#rc volot

[romanceclub-confessionss]

Confession:

"i feel like ppl dont get why everyones mad at white volot its not that we have a problem with roc (race of choice) lis its that he was 10000% intended to be black his moodboard was all black guys and in the first 2 eps you can see his hands and theyre dark skinned"

[dumpingscreenshotshere]

This just feels so wrong. So now Volot is not canonically Black. Now we have this basic white sprite

[noelle-v]

What a great view 👀😏

[jun3lily]

tf is this? white volot?? no thx. im a part of russian fandom but i don’t claim him☠️ he looks like a 90’s gopnik

[indomitable-mrs-barkley]

[bouquetstatue]

while racism with volot + the mc in the russian fandom was not... surprising to me? (i didn't expect it but many russians, and by extension eastern europeans, do hold outdated views, so it's not new to me) i think it just drives home the fact that white russians will never consider poc as russian or "like them".

russia is home to MANY indigenous people and i've seen so many stories, as a person with heritage to the sakha people, from other indigenous people who are always made to feel like outsiders because they don't look russian enough. they're, quite literally, publicly shunned and people saying that volot/lada being dark skinned ruins the "accuracy" of the story about slavic mythology forget that poc russians are still... russians, they have a place in russian culture.

also, let's not forget that, while being a minority, some central asians are also considered slavic. and they do not look "stereotypically" russian.

this definitely is a problem with most slavic/eastern european people because they assume that apperance determines your heritage or your blood, it does not. to say that a poc who has slavic blood, spoke a slavic language, was raised in slavic culture isn't slavic just because they're a poc is extremely racist.

[noisykoalacollective]

I'll say this. Changing the skin color of a character in a game, namely when we have a choice between one or the other, is not racism. In this case, the developers satisfied the requests of Russian-speaking players who wanted more authenticity for the Slavic setting. (But don't forget that having a white character doesn't make him a Slav, ahem). But this was not done immediately, but was done already when the character was already initially conceived as he is. Therefore, in principle, I can also understand the bombing.

Racism for the most part is an insult and jokes about colored characters (for a minute - there is a choice, for example, gg) or people who prefer them that way. I've seen it here many times. That is, if the negative reaction is directed solely at the skin color or nationality of the character, no matter in the real or fictional world, and this is accompanied by insults or jokes, then this is also a form of discrimination.

Everything is the same on reddit now, but in the opposite direction.

The situation is complicated only by the fact that for some representation is important, and for others cultural conformity (although they immediately warned that this should not be expected), which is not present in any story in the Romance Club: neither in the Nile, nor in Kali, nor in Li.

There are no rightists on either side.

[sweetiebriar]

I really shouldn’t get involved in this debate because, first, it's utterly absurd and immature, and second, it will likely earn me a few enemies and drag me into conflicts, which I despise more than anything… Yet, I can’t stay silent. My anger is boiling over because creators and writers like myself are being bullied by so-called fans with narrow-minded perspectives, forcing us to bow down to politically correct foolishness just to be able to continue our work in peace.

¡Swearwords Alert!

What the fucking, shitty, bloody heck is wrong with these people?! This is a work of fiction—a story set in a fantasy, medieval Slavic world. The rules of the modern, real world do not apply here. Why on earth is representation being demanded in a context where it makes no sense?

¡Swearwords Alert End!

For those who’ve wisely avoided this whole debacle—and I congratulate you, keep doing so in the future if possible, let me fill you in: our dear RC team, along with the author of "The Thunderstorm Saga," Alexander D., were recently pressured (and in some cases harassed) into changing the main character sprites, which originally consisted of various elven races—forest, moon, and dark elves—into human representations (Asian, Caucasian, African, Latin, etc.).

AS: I didn’t get involved in the uproar about Volot’s skin tone in "And The Haze Will Take Us" being a player choice, because frankly, it was ridiculous for a portion of the community to react negatively, as if RC’s decision was some kind of racist move. Let me remind you, we’ve had this kind of choice before, like in "Vying For Versailles" with King Louis, and no one complained. Also, if you weren’t aware, book covers are often altered in their Russian versions. A main character who is Black or Brown in the American/European editions is frequently depicted as white in the Russian versions, except in rare cases where the character’s ethnicity is central to the story, like in "Garden of Eden" or the "Kalis". This change is due to the narrow-mindedness of the Russian community, and RC makes these changes to avoid backlash from its largest player base. Perhaps the decision to change Volot's skin was made with the Russian market in mind, and they decided to keep it consistent for all players. But frankly, I don’t care, and I don’t want to know.

Now, back to the main issue:

I’ve been a writer for most of my life, and I cannot stress this enough: a writer’s vision is theirs and theirs alone. While we might choose to revise certain aspects of our stories or find new ways to tell them, the opinions of readers and fans should never dictate those decisions. We are the creators of the content you enjoy. You read our work because you appreciate our vision. If we start crafting stories the way you want, it ceases to be our vision, and the magic is lost. Instead of venturing into the unknown, the story becomes a mundane reflection of everyday life. People read books to escape reality, not to mirror it.

Frankly, I find the elven races in this story quite representative, if you ask me—certainly more so than in LOTR (And remember the backlash about the Black dwarf queen? How ironic…).

- Forest Elves One have very fair skin, which can be linked to Caucasians. The Forest Elves Two can be more compared to Mediterranean people.

- Moon Elves One & Two, with their warm, brownish skin, can be connected to Hispanic or Latin people.

- Dark Elves, as you might expect, are associated with people of African descent, with group One being darker than group Two.

Sure, not every community is represented here—where are the Asians, the Eastern Europeans, the Arabs, Indians, and Indigenous peoples? There are more than just three skin tones, after all.

But this debate is utterly ridiculous. This is a work of fiction set in a fantasy realm. These characters are elves, not humans, and they don’t need to represent human diversity. The vast majority of players enjoyed the story as it was, and do you know why? Because they chose their main character based on who they found most appealing, not because the character resembled them. Contrary to what some believe, representation isn’t always necessary in fiction. Yes, there were fewer Black and brown-skinned characters in the past due to racism and segregation, but today, in a diverse and cosmopolitan world, young writers incorporate their modern perspectives into their work, and people generally don’t complain about representation anymore. So stop making a fuss over something that was never an issue to begin with. Let writers do their work. Criticising elves for not being "human enough" is not constructive; it’s just nonsense. And if you want to argue with me over this, don’t bother. I refuse to debate anyone over a fictional world, and especially over a game.

[ratanslily]

Volot🙏🏽

[romanceclub-confessionss]

Confession:

Alice is so bad at handling the Black LIs. First, Loy barely got any screen time, only to die in the first episode of the second book.

War is the only LI you could kill off early on, and even if you don't, his scenes are way too short compared to the others.

And now, Volot with the race-swapping? Honestly, Alice, I’m done. I am done with you.

[malbontesmrs]

I did a different picture of him for the Discord server a bit ago, but since then I’ve picked up new techniques so I wanted to redo him. He’s gorgeous! 😍

The difference between the two is pretty neat. I might post a comparison on my wip blog because it shows my art progression.

[noelle-v]

It was love at first sight, Volot 😏

[raleigh-edward]

They had no business making Volot look so hot, how am I supposed to choose between him and Ozar now 😭

[nierh-a]

I can't stop laughing, what the hell is that face girrrrrl

[lanesrequiem]

this cg is stuck in my head its calling out to me in a dream

[poisoneevy]

Listen.... like I get why they would make him have two types of appearances given the racist response he's recieved but I really just hope this was the initial intent and not just bending down to the xenophobes (but I know it was not)