for Strong Female Characters. I mean, for one thing this is Jugdral, and stupid-ass gullible behavior is hardly limited to female characters. So she's VERY attached to Lewyn. So she's kinda squishy beneath the professional facade and she cries a bit. So romantic-type stuff has to be spelled out in ALL CAPS for her to get a clue. So she has to put up with Sylvia getting in her face about Lewyn.
If she were a male character would all of this be A-OK and endearing and filed under "Awwwww, cute squishy babby!!!" or "I LIKE guys with a sensitive side!" instead of "Ugh, stereotypical soppy behavior why can't we have Strong Females??!"? I mean, this is the same game that gives us Azel, fercryingoutloud.
(Also gave us Midayle, though. Just sayin'.)
I don't know. But I keep coming back to the hypothetical question of Genderswap Fury because I get the feeling that when I glance over her in-game dialogue and cringe, I'm not being entirely fair.
Fury occupies a special place in Jugdral canon as the only one of the "breeder pool" of FE4 ladies to have her marriage, uh, canonized via FE5 and other sources like the current Jugdral family tree. She's Lewyn's wife, reigning queen of Silesse in his absence, and mother of Forseti!Ced and Fee. She's also dead by the time Year 776 rolls around, but that'd be true regardless of her status re: Lewyn.
Anyway, there's a lot about Fury that's related to us that's really compelling. Once Lewyn bails, it's Fury who has to hold together the tattered remains of the kingdom from their court in Thove/Tovae while at the same time raising and educating Ced'n'Fee. The kids, quite plainly, think the world of her. I love the detail in FE4 about how Fury inspired Fee to become a crusader by telling her stories about Sigurd's campaign. It feels real and natural and yet so many kids kind of blunder into the war or have it otherwise forced upon them that it gives Fee a unique dimension to her character-- and it's all the better for being a warrior mother inspiring her daughter. Lewyn references her stubborness and Ced notes that his mother "could never turn a blind eye to somebody in trouble," traits her crusader kiddies share. Offstage!Fury is all kinds of awesome.
[She's also totally hot. Let us not minimize this aspect of Fury's appeal.]
The Fury get we on screen, however, kind of underwhelms.
She's a SERIOUS KNIGHT and we get the impression she's pretty up-there in the Silessian ranks-- one of the Four Angelic Knights and all that. And Chagall is a bad guy and an all-around dick, so having him call Fury "stupid" doesn't mean all that much. Of course he thinks she's stupid-- he's a manipulative dick and Fury is forthright, honest, and good. But from the opening conversation with Lewyn, we get all this... stuff... that punctures the idea that Fury is the second coming of Palla. Even though she looks like Palla.
"It's nice of you to be so trustin', but you wouldn't last a day in the city!"
"Levin, who's Sylvia?"
"Fury, you're not gonna start cryin' on me too, are ya?"
"Fury! I'm jokin'! Don't be so damn gullible."
I hope the fan-adaptation team made all this stuff up. :/
Anyway, from the moment she's recruited we find out, apparently, that this angelic knight is a wide-eyed (and teary-eyed) naif who will fall for just about any line of BS and zeroes in on the mere hint that Lewyn's doing something with his, uh, magical staff. (She does acquit herself in a thoroughly professional manner when talking to Sigurd, though.) Then come Chapter Four, we see Fury spazzing out at Mahnya over her crush on Lewyn and THEN the "Sylvia's jealousy" conversation, in which Fury is either being oblivious or passive-aggressive. She might just be oblivious. Her romantic conversations indicate she's that way, pretty much.
So this is all pretty deflating when it comes to the image of Fury as a tragic warrior queen. Sigh. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Strong Female character without the gullibility and crying and the implied catfight and the...
Well, hold on a minute.
With Fury in particular, I always have to wonder if I'm overly irked about the gullibility and the obliviousness and Lewyn obsession purely because Fury is female and I'm applying some kind of double standard for Strong Female Characters. I mean, for one thing this is Jugdral, and stupid-ass gullible behavior is hardly limited to female characters. So she's VERY attached to Lewyn. So she's kinda squishy beneath the professional facade and she cries a bit. So romantic-type stuff has to be spelled out in ALL CAPS for her to get a clue. So she has to put up with Sylvia getting in her face about Lewyn.
If she were a male character would all of this be A-OK and endearing and filed under "Awwwww, cute squishy babby!!!" or "I LIKE guys with a sensitive side!" instead of "Ugh, stereotypical soppy behavior why can't we have Strong Females??!"? I mean, this is the same game that gives us Azel, fercryingoutloud.
(Also gave us Midayle, though. Just sayin'.)
I don't know. But I keep coming back to the hypothetical question of Genderswap Fury because I get the feeling that when I glance over her in-game dialogue and cringe, I'm not being entirely fair.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-22 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 11:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 12:07 pm (UTC)Well, I think you could find a number of male characters across the series who'd fit with Fury's core characteristics and action (other than, you know, actually giving birth). But I suspect that I and maybe other fans view Fury differently simply because yeah, she's a chick.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 02:28 pm (UTC)Offscreen!Lissa
It might as well be on purpose considering this is FE13
no subject
Date: 2013-05-24 03:02 pm (UTC)Actually there's an argument to be made that Offscreen!Lissa's the "Aideen" figure of FE13. But of course many later characters draw on multiple levels of inspiration.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 11:22 pm (UTC)Also I think the localization isn't far off, though as usual the tone is unflattering. The last line, for example, is,
【レヴィン】
おいおい、冗談だよ Hey! It was a joke!
本気にするな▼ Don't take it seriously.
まったくフュリーは気まじめなんだから、 Sheesh. You're too serious.
･･･おまえは誰にも負けないほど可愛いさ ... That's why you've got everyone beat with your cuteness.
今のままで十分だよ I'm completely satisfied with the way you are.
Sometimes I think localized Levin has a great deal in common with localized Henry. They're often saying the same things, but the frivolous tone of the localization makes everything feel less meaningful.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-24 02:31 pm (UTC)Yeah, the original text definitely has a different slant to it! I can get behind the comparison to localized Henry.
I wouldn't mind the Lewyn Thing if it weren't placed in the context of an ongoing catfight.. or something we're supposed to view as such.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 11:28 pm (UTC)Quoted for truth. Don't forget to mention that she's one of the best units in FE4 Gen 1.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-24 02:29 pm (UTC)Oh yeah. Totally hot, great unit, no wonder she made the Top 5 in that character poll way back when.