#No Vaati's cute thing about the Duskborn ending doesn't really count

[spacedoutsheepy]

For how god damn horny Fromsoft fans are, and eager they are to sexualize literally any female character in their fanart, they sure do love to shit on the only female character who actually explicitly expresses her sexuality, huh?

Like, for real, most previous fromsoft characters have not been all that sexual. I mean, yeah, there have been sexualized designs or framings, but sexuality rarely factors into their stories, lore, or characterization directly. And that's part of the reason why the games have been a breath of fresh air to me, and why it's so fucking frustrating how horny fromsoft fans are for every female character. There is something to be said about how the literal text of Bloodborne is that the Doll is a twisted image of an actual strong and complicated woman made by an old pervert into his fetishized plaything, forcing her into a box in his head where he can control and own her: a perverse and docile servant that can only come to life in his disturbed dreams. That's not subtext, that's just text. As a girl who is made uncomfortable by the male gamers' attitude and sentiments towards women in the franchise, I wonder if the fanbase has ever reflected on this.

"Whoever thinks this is precious must be troubled by severe naivete." -Doll teardrop item description But then we got Fia. Fia is a deathbed companion. In her lore, that means she laid with the dying or the dead so that they could be reborn. And this is reflected in her characterization, which revolves around her intimacy. The first way most players interact with her is intimate, when she invites them to be held. Every element of her character design is dripping with intimacy and sensuality— in how she holds you, in how she whispers, and especially in her item descriptions.

"The fabric itself is soft as silk and thin enough that those embraced can feel every pulse; every bit of her warmth." -Fia's Robe

It's dressed up in fancy contrived Miyazaki writing, but sexuality and sensuality are deeply rooted in her character and her story/questline.

And the fanbase loves to shit on her for it.

I can't count the number of videos or comments I've seen calling anyone who gets her ending a Fia Simp. People call her an e-girl, or refer to the bossfight as Fia's Simps, or joke that it's a questline about getting cucked, and reduce her character to a thought-terminating trope that kills any serious analysis of her character or her themes.

We see constant analysis by the Elden Ring fandom of characters like Radahn, Marika, Ranni, Morgott, and the other major characters, and this is not to belittle that. They are all amazing characters with themes worth exploring. But none for Fia. She's just the e-girl, don't think about it. I've never seen a 40 minute youtube lore video really getting into her characterization or motifs.

It's as though Gamers only want to engage with sexuality when it's something they can force on a woman, rather than explore consensually with one.

#elden ring #fia #fia the deathbed companion #fromsoft #gaming #No Vaati's cute thing about the Duskborn ending doesn't really count #that was about the lore implications of the ending #not her as a character.