#count how many pink haired characters are in the hoyoverse that weren't fairskinned

[tablefourtyone]

Taking a trip down colorism's memory lane after the Natlan teaser, and why I'm not as bothered as I used to be.

I know everyone's got complaints about Natlan's "sunlight challenged" cast rn, but I remembered getting annoyed that Kaeya and Xinyan were the only dark skinned playables ingame before Sumeru dropped, because they were the only dark skinned characters we ever saw in the game, like they were an endangered species whose descendants are constantly under the threat of being whitewashed.

I could've had a similar issue to having (so far) four dark skinned Sumeru natives as playables, but I just loved the lore in Sumeru sm that I didn't care about the number, especially when the Sumeru chapter was so much more ambitious and forward thinking than the previous three. I adore the four well-written peoples with all my heart, and I don't want or will have anything to do with hoyo's colorism problem.

Because it's not the lack of skin color variety or even the climate-related skin pigmentation inaccuracy that actually bothers me. These are nitpicks and pet peeves I have in light of not finding anything genuinely interesting or charming about the game despite its artistic direction as an openworld game with gorgeous music and excellent background lore.

Generally speaking, I've just been so goddamn tired of the filler-y vibe of the first 3 nations before Sumeru - because Liyue is a classic example of writers writing what they know (because China in a Chinese game), Mondstadt stopped being so interesting once Dvalin came to his senses, and the Inazuma chapter was such a huge timewaster I hated with a seething fury that I even disdainfully called it Weeaboo Land.

My Genshin gaming experience before Sumeru was essentially a toxic meringue of mediocrity and lazy writing that I would force myself to sit through, because there were plenty of other characters and lore that kept me riveted, but the creative direction of the game's main story itself was threatening to put me to sleep because things would get dramatic, only to be resolved either by a deus ex machina or by nothing of lasting consequence sticking around long enough to be a genuine cause for concern with the main cast. It was just so...meaningless.

IOW, the colorism in Genshin is the tip of the iceberg for every other thing I find offensive, unreasonable, and unjustifiable about the game.

Sumeru was my first breath of fresh air since we left Mondstadt and Venti.

All I'm trying to say is, to me, the quality of the writing and the atmosphere of the game has improved vastly, and I'll take it and not complain as much as before.

And if Natlan can pull off the same quality of writing skill and world building (and this completely depends on their lead writer for this region), the colorism is no issue for me at all.

I know no one is willing to accept this, but after what I've been through as someone who wants consistent and comprehensible writing to appear more frequently in future updates, I'm just happy for the writing to make sense and have more than just a little bit of fun and non-tonedeaf whimsy, if ever.

I simply don't want to be unhappy as a longtime Genshin player.

I want to enjoy this game and explore it and have fun without hang-ups spoiling the experience.

Understand that, for me, Himeko's Mavuika's fair complexion and the slight shade of dark tanning that doesn't go all the way up in saturation for the new cast, is a very distant second to the writing for Natlan's situation.

And going forward, I hope none of you spoil yours or others' Genshin experience with negativity or snide comments about the colorism issue. You have a problem with it, take it up with Hoyo. Leave the rest of us out of your grievances.