#and please be reminded that I am pale-skinned myself and even my non-White culture is never viewed as “primitive” or “unadvanced”

[aptericia]

I genuinely hope it's okay to send this ask, if not please ignore this, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the "the writer's just don't know what subtly racist dialogue sounds like" thing was true in general, because nearly all of the characters are kinda ehhhhh towards the beastlings imo?

Like even when they're nice, Ochette still gets othered a lot or they ask stuff that might be a bit insensitive, and the game just kinda.. doesn't acknowledge it properly whatsoever. Or like, stuff like whatever was going on in the next chapter sidequest with Clarissa, some Tropu'hopu lore, lots of Ochette's story in general, etc all still include some very iffy things too tbh and I can't really tell if the writers just didn't notice that it sounded like that™ or if they just did it on purpose and then proceeded to not address it

Hi anon!! Thank you for the ask!!

I think you could be absolutely right! I feel like it's pretty hard to tell with some of the minor characters bc they get so little development, and the fact that Ochette's story focuses on racism muddies things further. For instance, I'd say Cohazeh and the other humans in Beasting Village are clearly intended to be racist because their attitudes towards beastlings are discussed and Ochette, the protagonist, is displeased with them. I'd also say the random villagers she talks to on the main continents (such as the one who thinks she's wearing a costume) are also intended to have racist ideas, because they exist to show that Ochette is a stranger to their world. Other background characters (and the Tropu'hopu lore) seem to fall into the same category. They're worldbuilding to set up the struggle that Ochette deals with on her journey, so they aren't addressed in the same way. And often they say blatantly racist things like "beastlings are weird and scary" to hammer in this point.

Temenos, on the other hand, is a protagonist in and of himself, and his story is not specifically about racism. His visit to Toto'haha and his relationship with the beastlings are intended to serve his story's themes (namely lies/secrets and divine power used for malevolent purposes). Therefore, I think it's likely that the writers put less thought into whether he was being racist. He's also a lot more subtle than many of the NPCs. Most of his racist comments evoke a dismissive attitude and the "white man's burden" sentiment (btw this is NOT about whether Temenos is white, the point is he's a (pale-skinned) racial majority with a more technologically advanced culture) which is what you see more around subconsciously racist people who are trying to be inclusive.

So yeah, that's why I point out Temenos specifically, but I could also believe it if some of the other iffy stuff is unintentional. I'll definitely pay more attention when I replay the relevant chapters (and that sidequest with Clarissa which I barely remember 😓). Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

#thanks for the ask! #and please be reminded that I am pale-skinned myself and even my non-White culture is never viewed as “primitive” or “unadvanced” #I am not remotely an authority on this sort of racism and I apologize if I say anything uninformed/insensitive #8path2 #OH ALSO #I DID NOT MEAN TO SUGGEST THAT NON-WHITE PEOPLE HAVE LESS TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED CULTURES #that IDEA is just where the white man's burden sentiment comes from