#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 Sumeru's end goal/epilogue was to facilitate opportunities for education and improved livelihoods for the desert people. Ntm that all four are lovely personalities I adore with all my heart.

And as I write all this...

I suddenly realize that it wasn't the lack of skin color variety or even the climate-related skin pigmentation inaccuracy that was bothering me back then. These were nitpicks and pet peeves I had in light of not finding anything genuinely interesting or charming about the game.

In general, I was just...so gd bored of the filler-y vibe of the first 3 nations before Sumeru - because I knew what to expect of Liyue (China), Mondstadt stopped being so interesting once Dvalin came to his senses, and Inazuma 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 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 was the tip of the iceberg for every other thing I found 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 improved vastly...only when Hoyo was able to broaden its cultural horizons while working on Sumeru.

I can't speak for Fontaine because it was a thoroughly mixed bag of good and bland toast, but it definitely ended strong with Canticles of Harmony.

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.

It's a hot take, 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 just a little bit more fun and non-tonedeaf whimsy once in a while.

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 getting hung up on something.

Ergo I don't want to be exhausted seeing every contradiction and plothole in Genshin jump out at me.

I can't turn my brain off to those, the same way people can't ignore the colorism and misrepresentation on display.

We all have our priorities, and the written content is mine.

So 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 only second to the writing for Natlan's situation and its background lore. And I truly wish that when we reach 5.0, the writing captivates us all.

I'm not asking for much. Just sense. And less cynicism and malice from our two spotlight characters. Because it honest to God drains my energy to hate on something that Hoyo treasures and milks a lot.