#sumeru as a whole still makes me feel so uncomfy to this day with the weird ass storyline and colourism and whitening of several characters

[yioh]

genshin player’s switch up on sumeru characters will haunt me forever honestly i’ve never seen such a large amnt of people act so utterly fake in such a small period of time😭

[trans-xianxian]

apologies if this is like. putting too much authority on u so u can ignore it

i used to be really into genshin & i love a lot of the characters/story but esp with the newer stuff (i say "newer" but i left before sumeru came out) i've been getting really uncomfy w/ the lack of fat, disabled, or darker skinned folks and i wanted to ask if you think they got/are getting any better in that regard?

this got incredibly long so I'm going to put it under the cut!

for one I'd say that one of genshins biggest problems is it's complete lack of dark skinned characters. there are, what, five playable characters who aren't death pale out of the 70 something in the whole game currently? and my white dad gets darker than all of them in the summer. and then almost every single one of the darker skinned npcs in sumeru, with the exception of like three, have either been lying tricksters trying to con us, or aggressive and "brutish". they are also framed as being evil, unreasonable, and dangerous for wanting their ancestral lands back and trying to practice their culture. they couldn't even make candace, who is BASED OFF OF A REAL BLACK ETHIOPIAN QUEEN, dark skinned. sumeru is based off of swana (which, there are also problems w sumeru being based off of a huge geographical area w a plethora of different cultures while every other nation in tyvat takes clear inspiration from One singular real world nation and culture), but almost all of the characters, npc and playable, are super pale? this is obviously not to say that Everyone from a certain region looks the same way or that there are no light skinned ppl in swana nations irl, but like. cmon. they had an opportunity to represent darker skinned ppl w a nation based off of an area where a lot of darker skinned nonwhite ppl live, and they dropped the ball. not to mention the fact that out of all of the sumeru npcs, I don't think Any of the scholars from the akademiya have darker skin. there's obviously cyno as a pc but I feel like his academic side wasn't as focused on as it was w the light skinned characters. I think that the positive addition of a collection of darker skinned protagonist playable characters and npcs in sumeru sadly doesn't outweigh the fact that these characters are still ultimately whitewashed, and negative treatment of so many of the darker skinned npcs in the nation and the way that, even when those characters aren't being portrayed in a negative light, harmful stereotypes are still being perpetuated. there were quests that I could barely get through because they made me so uncomfortable. I do however know that hoyo has gotten a good deal backlash about this issue, at least from north american players, so we'll see how they handle natlan

as for fat characters... I feel like in general, genshin does pretty well with fat npcs. for the most part they're treated the same as other characters, appear in a variety of roles, and I haven't noticed any fatphobic jokes. I could very much be wrong and I wouldn't be Surprised if there were one or two but it hasn't been so much of a glaring issue that I can think of specific examples or remember it as a huge overarching problem. there was a fat npc in the most recent archon quest that played a pretty minor but positive role. sadly, I don't think there will ever be a fat playable character in genshin. there is barely any body type variation in the pcs anyway, ignoring the complete lack of fat ones. at the end of the day, genshin is a gacha game. the most popular one in the world currently. every playable character has to be marketable to the largest possible audience, and to be blunt about it, as fucked up as it is, fat bodies are not marketable. I just Know that if there was a fat pc there would be insane backlash. the amount of people losing their fatphobic minds would drown out anybody celebrating it. now, there Are instances of hoyo doing stuff w character design despite previous backlash - lyney being so blatantly gnc despite all the shit they got for venti comes to mind - so Maybe there's hope, but I honestly doubt it, unfortunately

hoyos relationship w disabled characters is.... complicated. there were two pcs in sumeru who I would consider disabled - collei had a fictional chronic illness and another character named layla has what I'd argue is narcolepsy or at least chronic fatigue. you could argue that what's happening w dainsleif is a chronic illness and I know baizhu is sick in some way but I'm not informed enough on the details to really speak on it. the pc dehya Maybe has a prosthetic arm? but it's incredibly unclear. there are of course a few characters with eyepatches. there's an upcoming character in hoyos other game, star rail, who has a prosthetic arm, but in the same game they have a blind npc who turns out to be a villain with her blindness being an obvious aspect of why she chose to be evil. in genshin a lot of the characters with sort of ambiguous health problems are treated... fine? like dainsleif is obviously isn't supposed to be a villain but I feel like his chronic illness doesn't actually affect his every day life in a significant way and it's just sort of a looming plot device. from what I remember from our interactions with layla, nothing glaring stands out as being problematic, and I think the portrayal of her illness was decent but I also don't really Remember a lot about how she acted or was treated. eyepatched characters don't get outwardly ableist treatment but it also doesn't seem to really matter to or affect their characters. and then there's collei. collei could have been so good, I was So excited for collei. the treatment of her chronic illness was surprisingly well handled, and there was a plot significant npc with the same illness who I appreciated the handling of as well. it could have been So good. but then due to plot events that chronic illness magically disappeared and wasn't a problem for anyone anymore. I was so disappointed, it felt like such a cop out like oh this playable character whose whole life has been affected by her illness and who has had to build different strengths than others due to her disability? who experienced medical abuse and was taken advantage of because she was sick? yeah all that's magically whisked away now. like it didn't even matter. honestly it's embarrassing. hoyo had been handling it so well and then they fumbled at the end. for a popular piece of media, I think genshin does alright with disabilities, there are some positive instances I can think of, but I also think they've made some real blunders in this regard. I don't know if I would call recent updates any Better about disabled characters, but I guess there's More of them

hoyo has its own handful of biases and bigotry that are very evident in the game (especially when it comes to race and colorism), there's no arguing with that, but I do think a good chunk of it comes down to what is and what they perceive as marketable, and considering genshin Is a combat game, this is especially true for fat playable characters. people would throw a fit about fat characters being """unrealistic""" in a combat setting, and hoyo knows this. they know that certain disabilities could get similar backlash or at least not be seen as being as "cool", and they know that, especially in east asian countries where colorism is very prevalent, dark skinned characters wouldn't make as much money. people like to act like because hoyo is a chinese company, they could have no possible clue that any of these things are problems, which is it's own insane brand of racism/orientalism from fans, but ultimately they are a multimillion dollar corporation trying to make as much money as they can, they know exactly what they're doing

there are many parts of the game that you can tell are made with genuine love for the story and the craft, I'm not saying it's all a nefarious cash grab, they Do care about quality and storytelling - that's clear in the intricacy of the lore and the beauty of the game itself. genshin is a game made by people trying to make good art, and I want to acknowledge that, but those people also work for a multimillion dollar company that gets the final say. I'm not trying to be pessimistic and say genshin will Never change, or that they Always bend to fan service and marketability, I do think there's hope! they've gotten better about a lot of these things! but I don't think that any of the issues you mentioned are Fixed by any means, and sadly a lot of the positive improvements have negative and disappointing counterparts

[crystalflygeo]

omg you get me yey ;w; I was honestly shocked we got nothing on her and li aaaaaaaaa have to really dig to get it, yes they are the cutest

I LOVE the corruption theory, angsty as it is just so beautifully tragic, ugh Soraya's lines are forever in my memory yes "black dust choke the heaves and a thousand rocks splintered" so true so true </3 and with the description of the AP set and Primordial Jade cutter it just makes SO MUCH SENSE!!!

I cry too lemme join you

also your tags are so real too cfgvhnkml it's why I'm not fond of the "Ningg is her reincarnation" theories (are those still a thing?) it both feels like it defeats the purpose of gods passing leadership to humans in a way and also bc well... it's kinda insulting for Zhongguang shippers me thinks ALSO OOF if you were too look for guili stuff but then remove Childe/Zc/Ttl tags over two thirds of the works disappear or so like... she's just the "dead wife/love interest" to make other characters insecure or bring angst to make Zl guilty or compare his current s/o STOOOOPPPPP it's interesting once or twice but I swear this is what her character is reduced to (that or people deadass shipped her with Havria to 'get her out of the way and force another gay ship I'm-)

anyway kinda random but I'm giddy I wanna share sorry feel free to ignore asdfxdcvgbjml I like to do my own lil story and headcanons of my teams/characters as I play genshin and back when sumeru was just released I once wrote Zhongli having a breakdown after the explosive result of a dendro/pyro/anemo reaction and it had to do with Guizhong and this whole theory I'm so mean I gave him PTSD </3 so yeah cw for that and some uncomfy imagery also some Zhongven if you squint at the end bc I am a raging zhongven shipper ehe

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“Uh… everyone? There’s… more…” Yanfei called out. And surely enough another small horde of fungi creatures was floating and bouncing up to them.

“Do they never end?!” The blonde exclaimed shocked, reeling back.

Venti sighed “Even I find myself tired of them, time to unleash a little mayhem.” He put away his lyre and instead invoked his bow, nocking an arrow and pointing straight to the little creatures without a second to waste. He closed one eye, pulling back as the arrow began to glow with pure anemo, clothes and grass fluttering around him “Time for takeoff!” He grinned and shot.

The effect was instantaneous, wind gales stirring up as a vortex formed in the middle of the open field, pulling in leaves, dirt and everything in close proximity including of course the small mushroom creatures. The little things battered by the vicious winds, shaking in the air dizzyingly.

Yanfei smiled then and invoked her catalyst “Let’s do this” Scarlet seals surrounded her, floating like gems around her.

Lumine suddenly felt Zhongli tense at her side “Yanfei wait don’t-!”

“Wrath of the flame!”

Time had moved no swifter than a heartbeat when the swirl and burning elemental reactions collided and yet a hundred days had filled his mind. Paralyzed him.

Mortals had no idea how quickly fire can spread and consume.

Pyro roared to life and expanded with the wind, setting everything on fire in the large area and practically exploding. The flames engulfed grass, trees and all it touched, the air felt hot and suffocating all of the sudden.

Zhongli had moved a split second too late, invoking a jade shield around each one of them, the crystallized golden walls enduring the worst of the attack. Venti lowered his head and made a barrier with his arms, twin brains shaking wildly in the wind. Lumine closed her eyes and groaned. Yanfei fell back with a scream.

For what seemed like ages, the wind raged on, battering everything and covering it with a crimson glow until Venti willed the anemo away with a blast, enemies long gone.

Embers and ashes floated in the air, the entire area was left desolated: a charred tree trunk, burned grass and leaves, blackened dirt and a heavy silence.

Venti panted as he looked around at the scene with wide eyes. He heard Lumine scream “Yanfei!!” and turned to see her rush up to the other girl as she laid on the ground clutching her arm and whining.

Lumine inspects her arm, the sleeve utterly ruined as a blistering burn blooms “Hurts…” The half-adeptus hissed through her teeth. Lumine cursed under her breath, they had no healer and she was down to her last streaming oil. Pulling the flask from her bag she opened it and poured the cooling liquid, Yanfei shrieks and almost sobs at the clash in temperature but where healing showers move, scars appear.

“We have to go back to Gandharva ville!” Lumine screams almost hysterical, eyes wide and heart hammering with worry, her hands shaking as she helps Yanfei up, the lawyer leaning onto her for support as tears roll down her face, biting her lip at the pain. “I’m sure Tighnari will know what to do.”

Zhongli does not move, scales blooming like goosebumps around his arms and down his spine. Everything he sees is the raging fire. Embers, and ashes. Ashes, and dirt. Floating around him. Clogging his throat. Clouding his vision. Tears prickle at his eyes. A numb cold feeling creeps at his chest, extends to his limbs. Dirt, and dust. Dust, and blood. There’s blood in his hands, in his horns, in his tail, and he doesn’t- can’t-

“Zhongli?!”

“Lumine, go!” Venti says, a rare serious expression overtaking his soft features.

Plants are scorched and withered around him, dead. Dead flowers, with blue and white petals. A tremor shakes his body and there are echoes of caked dirt and viscera under his nails, his talons, suffocated beneath leather gloves. He wants them off. He wants the coat off. His scales bristle. He’s drowning, choking. Black dust, splintered rocks, a seething inferno, a city turned debris.

It was a trick, wasn’t it? Of his own mind. Unable to look past the turmoil and loss that was the Archon War. Unable to look at an explosion, at a blazing field, without seeing her face or hearing her voice.

Guizhong. Lovely, brilliant, Guizhong.

If Guizhong had still been alive, they could have shared the burden. Or perhaps she, too, would have eroded like Azhdaha. Or turned bitter like Osial. Like he will one day. Maybe it was a blessing he did not have to lock her away like the others.

But maybe she would have known how to stave it off. An unmatched intellect with ideas to change the world and resist the very course of nature.

Preposterous, he thinks. The course of nature led to death for all that were not him, for all that were near him, and not even Guizhong had been able to outsmart that.

Fire, and blood, and dust.

Soft hands that cradled his face, warm and gentle not unlike a glaze lily’s petals. Soft hands that tore at his flesh, at his neck, at his heart once they could no longer discern from friend or foe. Soft hands that strangled him as dust and fire suffocated him, as the stench of corruption clogged his nose and a jade blade clashed against his barrier, shattering it like-

“Whoa, hey there-”

Like glass, like-

“Zhongli, hey, look at me.”

He can’t, he can’t, he can’t, he can’t-

“Morax.”

Soft hands cover his own, and he gasps and blinks rapidly at his surroundings, disoriented.

Embers, and ashes.

Ashes... and dust.

“Look at me. Listen to my voice.”

His breath hitches, and a soft wind blows around him, the dark dots dissipate, the air smells clean, with a sweet note of cider.

“It’s okay. Listen to me, the war is over.”

His hands tremble, there’s blood in them.

“Breathe in, slowly, focus on me.”

He gulps and complies, feeling his fangs graze his tongue, when did they come out? His scales shiver but start to recede back into a mortal guise.

“Now breathe out, with me.”

He exhales, long and shuddering. He does it again two more times.

“Alright, good. Can you tell me what do you feel?”

It takes a few moments for his thoughts to form into words “… the wind.”

“Okay, and what do you see?”

The old dragon cranes his neck, Geo calling out to him “The Chasm” He says staring off at the jagged peaks in the distance.

“Good. Do you remember where you are?”

He breathes again, in and out. “Sumeru.”

“And who am I?”

He blinks again turning to the smaller man still cupping his hands, clad in a white and green attire, a couple centuries outdated but unmistakably Mondstatian. Dark hair turning teal down two braids and the most mesmerizing aqua eyes. Full of patience, full of understanding, wise and kind beyond belief.

“Barbatos…” He lowers his head “My apologies I… don’t know…”

“None of that” the younger god said, finally letting go but not moving an inch, his head tilted “I was at the war too. And I know you, Morax. I know what you've lost.”

Of course. Zhongli closed his eyes. Barbatos who survived the war just like him, and has to live with similar scars, his closest ally when everyone else perished. The only one who shares the memory.

“Thank you.”

Aineeeeeee you're a guili shipper/enthusiast??? bc I am SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THEM ;w;

khGFCXCVHJUHGFDCVBNJM PLS they're so angsty and i just??? eat it up????? BUT YES I HAVE A VERY SOFT SPOT FOR GUILI!!! you have no clue how excited I was to see the lantern rite cutscene because we finally had a face for guizhong.

ofc because of said cutscene, i have now opened my heart to guiping but you know what??? GUIZHONG HAS TWO HANDS, SHE CAN GET EM BOTH HAHAHAHAHA