kiwasmessywritings

[kiwasmessywritings]

this came to me in a dream~

[kiwasmessywritings]

Genshin Impact, Both the Game and the Community, Cannot Hide Their Colorism or Racism Anymore

This is going to be a long read. I refuse to stay silent.

I've played Genshin Impact on and off since 2021 when I was first introduced to it. I drew fanart but rarely participated in the fandom, as Genshin has one of the most toxic and racist fandoms that takes pleasure in driving off content creators of color, perpetuating racism within the communities, as well as harassing and threatening people who dare try to speak out about it. But, for as racist as the fandom is, what can I expect from them considering Hoyoverse as a whole has it's own set of racial problems.

It is clear from the release of Sumeru to the recent teasers of Natlan. Hoyoverse has colorism problems and racism problems and we're going to take a look at them here.

Before we begin, I want to take a moment to say that there will be a lot of information presented in this post. I ask that you read carefully and be considerate of every talking point presented.

Now, let's talk about Sumeru.

Sumeru, the fourth region released in Genshin Impact, draws a lot of real world inspiration from Middle Eastern culture, with even the geography mimicking the real world geography of China and India. The characters, music, food, and geography all draw inspiration from various different real world cultures, and just from a few glances, it is easy to see exactly where and what cultures they’re taking from.

Candace for instance, from name to appearance, draws inspiration from kandakes, which was the title of a queen mother in Nubian kingdoms. Even her accessories, her talents, and her weapon take pieces from other aspects of Egyptian culture.

Cyno, another character from Sumeru, is dressed in garb that mimics depictions of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian God of funerary rites and protector of graves. As with Candace, his talents and abilities reference Egypt.

Even Sethos, a newcomer to the game and also a Sumeru character, has clothes, skills, and a name that alludes to either the Egyptian God Set, the god of the desert and storms, the Egyptian pantheon in general, or the Ancient Egyptian King Seti/Sethos.

These three characters are tanned, anyone can see that, but if you take a closer look you'll notice that they're all around the same shade. Considering all three of them take inspiration from real world Egyptian culture, it is insane to me that they're all a similar shade of the same slightly tanned tone. It is unacceptable that they're all a shade or two away from white when all of them has some aspect of Egyptian culture in their character.

To further shed light on Sumeru's racist sins, there exists a long standing conflict in Sumeru regarding The Eremites, a race of people descended from the ancient, now-collapsed civilization who primarily live in the desert. These people are the enemies in the game. You read that right. The desert dwellers are the enemies and not only that, but unlike the treasure hoarders who disappear into smoke when defeated, the Eremites collapse to the ground like the Fatui.

Why do the Treasure Hoarders, a band of pale skinned thieves, get away but the Eremites, treated as if their culture is lesser, presumably die?

Worse than that, there is a long quest in Sumeru where a white academic from Sumeru spends nearly the entire length of the quest insulting an Eremite. The quest I'm referring to, Golden Slumber, is a multi part quest that has the Traveler accompanying a researcher named Tirzad who is exploring the ruins in the deserts of Sumeru. Throughout the quest, Tirzad spends most of his time complaining and insulting Jeht and Jebrael, calling the latter an uneducated brute whenever Jebrael tries to do anything. And the Traveler is no help, with dialogue options remaining neutral instead of rightfully telling Tirzad to stop.

What we have here is a white man stereotyping a man of color and assuming things about himself and his race due to his own racist biases.

Many players have called out the racism in Tirzad’s actions and this quest overall, but Tirzad at multiple times fails to see the error of his ways and leads the group into life threatening situations simply because he can’t believe an “uneducated desert brute” could possibly know more than him.

I could sit here and pick apart more aspects of Sumeru and it's failures to properly represent the culture it's using, but I want to get into the inciting incident of this entire post, which is Natlan.

When the teaser for Natlan was released, it was just another failure on Hoyoverse's part. To understand why, we can break it down into parts, starting with the character leaks:

Mavuika, presumably the pyro archon, with a name inspired by Māori fire deity Mahuika.

Ororon, a mispelling of the Yoruba god Ọlọrun, the creator deity in the Yoruban pantheon.

Kinich, named after the Mayan god of the sun.

Iansan, another character whose name comes from the Yoruba pantheon.

Xilonen, this name coming from one of the aspects of the Aztec goddess of maize and the goddess of sustenance.

Kachina, name inspiration directly lifted from the religious beliefs of the indigenous Pueblos people.

Chasca, name coming from the Incan goddess of dawn and twilight.

Citlali, a name derived from Nahuatl, which is a language from ancient Mexico.

Are you seeing something interesting with these characters?

Hoyoverse has shoved multiple different cultures under one region and whitewashed every character. They did the bare bones work of lifting names and small design inspirations from so many different cultures and using them in the laziest way possible. If not pale white, the few characters who are tanned are a mere shade darker than Cyno and almost the same shade as Kaeya. There is nothing darker in sight with any of these characters.

Cultural representation matters. If Hoyoverse can explore the cultures of Germany (Mondstadt), China (Liyue), Japan (Inazuma), and France (Fontaine), it is insane that the same sort of love couldn't be given to both Sumeru and Natlan, both nations where we should rightfully be seeing more people of color.

(Side note, we should be seeing more people of color in the previous regions as well, even as NPCs. Bi-racial people exist all over the world, not just in America. Quick google searches will show what I mean.)

I can already hear the arguments against me.

"But Hoyoverse is an East Asian company! They don't need to/don't care about representation!"

Oh really? Because Lilithgames, the company behind Dislyte, is a company based in Shanghai, China. And when you compare the variety of skin tones of Dislyte to Genshin, you cannot make the argument that a company based in Asia doesn't care about diversity. Hoyoverse does not seem to care, but don't make it a blanket statement for all companies.

Still not convinced? Bluepoch, a small Chinese company behind Reverse:1999, is responsible for this character:

Smite, a game published by Hi-Rez Studios and Tencent Games (A Chinese publisher), has a character based on Olorun. And they did just fine in their depiction of him:

And the director behind Tekken 7, Katsuhiro Harad, shared concept art of an Arab fighter they want to add to the game. Why? Because he wanted to make sure he was respecting Middle Eastern culture and asked for feedback to see what can be improved. He posted this concept art and asked the community for input to make Shaheen as accurate as possible:

But sure. Asian companies don't care.

"It's a fantasy world! It doesn't have to 1-to-1 mimic the real world!"

Oh really? So why are characters named after real world cultural figures, why is the food based around real world food, why are outfits somewhat inspired by real world garbs then? If you're gonna draw inspiration from something and use the real world in your game, the world is a diverse place. It is not all white nor all slightly tanned.

"You can always stop playing the game."

I could, but that would mean letting them win and get away with their racism. It would mean letting Hoyoverse think this is the norm instead of the outlier. It would mean staying silent during injustice. I can do a lot of things, and exposing their issues is one of them.

"It could be difficult for them to implement dark-skinned characters."

It actually is not. Look at all the examples from other games and companies discussed previously. It's not hard. Plus, take a look at Wriothesley's concept art:

Originally, he had a different skin tone. So characters with different tones existed but got lightened and changed over time.

"I don't want [insert race here] in my fantasy game/it doesn't matter!"

Honey, you're just racist.

"Wow, I get it now. This is bad. What can I do to help?"

There are several ways:

Use Surveys and Feedback when you log into Hoyoverse games. This problem extends past Genshin, into HSR and ZZZ (a game whose ads promote itself with rap music and yet noticeably lack playable dark skinned characters so far). Use the platforms that they gave us in order to spread the word. Tell them that you're dissatisfied with the cultural appropriation and disappointed in Hoyoverse for taking certain cultures and whitewashing them. Email genshin_cs@hoyoverse.com if the feedback buttons aren't working for some reason.

Stop putting money into the game. A lot of companies listen when there's monetary loss involved. Show them that you mean business and stop supporting their business. You can also leave a one star and a review with your thoughts on their cultural appropriation.

Amplify the voices of those speaking out. There are plenty of posts out there better worded than mine that go in depth into a lot of these problems. Multiple voice actors of all ethnicities and backgrounds have spoken up about Hoyoverse’s injustices as well (many of the VAs from the game, including the voices of Albedo, Sucrose, Layla, Beidou, and even VAs for smaller NPCs have spoken out). When you see those posts, share them. Spread the word. Get those voices out there.

Shut down those silencing others. For as many posts out there trying to bring more light to this issue, there are others who try to shut us down. They continue to be racist and double down that nothing is wrong with Natlan. Do not let them get away with this. Show them this post or the myriad of other posts that exist. Tell them to shut the fuck up. Call them out. But don't let them silence anyone else.

If you've made it to the end and learned something, I'm glad. If you've made it to the end and want to further support me or anyone else in this fight, share this post and others like it.

Thank you for reading.

EDIT: As noted in this ask, the naming conventions of characters from other regions as opposed to Sumeru and Natlan. I’ll be adding a separate reblog to this post with a full list of naming conventions from each region.

[kiwasmessywritings]

Ok that Stonehearts trailer is making me think more about the IPC and I need to yap

The thing that struck me the most while i was watching it was this sequence of events where the resources bleeding out from the colonized planets was the thing that healed the cornerstone, but then opal says that "we will follow the preservation to the end"

this violent colonization (look at boothill's planet) inherently goes against everything the preservation stands for, so why are the stonehearts even able to call themselves followers of the preservation, much less draw power from it like the cornerstones themselves?

it could be linked to the IPC voracity theory but i dont like that theory so i won't go too in depth on it. it makes sense, but it's a bit boring tbh.

instead, let's get bogged down in semantics and interpretations of what 'preservation' can be seen as

because i think that's more interesting and can explain why the ipc follows the preservation and why qlipoth is fine with the ipc using their power.

the word preservation means "maintaining something in it's original state", "retaining a state of affairs", "maintaining a quality of something", "keeping something safe from harm or injury" and those are just 4 contexts where the meaning of the world is a bit different.

as we know, people can follow a path but not agree with all of it's ideals (lan was born to destroy the abundance, yet galaxy rangers, who don't care about the hunt-abundance feud, exist and can draw power from the path of the hunt). and since we know there are so many interpretations of the WORD preservation, it makes me wonder if the stonehearts do care about 'preservation', but fix it to suit their own need.

i think the clearest example of these extraordinary interpretations of preservation come with obsidian.

(notice how the stones of the more scheming, bloodthirsty stonehearts are right next to diamond (opal and obsidian), while amber (who "prefers to remain neutral") and topaz (who is seen as the least controversial) are much further away?)

obsidian's interpretation of preservation

aside from being another gorgeous dangerous lady voiced by the wonderful Erin Yvette (yay!!), obisidan is clearly a bit loopy. BUT, she draws power from the preservation (she has a cornerstone, and is a high rank in the ipc, p46, only being under diamond, a confirmed emanator, at p47.) so how does she interpret "preservation" to exist as such a contradictory state to the safety that qlipoth wants to provide?

i think her form of preservation is the preservation of the selfish part of humanity and the preservation of human indulgence.

firstly, we can see from her luxurious home, with everything enlaid with obsidian and covered in blood, shows the materialistic and violent side of obsidian's selfishness. she's here when making a decision about aventurine's fate, and her only comment about it is that SHE would "like everything to become more of a bloodbath". she doesn't care about him individually, she just cares about manipulating the status quo to suit herself - which she can easily achieve in the selfish and greedy ipc.

obsidian, as a stoneheart, being a famous person within the ipc, and an important ipc representative in the cosmos, can also serve as a personification for the cruellest parts of the ipc - the colonization, the violence. its important to recognize that obsidian is pretty, but that's just meant to MAKE us like her, so we ignore the wrongdoings of the ipc.

this wish of her's to maintain the status quo and only manipulate it when it suits her also links her to opal, who seems eager to rush off and get more power from diamond in the upcoming war among the aeons. opal seems to be selfish and manipulative too. i imagine they're quite the devilish pair when they want something.

i also think obsidian has something to do with life, considering the pomegranates (which represent life) we see next to her bath of blood, and also that obsidian blades were used in the distant past, and that obsidian is formed by volcanos (something destructive that also keeps life in check. the aftermath of volcanic eruptions is death, but also fertile lands).

considering these links to life (pomegranates), death (her love for bloodbaths and watching prey suffer), and pleasure (her extravagant home and preference to indulge in her violent hobbies), it seems that her view of preservation is one that encourages the preservation of the self indulgent, selfish side of humanity.

i think her having so many links to life, death and pleasure can also link to the ipc's motto "all for the amber lord" - everything, life, death and pleasure are all the domain of qlipoth and can be manipulated as much as anyone likes, as long as it suits the ipc and therefore qlipoth.

her viewpoint is that things should remain as they are, and that humanity should remain selfish and self-indulgent (which obsidian relates to, she has her obsidian bath of blood and her wine in her goblet, she wants to relish in the thrill of the hunt of her prey).

(of course, i'm going off of 2 pieces of symbolism, but stick with me. i wonder if any of this will turn out to be right? also HOORAY ERIN YVETTE VOICING SOMEONE IN HSR!!!)

[kiwasmessywritings]

omg the pyro archon looks so good!!!!

[kiwasmessywritings]

MAVUIKA

[kiwasmessywritings]

I come bearing an ask

Here me out: Arlecchino x pregnant!reader (who was already unsure if she wanted to go thru w the pregnancy + was scared of her body changing) where

Reader is in early pregnancy and she's starting to show a bit of a bump, BUT her and Arle haven't told anyone. So, one day while they're out, they encounter either 1 of Reader's family members or just someone she knows and they make a comment about her weight gain unknowingly which leads to reader uncontrollably crying

What does Arle do in that situation? Beat em up? Tend to her wife? A bit of both? Maybe threaten them?

Thank you for taking the time to read this!!! And thank you again if you consider write it!!

Hi! Sorry this has taken so long to get to, I have a major backlog of requests and I like to go in chronological order if I can. Anyway, here it is. I’ve never been pregnant or really around anyone who has been so I have NO idea how this works sorry 😭

Word count: 733

Contents: fluff, pregnant reader

UTC!

The day you realised your period was late was a day you’re sure you’ll remember forever. The dread you felt as you drove to the store as quickly as possible, practically slamming the box onto the counter as you paid. Then, of course, the wait. How stupid, you think. To have pissed on a stick and wait anxiously for some lines. Lines that could possibly change your life. You didn’t really want that. You’ve not wanted that, not since you were a teen, when you became conscious of your body. You swore you’d never get pregnant, you couldn’t deal with your body changing. You know you couldn’t.

Then, the wait was over, and the result was not what you wanted. You remember how your hands trembled as thousands of different thoughts ran through your head. You remember sitting on the toilet lid with your head in your hands for hours until you heard the soft click of the front door. The way you told her, your voice weak, your eyes filled with uncertainty, is something Arlecchino won’t forget.

She reassured you that whatever you chose was okay, that if you didn’t want to go through with it then she’d support you, and the same if you decided you wanted to go through with it. You spent a week deciding, but when you were in the city, your eyes caught a glimpse of the smallest little baby socks and your already growing maternal instincts kicked in instantly. The second you came home, you announced you wanted to keep it, though after conversation, you admitted you were scared. She promised that even when your body changed, she’d love you regardless. That anyone who commented would face her wrath. You knew she was serious, too.

So, of course, that brings you to the day when your bump starts showing. Arlecchino is in love with it, her hand resting on it whenever you’re sat together, her arm shielding you whenever you go outside if she senses danger. And she’s snapped at a person or two when they’ve bumped into you. Her sense of danger has been warped into whatever could possibly harm you and the child, though neither of you have told anyone yet. Your request, she’d tell the world if she could. She relaxes a bit when you meet an old friend, someone you haven’t met in years. You were quite close, she recalls. Even so, she stays by your side, listening to your conversation with a polite hum in response when she’s asked a question. Her ears perk up though, when the conversation takes a turn.

“Mm, you’ve gotten a little pudgy, haven’t you? Swollen in the face a bit, too. Cute.” A harmless comment usually, but for you, it’s a blow, and she knows it. She knows it the second the words are spoken, the way your face falls and your hands cover yourself. The way your eyes fall to the floor and your attempt at laughing. Your laugh is strained, though, your voice thick. Another ten seconds, and cue an outburst of tears. This is exactly what you didn’t want, for people to comment on your weight gain. For you, it’s been the worst symptom of them all. Arlecchino’s arm immediately wraps around you, her voice cold.

“Do not talk about someone’s body in such a manner. You should not be commenting on anyone’s body anyway, let alone her’s. You’ve known her for years, haven’t you? You should know how sensitive she is to comments like that,” between your tears, you can hear her speaking, almost snarling. She’s always been protective, but perhaps she’s gotten even more so since the news. “If I ever hear you speak about her in such a way again, if you ever make her shed another tear, I will break you. Understand?”

The old friend is quick to apologise and scurry off, leaving you, a tearful mess, and a sighing Arlecchino. Placing soft kisses into your hair, she strokes your arm, thinking of a way she can make you feel better. She opts to whisper all the good things about gaining weight while pregnant until she sees your tears stop.

“Now, do you want that craving we originally came out here for?” She asks, a smile tugging at her lips when you immediately nod and start complaining about how you really can’t live without peanut butter and pickles.

[kiwasmessywritings]

good luck getting jade!

Thank you sm anon, If you plan to get her as well I wish you the same!

[kiwasmessywritings]

I'm so glad I missed out on so many quests in HSR lately,now I'll be able to get a guaranteed Jade if I just do all the old events + finish the many game modes in the game...if I'm lucky I might get her Lightcone as well😋

[kiwasmessywritings]

Nah I love you for nerding out, the 1st scenario you talked is abt was literally the one on my head I had when hearing this song 😭 I love how much power the IPC holds, it's so interesting!!!

You know what song reminds me of Jade/ The IPC? Def " The Fine Print" by the Stupendium!! Idk if it's the overall vibe or not, but it screams like their organization 😭❗️

DUDE WHY ARE YOU RIGHT????? I'd say The Fine Print is the sort of song that describes when you're backed to the corner they planned for you and it's basically safe for them to spill everything without consequences bc really it's "just business" at the end of the day 🫶

The fact that you say that actually makes m so happy bc 😭😭 I've played its og game, The Outer Worlds. The Spacer's Choice faction reminds me a lot of the IPC if they went to a more stock-centred business rather than being service-based. People who are signed to them are EXTREMELY tied to their stocks and their lives are BASICALLY worthless and seen as incompetent if their sales aren't saleing enough

The first kinda town you go to is CONTROLLED by Spacer's Choice stuff and their entire cemetery? It's fucking RENTED to you, not sold off. RENTED. Mb for nerding out 😭😭😭 I just really like the comparison

[kiwasmessywritings]

No cause I didn't even plan to pull for a while for any character, now I might need to spend money again damn 😪❗️

Jade in the new Trailer makes me ACT UPP

Jade IN GENERAL makes me wanna act the FUCK UPPPPPP dude oh my. My god I've never wamted to be a man more

I did get really distracted though bc the music slaps HARD and I have a music diploma so I was Doomed to pay attentiom to it first 😭😭😭😭

[kiwasmessywritings]

HOWDY I was wondering if you’d write for Arlecchino with a fem reader that’s ovulating and it extremely frisky? If not just ignore this! I’m ovulating rn and it’s the only thing I can think of

♥︎ NEEDY NEEDY! ♥︎

+ warnings: sub reader, reader is ovulating, arle fucks you on her desk, strap-on used, wlw smut!!

+ wc: 0.4k

+ note: hey nonnie! i lovee this req sm hehe, im ovulating too and i totally agree with this mindset, hope ya enjoyyy <3

nsfw under cut, minors dni!!!

"arleeee" you whine, wrapping your hands around her back. your girlfriend sat at her desk, poised and working away at whatever paperwork she had.

"yes, darling?" she coos, her pale face turning to kiss your warm cheek.

"are you okay, youre burning up" she ask, her hand placed on your head.

"mm, arle, you look so goddamn sexy right now" you purr out, thighs rubbing together in your skimpy skirt.

arle looks at her calendar, and it clicks. you were ovulating. the skimpy outfit and sudden neediness add up.

she clears the desk, patting the wood for you to climb up. "come on, ill take care of you"

you giggle excitedly, climbing onto the desk and discarding your skirt. your girlfriend kneels in front of you, her fingers pulling aside your panties, exposing your soaked core.

"archons, all this all ready? dont even gotta finger you much" she observes, delving a slender finger into your creamy cunt.

"mm, arle~" you moan, hips desperately trying to meet her hand.

"youre going to be fine, love, calm down" she responds, pressing a kiss to your head as she grabs the strap, adjusting it onto herself. arle once again delves two fingers into you, withdrawing them and wiping your slick onto the synthetic cock, eyeing as you watch her intently.

"be good for me, hm?" she coos, lining herself up, wasting no time in diving in. her hips meet yours, and mewls of approval spill from your lips like honey, sweet and addicting.

"shh, doll, we're in my office, remember? what if a servant comes by~" she whispers, nibbling your earlobe as her thrust grow faster and deeper, hitting right where you craved her.

"arle, so good!!!" you groan, burying your face into her neck, the scent of her cologne fueling the knot growing in your stomach. you loved everything about her, especially her cologne, and whenever you ovulated, you searched for that comforting and enticing scent.

the strap pounds into you, the sounds of sex filling her office as you approach your climax, the knot in your stomach threatening to snap any minute.

her hand that wasnt gripping your hip finds your clit, rubbing circles and adding to your hightened pleasure. with a few more thrust, you cum, your juices dripping down arle's work pants and your thighs, coating the strap.

she kisses your forehead, throwing you her sweater. "go clean yourself up in my bathroom, and ill take care of the mess out here, hm?"

your cravings had been quenched for now, but you both knew youd be back for more later.

©2024 roronoaism - please do not repost or translate my works on other media sites ♡

[kiwasmessywritings]

IT'S MY 18TH BIRTHDAY LETS GOO!!!

[kiwasmessywritings]

SHE’S SO IMPORTANT TO ME

[kiwasmessywritings]

Taking care of Klee for a day..

(a platonic Klee x gn! Reader)

♡ would involve not only a stretch of your time but also having some of the most eventful moments in your life!

♡ Jean begging you to take this task as both her, Mona, and Albedo are heavily busy with their jobs.

♡ All three of them giving you a list reaching to the door for every crazy stuff they experienced with Klee so far..

♡...only for all of them never happening & getting into whole new adventures instead!

♡ bombing a few (a whole lineage-) of fish at the lake in Mondstadt, breaking the heart of the sea & fishermen alike

♡ having her run into the dark woods to Wolvendom...and while you don't worry about her necessarily getting hurt you most certainly hope you can catch up to her immense speed

♡ befriend a frew Hilichurls (giving them all your food you had for the day after Klee burned their place to ashes), Listen to Venti's newest tunes (while he had the time of his life having Klee telling her stories about her mother) & ending the day entering the Knights of Favonius again, looking exhausted.

♡ Will you ever take care of Mondstadt's youngest knight again? Probably not. But hearing the fantastic stores of a Hexenzirkel witch & her daughter was abaoloutely worth it.

[kiwasmessywritings]

A FEW JINHSI HEADCANONS....

(A Jinshi x gn!reader)

Jinhsi, who...

♡ always care more about the people around her than her own well-being. If you're in a relationship with her of any kind, expect a very caring & capable person always watching over you, even if she's busy with her job.

♡ is a queen at multi-tasking. She hates letting people down and would always try to please everyone around them as much as possible.

♡ likes to spend her evenings in nature with her loved ones, looking up into the nightsky, thinking about her future and those of all Jinzhou

♡ as the magistrate of Jinzhou, you can expect trying to shield you from the politics in the city, keeping your relationship as something more secret as well to avoid you having to worry about the Fractsidus

♡ would use pet names like "darling", "love" or "dearest"

♡ most definitely into words of affirmation & quality time.

[kiwasmessywritings]

[kiwasmessywritings]

Oh, don't mind me, I'm just writing about my silly thoughts with a platonic jiaoqiu x gn!reader, where jiaoqiu is the one creating the wildest recipes ever while the reader has to taste them daily. Sometimes it's a bundle of the greatest food they've ever taste in their entire life...and on some unlucky ones they need to be taken to Bailu after the sly foxian may or may not added some...interesting ingredients, to say the least.

Will y/n ever continue to eat his dishes? Of course - both life for the thrill & art of cooking!