I think this is a very good read on a lot of things I've noticed as well!! You pretty much hit the nail on the head. A lot of these things are done for aesthetics instead of substance, and thus fall a lot flatter than they can and end up perpetuating stereotypes that they didn't mean.
I think how they handle their Asian characters also ends up being particularly flat because of this reason, too; they get caught up in mimicking anime characters and related aesthetics without thinking too hard about what they're doing. Why does Kana have blue eyes? I admit that I haven't seen Curse of Strahd just yet, but there's no purpose; she's not Mizu from Blue Eyed Samurai who's character revolves around being visibly mixed-race, it just making her more palatable to a white audience. I think a lot of it has to do with them also commissioning most of their character art from someone who's whole style is the ~soft anime stylized cartoon~ but, regardless. It just wasn't thought about. There's a lack of intent there that means there are a lot things that are left unexplored and end up perpetuating tropes that make racialized characters and culture more appealing to a white American audience because it's based on aesthetics that weren't fully brought up until later. It's particularly disappointing because when they do their research, for racialized and Generic Fantasy British characters, they turn out really fucking good and well-written; but when they don't, well. Characters built off of tropes are still characters built of tropes, no matter how you reskin the archetype - in general, roleplaying racialized characters when you are not racialized requires a lot of questioning you should ask yourself before going ahead. Ice at creatingblackcharacters (not tagged bc she has enough on her plate already, I don't want to bother her with more D&D discourse) has a lot of really excellent posts about this - though they're specifically centered around Black characters and roleplaying, I think they have a lot of insight into other racialized characters as well and characters coded as racialized cultures. 1. 2. 3.
And the fandom definitely has some major problems here. It seems like a lot of people really enjoy taking the tamer, mildly tone deaf but only slightly iffy pieces and bolt directly to their keyboard so they can type up the most horrific AU possible. Even just basic fandom misogyny is emphasized and the in-depth characterization we are given is often sidelined in favor of squishing characters into cookie-cutter models that are rife with stereotype and misnomer. There's a lot of false binaries at play that make actually discussing characters near impossible. Kremy is either the almost hypersexualized victim of a white violence through who needs to be saved by his white redneck bf or he is the worst person to every exist in this world. This girl character is either the biggest most annoying cunt in the world or she's the mom/daughter/sister/girlboss/sweetie girl. Or she doesn't exist. The Avantris team as a whole is either actively malicious or can do no wrong ever, and no matter what they do, nobody ever seems to actually pick up on what they actually say. It just doesn't work for nuanced discussion of anything, but it's hard for people to break through, in part because of how common it has become for fans to adopt an "us v.s. them" attitude toward creators - Avantris was founded on the idea of inviting us into their world, but when fandom culture chooses to either idolize or disown a creator entirely when they are just people, a middle ground of actually engaging with the text rapidly disappears because everyone is too preoccupied with their vision of what Avantris should be that they ignore the people right in front of them.
If I may, I'd like to bring up the Crooked Moon, too, because I think it really encompasses the fact that a lot of these things present aren't malicious and are just a fact of Avantris acting with maybe a little less care than they should, particularly when they were just starting out - because the Crooked Moon doesn't have these problems.
To start out, they hired three cultural consultants - James Mendez Hodes (who has some fantastic writing about orcs in D&D on his website btw I consider it required reading for my fellow DMs), Kelly Lynne D'Angelo, and Omar Ramadan-Santiago - who they have credited alongside everyone else who worked on the Crooked Moon. They also had B. Dave Walters on the writing team, a very well-known Black TTRPG writer and creator that's very outspoken about racism in game design and in the space as a whole, and KP Upadhyayula, a Desi cultural consult and excellent writer. There are provinces and creatures inspired by many different cultures that use folktale to its fullest extent without overstepping, leaving a lot of room for creativity and mythology.
Spoilers for Briggsy's story for the Crooked Moon and the appearance of multiple Crooked Moon NPCs past this point and down until the dashed line:
I was originally very hesitant about Briggsy's chapter because of reason's outlined here - I haven't watched Edge of Midnight yet, and though they've seemed to have stepped away from a lot of the overt stereotypical descriptions of Kremy recently in favor of more nuanced descriptions of what his spirituality and religion actually mean to him, I still had my concerns for pretty obvious reasons. And, still, take my review with a grain of salt - I'm white and my knowledge of vodou largely comes from think pieces and articles from much more informed people than I. But I think they did a good job at divorcing jinxcraft from explicit vodou by refraining from using the names of any actual Lwa, removing the actual vèvè (or at least from how much I can tell from a couple hours research) that are so often appropriated, and overall, opting more for symbols that fit the aesthetics and themes of greed while remaining ultimately harmless, all the while portraying Black characters at the heart of it and emphasizing it as an ultimately neutral power.
As a brief overview of the story here - Briggsy, once a well known pirate captain, gave up a life on the seas after his crew died; him only surviving because of the luck of his patron, Snake Eyed Jack. He made his home in Murkwater Bend, but eventually fell on hard times, emphasized by the demonization, distrust, and fear the denizens of the crossroads give him because of his loyalty to his patron and use of jinxcraft. Isolated, bitter, and faced with no good luck whatsoever, Briggsy turned on his patron, trapping him, taking on his powers, and setting out to become what the humans around him feared the most. He makes his blunderbuss out of this new power but exerts too much, leaving his body decomposing. He abuses the power of jinxcraft and abandons the real purpose of it, instead using it to destroy any community he had with other practitioners and lash out at the world. It's not a typical tropey "big bad voodoo daddy" stereotype but something very thematically relevant to folk horror that I think falls in line excellently with a lot of different mythologies and themes; his rotting is a representation of his betrayal of his faith, of his community, of an abandonment of hope in favor of the comforts of bitterness, destruction, and want for superficial money and greed. It could do without the zombies as a result of jinxcraft (since zombi/zonbi's are actually from the opposite of that!!), but overall a lot of it is a breath of fresh air in a genre that gives little care to what they are writing and what it actually *means*.
The most prominent NPCs you meet in the swamp are two Black characters; Vander, an egotistical but canny and beloved leader who protects the crossroads, and Lyla, his chief advisor, a shrewd businesswoman and jinxcraft practitioner who keeps him in check. Lyla provides insight into jinxcraft apart from the corrupted version Briggsy wields, but is firmly not a Mama Odie mammy stereotype; she cares for those around her and for her community, but is not overly involved in the needs of Vander, the PCs, or anyone else. She is one of the rare good aligned NPCs you'll find here, but is very explicitly her own person outside of the narrative.
There are also a handful of explicitly Black NPCs outside of the bayou in Wickermoor Hollow, including one who becomes a major player in Yorgrim's chapter. Regarding major NPCs, there's also multiple explicitly queer NPCs that are treated with the same respect and humanity everybody else. Though there is rarely any happiness for the NPCs in the Crooked Moon, it really, really stands out how it's racialized and queer character's aren't forced to carry the brunt of it - they shoulder their own burdens and secrets, but aren't alone, and aren't sidelined to be overly safe, either. They're also pretty as hell, and are drawn with the same love and respect every other character is. (These first two are from official subclass art, and aren't NPCs, but I think they really exemplify the respect that their Black characters are drawn with)
Here are some more racialized characters, too - I skimmed through my copy of the PDF for these so there's probably more that I missed, and I only chose examples that I thought were very explicit.
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I think this progress also shows a lot in their newest works, too; they've become a lot more conscious about what they're putting out into the world, and characters that were originally based on these stereotypes have become a lot better rounded and more intentionally played - I think Kremy is an example of this. Though there's still some obviously glaring issues with using the actual Baron Samedi for a D&D aesthetic, the few serious moments we've gotten from Kremy about his faith feel much more nuanced than before, respecting and exploring the realities of the situation they've written in a way that humanizes his spirituality rather than waving it away as "spooky voodoo shit" through off-hand comments and rather shallow portrayals of his character for bits.
Of course, I could be completely off-mark with all of this - please let me know if I'm stepping over a line; I don't mean this in a way to speak over the discussion of bigotry, but more in line to call attention to how they're rectifying some of their past mistakes through their more official work and how they play moving forward and how people engaging with this can also avoid perpetuating anything nasty by following suit - making Black and other racialized characters with intent, researching and consulting people about what you're writing, and thinking about what stereotypes you may be falling into.
I think the conversation around sexuality in Avantris is interesting, and I think it brings up a much larger conversation of how heteronormative fantasy worlds tend to be despite queerness apparently being tolerated and normalized. I agree with your critiques of the reliance on the bury your gays tropes and the predatory depiction of queer characters, but I do think that when we’re considering other queer rep in Avantris, it’s important to understand how the team approaches romance as a whole—which is to say, it’s not really a major focus of their works, and rarely appears in a very conventional. Romances are usually regulated to backstory events, and if they are between player characters, they appear as what happened between Caprice and Hyrja (one-sided pining that ended in tragedy), Pyke and Ophelia (are fully ex-partners navigating some horrific fall out to their relationship), now Quibly and Portia Bella (the first ever really explicit married couple they have between players, largely played for jokes), or like Lethicus and Coalecroux—canonically romantic, but not taking the form of an expected domestic relationship because of whatever reason. That is to say, they are rarely conventional and never the full focus of a character; they're dynamics to be played with and explore a character through, but not really end game.
I feel like particularly with Coalecroux, there’s a certain expectation by the fandom for an end goal of a very nuclear, firmly romantic dynamic—but to be frank, that just isn’t in Avantris’ style. One of the versatilities of D&D as a story telling mechanism is the relationships between characters, and the creation of a third type of relationship that isn’t regulated to our understanding of romance or friendship; they’re companions, life partners, devoted to one another but not necessarily labeled. Coalecroux is confirmed as romantic, but it seems cheap to push them into the expectations of a very conventional picture of romance when that doesn’t fit into the pre-established world and, really, their actual characters. There’s nothing wrong with drawing/writing them as domestic, nuclear family men or in very conventional relationships, obviously - it's cute, it's fluffy, it's comforting, I have a soft spot for fankids. But many people take this expectation of nuclear Western relationships and call anything "less" than that queerbaiting. Is it fear of portraying queer love when Kremy holds out on confessing to Gideon and leaving it to jokes and a few sensitive, sweet moments, or is it the same thing they did with Caprice pining after Hyrja? Is it something they only confirmed as romantic to lead queer viewers along, or is it something that they mentioned in the same breath as a straight ship, Lethicus?
I've seen a couple people call Coalecroux queerbaiting, and to be frank, I feel like it's cheapening the term; and, with all the love in the world, I don't think it's a surprise it's coming from people who have only watched/only have a particular interest in Witchlight and have no frame of reference for what other Avantris relationships look like. The party is just not particularly interested in the domestic romance shippers adore. I do think there's A Point to where their jokes start becoming just part of a bit and where "oh it's funny because it's two guys", something exacerbated by the stress they've been through during the production of the Crooked Moon and the reliance on cheap jokes that are neccessary to keep the YouTube shorts and TikTok kids engaged. But I have seen people accuse them of "dangling a ship above their heads" when they do the exact same thing with their other relationships - their dynamic as it stands in the party is interesting enough to the crew; there's no need for sweeping romantic gestures or domestic bliss, as sweet as it seems. Your fan content and imagination are all fair game and completely respectable, but canonically? It's completely out of character for both of them, and I think comparing your interpretation of the characters and what you want to happen to the logical arc and pre-established workings of PC relationships and calling "queerbait" because it doesn't fit your standards of romance and love is a bit uninspired and lacking in understanding of what Avantris is putting down. This isn't a corporation with its hand in your wallet; they are not trying to trick you into spending money because you are desperate for representation. They are trying to portray honest and realistic relationships with nuance, empathy, and respect, and that does not always mean adhering to cold-cut labels of romance and friendship and the eyes of the government. They have always been very focused on character dynamics and friendship first because they are a group of friends devoted to one another and their work! They are very, very close, and want to portray friendship and love and relationships in a way that they experience, too - something that is a fundamental piece of modern day D&D parties.
One thing I'd like to gently propose, too - a matter that I think many in the fandom are quick to forget - is that we don't know the party member's sexualities. I know OP uses cis het in a more general sense - this is more of a reminder to many people I've seen in this particular circle jumping to conclusions - but we do not know how they identify and I don't think we necessarily should. I think it's a lot more effective to critique how they represent queer characters by, well, simply critiquing how they represent queer characters without immediately jumping to "well, obviously these people are straight and cisgender because of xyz and that makes this particularly evil." Being a figure on the internet today is to have your identity constantly questioned and asserted onto yourself; we don't need to contribute to that. Queer people are equally as capable of having their writing fall into shitty, tired tropes.
Also!! I think Purgatory (sorry if that's an absolutely batshit thing to call you) made a really good point here -
about Daggerheart, something that I was concerned about as well, so I looked into it. Daggerheart also hired cultural consults (particularly Indigenous American and Latin American ones) for the module, and have genuinely been very safe about it - removing cowboys from the image of heroic white idealism and colonialism and pulling them back toward the reality of the west, broke and weary people who historically were also Indigenous and Mexican and Black. I think the focus on the encroachment of railroads and colonization that's present already in the first episode is a sign that it's already pivoted in a way that's centered marginalized voices and has stepped away from the trope of the gunslinging white boy protecting lady liberty. Still, I think looking out for stereotypes and caricatures is still very important, seeing as how the definition of the West has been so horribly warped my popular media.
Sorry for the rambling and the length,, I'm just also very passionate about this topic and this conversation combines two of my current favorite things, LOA and rhetoric. but I feel like people (NOT YOU OP!!!! MOST LIKELY NOT YOU THE READER!!!! and if it is you then you're fine just maybe do self-reflection friend!!!!!) tend to fall into the trap of only recognizing bigotry when they're upset with something and want to find "valid" grounding for their arguments, thus not actually advancing their understanding of what it means, how it can be fixed, and how they, personally, may perpetuate it in fan creation and otherwise. So I think maybe some nuance might be important. And if I said anything supremely shitty here or even just slightly off-putting please let me know; I should not be taken as an expert on these subjects. Take everything I say with a lot of salt. And also read bell hooks' "Eating the Other" for some really interesting discussion that I think is really relevant to this conversation.
I think the solution to this - as a fan creator and consumer, and as it always is with representation and cultural exchange - is to do things with intent and understand what you're putting into the world; something Avantris is taking measures to do going forth and something that I think the fandom can work with by making an effort to actively engage with the stories we have been invited to explore rather than ignoring it in favor of even further simplified tropes. Play with dolls all you want, but remember --- they're not yours. You are borrowing toys from another person. Treat other people's creations with due decorum, and remember who they represent and how they can hurt.
And, if y'all are interested in some queer and POC led D&D groups, Three Black Halflings and Transplanar are really solid choices. :-] Sorry, this kind of became about fandom the more it continued.
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