I know it’s not your usual stuff, but what’s your input on the “The Arcana is full of racism and misogyny and Asra and Nadia are overly sexualized and Asra is treated to racist Orientalism” discourse?? I’m a POC and even researched all of it but I still don’t see the problems??????
you're right, this isn't our usual stuff. and while we did have a discussion about it, we only have one firm conclusion: it's a complex topic with discourse we're not informed on.
at this moment, we don't think any content in the arcana has or had malicious intent. overall, it has done its best to ground itself into a good story rather than be a patchwork of caricatures. at its worst, it's ignorance. your mileage may certainly vary on how bad ignorance is.
the arcana itself being a romance game means every LI gets 'sexualized.' we don't perceive that asra or nadia received any unique attention in that regard. they act as sexy as everyone else does. frankly, that's notable in an environment where desexualization based on race is a big issue too.
while only tangentially related, for the sake of honesty and a bit of perspective on our views—we have observed far more blatant bigotry in the fandom, especially in the past, than what may be in the source material.
however we don't claim to be experts, anon. only one person on the mod team is a person of color, and that's the one writing this. please don't take this response to be any more valuable than some other randos' thoughts.
– mod elie
