Post by telnaga in Monstrata Fracture comments

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I'm enjoying this and playing through all the available content. the story so far and all the characters are compelling and interesting but I have to say a few aspects feel a bit too much to me... the fantasy racism is so everpresent in every single plot thread and very, very real and heavy to the point where it takes me out of the game. it feels like it clashes a bit with the premise and artstyle and tone, like every corner I turn I'm being hit out of nowhere with a stop sign labelled "BIGOTRY"... Vivietta's route in particular - and everything about her I see outside of her route - it just feels like something I can't just pick myself up and continue on after. it's supposed to be upsetting and unfair, but for what purpose? what part of the fantasy is it supposed to be playing into? as I said they're interesting storylines and dynamics but it just gets to a point where it's a bit crushing, how all the characters have concepts/traits/dialogue that are either reflections of extreme privilege, reflections of extreme prejudice, or reflections of extreme oppression

edit: also having now played through Cailean's full route... there's a pretty thorough and uncomfortable linkage of the kelpies with african americans. the main character even remarks that "tremaine" is a strange name but it's very popular in that demographic... they're at odds with/in danger of the police and incarceration, they're used as manual labor paid less, they're ex and current slaves... and then they're also giant, dangerous shark-toothed carnivores that eat people...

QwanGetMad2 years ago(+6)(-3)

Oh dear, the 'dangerous people eating' group being the black stand in is... unfortunate. I was really excited to play this after waiting a few yrs for more progress to be made but I'm going to have to consider the mental strain of the possibly poorly handled isms within the game.
Hopefully some will be redeemed over time, but any time a dangerous or predatory fantasy race is linked with slavery, even if it's attempting to be sympathetic, it really speaks to the number real internalised racism has done to most people.

KyasarinUzumaki2 years ago(+2)

With all honesty, I think it was to show that the "higher" class despised and demonized them, whereas most of them are peaceful and nice and calm, you know? (at least thats how I remember Cailean's route to be)

telnaga2 years ago(+1)(-1)

Cailean makes it clear his brother could, and might, kill and eat you. And then Tremaine also makes that clear

Astralore1 year ago

There are a few in-world options to explain this. Although a stereotype isn't true generally, there can still be individuals who fit it the same way someone of another group could, who are then held up to justify the perception. Systemic oppression can also drive some to the stereotypical actions, raising a statistic. Someone could also lean into the perception if it bonds them with others or seems beneficial in another way; or, regular internalized prejudice. Or any combination of these.

- Val

Astralore1 year ago(+1)

Yes, this is how it is meant to be interpreted! Some players don't read it this way, and for the people who are unfamiliar with how those perceptions spread, they may have to figure it out over a longer period of time—that’s ok too. For the people who are anxious from having been burned by poor handling of the subject, I hope that we can provide information to reduce that feeling, and get more of an idea of what would assuage their doubts in-narrative.

- Val

Astralore1 year ago(+1)

I hope my comment above can make this feel a little better— but, if you're ever looking for more detailed content warnings or have questions about what sorts of things you would run into in a given route, we're always available to answer, especially on Discord. 💕

- Val

Astralore1 year ago

I’m really glad you enjoyed at least the beginning, and also that you like the characters and dynamics!

A good portion of the story is fairly heavy, especially Vivietta's content. To do justice to such serious subjects some level of despair is probably inevitable, but the goal is to balance it with moments of levity—I really prefer dark subjects and dark fantasy, but I also don't like feeling too drained in the long term. In a lot of places I'm happy with that balance, but a lot of the writing is also quite old and hasn't been reviewed recently to avoid delaying new content any further—Ren improves all the time, so we could get in a long loop of fixing everything repeatedly. 😅

I can tell you liked a lot of aspects of it, so if it does seem like the kind of story you're interested in, I would be very interested to hear if there were particular segments that felt too down for too long—but if it doesn't and the setting is too generally depressing, I'd also be interested in thoughts on what would have conveyed that to you in the content warnings.

about the edit: It makes sense to draw this connection, because in present-day America that is how we primarily associate these stereotypes and issues. However, this is actually not the intent. Kelpies are creatures from Celtic mythology, and Cailean and Tremaine are both names of Celtic origin- Sawyer mentions Cailean’s name while commenting on Tremaine’s, trying to place them (and not getting there). In older times and especially in England, these violent stereotypes were also applied to Irish immigrants, who faced some similar issues. Eating people specifically is associated with both kelpies and negative perceptions of the Irish during famine. These were all partial inspirations, although it isn't a strict parallel and is altered for the rest of the setting.

The story doesn’t and won’t prominently feature prejudice against black or black-coded people, as an intentional decision based on the fact that there is too much of that in the real world. Part of Sawyer’s dilemma is the choice between a world that judges them unfairly, and stepping into a new world free of that— that isn’t at all free of many other things.

- Val

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