No Filter

Rachel, Kairy and Kinsey decided to head back to Rachel's place to formulate a plan to find Alice and bring her back safely from Yumi's clutches. 

Rachel's living room boasts a comfortable beige sofa enhanced by yellow and white pillows. A modern coffee table sits before the couch, holding a bowl of fruit, while large windows draped with sheer curtains allow natural light to flood in, enhancing the warm and inviting ambiance. 

The kitchen features a large island topped with smooth countertops, accompanied by multiple barstools and cooking utensils, and solid hardwood floors unify the area. The scent of strawberry incense drifted through the room, further adding levity to the tense atmosphere. 

"...I've got it, guys," Rachel muttered, her eyes gleaming. 

"Got what?" Kinsey asked, sipping her tea.

"The reason why the Platinum Army's after us.”

Kinsey raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "And what's that? Do tell."

Kairy, who had been listening intently, added, "Yeah, spill the beans, Rach.”

Rachel nodded, her gaze fixed on her two companions. "Precisely. I think I know why they're interested in us."

Kairy leaned forward, her eyes wide. "Why? What do you mean?”

"Precisely," Rachel affirmed. "And that got me thinking. If they saw us as assets, then we must have something they find valuable."

Kairy tilted her head, a perplexed look on her face. "But we're ordinary girls. What could we possibly have that they would want?”

Rachel leaned forward, excitement glimmering in her eyes. "That's the thing. We're average. We don't possess any remarkable skills or anything out of the ordinary."

Kinsey caught on to where Rachel was going with this. "And yet, the Platinum Army still considered us as valuable assets...?”

Rachel nodded fervently. "Exactly. It doesn't add up, does it? There has to be something about us that sets us apart from others, even if it's something small or seemingly insignificant."

Kairy's brow furrowed in concentration, mulling over Rachel's words. "So, you're suggesting that we possess some hidden talent or attribute that caught their attention?”

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Rachel affirmed, her gaze intense. "We may not be aware of it, but there must be something special about us that the Platinum Army found intriguing."

Kinsey chimed in, her voice laced with a mix of uncertainty and determination. "But...how the hell are we supposed to find out what makes us so damn special?”

Rachel leaned back in her seat, thinking deeply. "That's the million-dollar question. It's not like we can just magically discover our hidden talents or abilities. It doesn't work like that."

Kairy let out a frustrated sigh. "So, what do we do then? Just wait around and hope we stumble upon our hidden skills by chance?”

Rachel shook her head. "No, we can't afford to just wait around. We need to take action. We need to figure out some way to...to trigger something."

Kinsey rubbed her chin, a hint of skepticism in her eyes. "Trigger something?”

Rachel nodded, determined. "Yes, trigger something within ourselves. Maybe there's a way to trigger whatever latent potentials or abilities we have. It's a long shot, but it's worth a try."

Kairy looked unsure. "But how? How do we even know if we have any latent abilities in the first place?”

Rachel's eyes darted around the room, her mind working overtime, trying to find a solution. "I don't know...maybe we need a catalyst."

Kinsey raised an eyebrow, suspicion lacing her voice. "A catalyst? What exactly do you mean by that?”

Rachel leaned forward, the gears turning in her head. "I mean something that could potentially trigger a reaction within us, something to unlock our hidden abilities if we indeed have any."

Kairy frowned, her expression a mix of curiosity and caution. "And what kind of catalyst are you proposing? We obviously can't use something dangerous or harmful.”

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Definitely not. We need something safe yet powerful, something that can potentially bring out our hidden abilities without causing any harm."

Kinsey let out a small chuckle. "So...this Platinum Army whatever-the-hell wants us because we're somehow 'special'...but we have no idea what makes us special, so we need to find some 'catalyst', all the while trying to avoid the Platinum creepos? I don't have time for that, I'm gonna go watch some Armani."

Rachel blinked and recoiled. "Oh goodness—ANYONE but Armani.”

Kinsey couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of Armani. "Oh, come on," she teased, "I think her videos are great. She's very outspoken and gives no fucks about what anyone says. Just like me.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, a grin on her face. "Ugh, you and your no-filter attitude. You're like a bull in a china shop."

Kinsey smirked. "Hey, I say what needs to be said. And Armani speaks the unfiltered truth. You gotta respect that."

"Yeah, but her discussions about race though..." Kairy trailed off with a smirk.

Kinsey's smirk widened. "Oh, don't even start with that. Armani's got opinions, and she ain't afraid to say them. That's what I like about her."

Kairy rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah, opinions, but she's a bit too...blunt for my taste."

Rachel snickered. "More like brutally honest to the point of being savage."

Kinsey scrolled on her phone until she came across Armani's profile, checking for new videos. "Uh-oh, it's not just white people our fennec-eared friend is frying this time," she said with a snicker. 

Kairy looked at the screen to see Armani in the thumbnail, wearing a qipao and holding a tuanshan with a bunch of brown hands pointing at her.

"Is it bad that I know what this is gonna be about just by the thumbnail?" she said. 

"Nah," Kinsey replied. "Have at it."

"It's gonna be about colorism," Kairy assumed.

Kinsey smirked and clicked on the video, turning the volume up.

"Let the games begin," she said, as the video started.

Armani's face popped up on the screen, her green eyes glinting with determination. "Hey there, my faithful viewers. Are you ready to get into a topic that's going to make some of you uncomfortable today?"

"Uh-oh," Rachel muttered.

Kinsey snickered. "Here we go…”

Armani continued, her expression calculating. "In this video, I'm going to take a li'l break from deep-frying white people for now, and move our attention to a land across the waters. As you can tell from my attire, you know exactly where I'm referring to."

"Oh boy..." Kairy muttered.

Kinsey was fully invested now, a smirk on her face. "Here we go...this is gonna be good."

Armani's focused yet lighthearted expression never faltered as she continued. "Now, I'm sure you all know what colorism is, right? If not, I'm here to educate your asses. And I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now, thinking, 'Oh, not this again.' But trust me, this is important, especially if you're Black and planning on traveling there. Trust me, you wouldn't wanna board that plane after watching this shit."

On the screen, a graph popped up, showcasing an array of skin tones, from the lightest to the darkest.

Armani pointed at the graph. "The country of Heiguo has certain beauty standards and ideals when it comes to skin tone, and it's no secret that darker skin is often viewed as less desirable there. Well, unless you've been living under a rock or somethin'.”

"Yikes," Rachel muttered, wincing.

Kinsey couldn't help but snicker. "She really doesn't hold back, does she?"

Armani continued, pointing at the palest range of the skin tone graph. "Now, if your skin is in THIS range, then you're going to be seen as impossibly beautiful there. If it's like THIS—" she pointed at a skin tone slightly above fair, "Then you'll be okay. BUT..."

She wildly gestured to the rest of the darker skin tones, "If you're any of the REST of these, then, bitch—you are FUUUUCKED!"

"Oh, damn," Kairy said bluntly.

Kinsey couldn't help but smirk, finding enjoyment in Armani's no-bullshit approach. "Damn right you're screwed."

Armani went on, delivering every word clinically without flinching even a little bit as she tapped her qipao with her fingers. "And don't fall for that 'exotic beauty' crap, cause that ain't going to help you a goddamn bit. If you're tanned or darker than that, they'll all see you as ugly. Period. That's it, no exceptions.”

"Oh wow," Rachel mumbled, looking disturbed.

Kinsey's smirk was growing wider, her attention fully focused on Armani's rant. "She's just roasting that character to pieces, isn't she?"

Armani continued, her tone becoming more intense as she scrolled through several images of the same character, highlighting different parts of her body. "And not just the body. They made sure to erase any sense of femininity, even in her mannerisms. I mean, who am I kidding? The game was made BY weebs FOR weebs, but goddamn, the weebs in Ōkuninushi aren't even THIS bad at drawing Black chicks.”

"Oof, the callout..." Kairy muttered, cringing.

Kinsey couldn't contain her smirk, finding the entire situation utterly hilarious. "She's not beating any bushes, that's for sure. She's going after their entire character design department."

Armani kept going, the intensity in her voice growing as she pointed out more and more problems. "And don't get me started on the voice acting. They made her voice deep, monotone, and unfeminine. While the other female characters had soft, high-pitched, squeaky voices, this Black chick had a baritone voice. Now, let me ask y'all, how many Black women you've met that speak in a deep, gruff tone like that?”

She searched up the gacha game in question and pulled up pics of other female characters. They were all the standard of beauty personified: pale, slim and curvy, non-muscular, and blatantly feminine facial features. The opposite of the Black woman still on her screen.

Armani's expression remained serious as she kept digging into the game's character designs, highlighting the stark differences between the "standard" characters and the one that stuck out like a sore thumb. "Just look at the amount of detail put into these other characters compared to THIS one right here.”

"Ouch," Rachel muttered, her discomfort growing.

Kinsey's smirk was now a full-blown smile, finding amusement in the brutal honesty. "I'd be surprised if anyone is still defending that game's designs after this."

Armani continued highlighting the details on live, comparing the "standard" characters to the outlier. "It's as if they went out of their way to make this one character as unattractive and unappealing as possible, while putting their entire effort into making the others, as they would say, 'waifu material.' And guess what skin tone most of these 'perfect' characters have, chat?"

Kinsey tapped the comment box quickly and typed in: "Flashbang white"

"Oh, here we go," Kairy muttered, knowing exactly where this was going.

Kinsey chuckled, the comment box filling with similar, predictable comments. "It was only a matter of time before she brought that up."

Armani nodded, acknowledging the chat comments with her smirk widening. "I see y'all commenting, 'Flashbang white,' and let me tell you, we're all on the same page. You know exactly which skin tone I'm talking about when it comes to 'idealized' characters, as much as I hate it."

Kinsey then typed into the comment box: "They even have the fucking nerve to give the Black chick a masculine name too, you see that shit?"

Armani pointed out the "masculine" name on screen, her voice filled with irritation. "And don't even get me started on this one. They just slapped a random, typically male name on her, just to really drive home the fact that they've stripped any sense of femininity and attractiveness from her. It's just... ugh.”

"Damn..." Kairy muttered.

Kinsey couldn't help but chuckle, finding a twisted pleasure in Armani's brutal honesty. "She's not pulling any punches, is she?"

Armani's gaze remained fixed on the screen, her expression growing more intense. "And let's not forget the most insulting part of it all: her hairstyle. They gave her a damn buzzcut. I mean, what the hell were they thinking? It's like they intentionally wanted her to be unappealing.”

"Ouch," Rachel muttered, unable to look away. “Never even noticed the buzzcut, damn.”

Kinsey's smirk twisted into a satisfied smile, enjoying Armani's brutal takedown. "They really took every possible step to make this character undesirable."

Kinsey commented again for Armani to read: "It's almost like they're going out of their way to portray her as the anti-waifu.”

Armani nodded, her expression neutral as she read the comment aloud. "You hit the nail right on the head, Kinsey. They didn't just stop at making her unattractive; they went out of their way to make her the opposite of what most people find attractive in a female character."

She took a moment to point out more details on the character's appearance. "Her hair texture, her body proportions, even the way they animated her movements in the game. It's like they deliberately wanted her to stand out as the complete opposite of what's considered 'attractive' in a Black woman."

One commenter said "Other gachas have great dark-skinned waifus tho"

Armani read the comment aloud and gave a nod. "True, but they're only the niche, 2D jpeg gachas that the average gacha head likely never heard of. Only the big, 3D open-world gachas made by the billion-dollar companies have the power to influence the world and shape how the world feels about people of other backgrounds. And THOSE gachas? They're all pushing colorism onto people.”

Kinsey smirked, finding the situation even more interesting. "She's hitting all the relevant points, doesn't she?"

Rachel nodded, still slightly uncomfortable but unable to look away. "She's not wrong, though. Those big, 3D open-world gachas do hold a lot of influence. And when they're pushing colorism on such a large scale, it can be really harmful for those who don't fit that mold."

Kinsey smirked, finding the situation even more interesting. "She's hitting all the relevant points, doesn't she?"

Rachel nodded, still slightly uncomfortable but unable to look away. "She's not wrong, though. Those big, 3D open-world gachas do hold a lot of influence. And when they're pushing colorism on such a large scale, it can be really harmful for those who don't fit that mold."

Armani continued boldly, not letting up as she fanned herself with her tuanshan. "That's why I don't consider those people allies. This is how they think, and this is the shit they do. They're just good at dogwhistles and shit."

"Uh oh," Kinsey said with a smirk, "Whenever Armani says 'those people', you know it's gonna get crazy.”

Kairy nodded nervously, bracing herself for what was to come. "Those rants always get heated..."

Armani's expression remained intense, her tone firm and unwavering. "They're all about maintaining colorism and white superiority, and this is one of the ways they do it. They're not here for Black representation, they're here to exploit. They're here to make a profit, and they don't give two shits if the media they sell promotes harmful stereotypes and racist ideologies. And look what they did to this Black woman they're promoting. They made her anti-attractive in every way possible.”

Kinsey nodded in agreement, her smirk still present. "Yeah, no kidding. They went out of their way to make her the 'Anti-Waifu,' as you pointed out. It's like they wanted to make her the embodiment of unattractive stereotypes."

"The 'Un-Waifu'..." Kairy muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

Rachel added, "It's not just colorism and racism, though. Their depiction of her is also sexist as hell.”

Armani continued, "It's not just colorism and racism at play here. It's also heavily sexist. Just look at the way they portrayed her and the other female characters in the game. One type is the idealized, pale, curvy, and feminine, while the other is the opposite: the anti-ideal. It's obvious which one they want players to find attractive. And don't say 'it's not that deep' and 'but it's not about race' because YES, it IS that deep, and YES, it's ALWAYS been about race, full stop. Look for allies elsewhere, 'cause this ain't it, chief.”

Kairy nodded, her smirk softening, recognizing the harsh truth in what Armani was saying. "Yeah, she's got a point. This 'Anti-Waifu' thing is like the perfect storm of colorism, racism, and sexism. I mean, they went out of their way to make this Black character the epitome of unattractive. It's not just about preferences; it's like they're pushing this 'ideal' and making everything else seem inferior. And you can't ignore the racial aspect of it; it's always been about race, whether people want to admit it or not.”

"For sure," Kinsey said. "That's why I don't play gachas. All the ones worth playing push this bullshit, and everyone defends it.”

Kairy nodded understandingly, agreeing with Kinsey's perspective. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from. The whole culture of these games and fandoms can be pretty toxic. It's not just the gachas themselves; it's the whole damn community defending it. It's like they don't even recognize the problem."

"Exactly," Kinsey said, her smirk growing wider. "And people keep supporting these games, even when they're doing the absolute worst. It's all about that instant gratification and dopamine hit, y'know? It's like a damn drug."

"Let's talk about how these gachas poorly go about representing dark-skinned characters who experience colorism too," Rachel said.

Kairy nodded quickly. "Absolutely. It's always the dark-skinned girl saying "Everyone around me is so pale, and I'm not...I'll never be beautiful like them..." and then another character says "Nah, Black is beautiful, girl," and she sort of shrugs it off, and then boom: that insecurity is never talked about or addressed ever again. It's as if it never happened.”

Kinsey nodded, her expression turning even more amused. "Oh, man, don't even get me started on that trope. It's like they're hitting all the cliche talking points. 'Black is beautiful' this, 'everyone is beautiful' that. But as soon as the scene's over, the issue's just...gone. Like it was just tacked on for the sake of diversity. It's like a checklist, 'Hey, we addressed the colorism issue, we're good now, right?' Pfft, please.”

"Ugh, it's so annoying," Kairy muttered. "They think just by throwing in that one line and having a dark-skinned character, it magically solves all the issues of colorism. It's like they're just trying to check off a diversity box without actually addressing the root of the problem or doing anything about it. Sure, they could include no dark-skinned characters at all or even give the player an option to AGREE to the dark-skinned girl putting herself down, but making it all so SHALLOW and glossed over is an even bigger insult than either one combined.”

"Exactly!" Rachel exclaimed. "It's like they're saying 'Okay, we addressed it, let's move on!' But the issues still exist. The stereotypes, the discrimination, the microaggressions... it's all still there, and they're just brushing it under the rug. It's shallow and insulting, and it's not doing a damn thing to help anyone's self-esteem or raise awareness. It's just lip service."

Kinsey shook her head. Then she scratched it, drifting through her thoughts. "Fuckin' hell, man, what were we even talking about before?"

"Ah, finding out why the Platinum Army is after us," Kairy reminded her.

"Damn, right," Kinsey sighed. The pressure was back on again.

"Think Armani would know anything?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, she'd have something to say about that, alright," Kinsey said, almost certain that Armani would have her own unique commentary on the subject. "If anyone could give us a solid insight on the Platinum Army, it'd be her.”

Kairy nodded in agreement, a mix of curiosity and hope in her eyes. "You're right. She's always been observant and outspoken about these things. If there's anyone who might have insights on the Platinum Army, it's her. You think she'll be willing to talk with us?”

Kinsey shrugged, but her smirk gave away her confidence. "Oh, there's no doubt about that. When has Armani ever said no to a discussion? Plus, she's got a sharp mind and plenty of opinions. I bet she's got something interesting to say about the Platinum Army, alright.”

"Right," Rachel nodded with a grin. "We just have to be prepared for a lot of sass and unfiltered honesty. Armani doesn't hold back on anything."

Kinsey chuckled. "You can say that again. She's not the type to sugarcoat things or tiptoe around the truth. But that's why I love her, y'know? She keeps it real.”

Kairy joined in the laughter, knowing all too well what Kinsey meant. "Yeah, Armani's bluntness can be refreshing, even if it stings sometimes. But at least you know where you stand with her. There's no guessing or second-guessing. She just says it like it is. Let's give it a whirl, then.”

Kinsey nodded, her smirk turning into a determined grin. "Agreed. Let's go chat with Armani. Just be ready for some straight-talk and unfiltered opinions.”