A Letter to the Black(ed-Out) World

alright, fair enough. here's as comprehensive a breakdown as we can muster. a disclaimer: when we call this outfit Orientalist, we are referring the usage of the term popularized by Edward Said in his book on the same topic; which is to say, a reductive combination of of Asian, Middle Eastern, and generally "non-Western" cultural signifiers used to denote a group as "other" or "exotic".

"that's a Greek pottery pattern": no, it is not. that pattern is pretty clearly visually referencing Xiangyun, a traditional Chinese design motif often used in ceramics. if it is meant to be Greek, it's either very poorly conveying that fact, or someone was severely misled.

the corset itself, pattern aside: …well, it's certainly not Greek either. it does loosely resemble a fabric sash like you'd see in Turkish dress, or a somewhat Western-stylized obi sash, but we'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it's just a generic anachronism. technically it could be considered a cummerbund, which does show up in some forms of South Asian formal dress, but we didn't know that until checking the Wikipedia page for it so, again, benefit of the doubt, generic choice but still deeply strange.

the skirt: is not a skirt. there's a seam down the middle indicating they're pants. these specifically -- where the fabric is tighter around the waist, flows out towards the bottom, and then is gathered again at the ankle -- are known as harem pants, and are a Western fashion trend explicitly based on Middle Eastern traditional dress.

the translucent pants fabric: our good friend Loudn has identified this as being very visually similar to muslin fabric, especially as depicted in Bengali dress. worth noting that the particular painting linked there is alternately called Muslim Lady Reclining or Indian Girl with a Hookah, because this is an emblematic example of the equation of two very different cultures under the broad Orientalist "desert" trope.

the cloak/shawl: we're. genuinely having trouble figuring out what this thing is even called (other than being a shawl worn like a stole specifically) but it is definitely not Greek in origin. it seems like Kashmir shawls are often worn similarly, but those are classified based on their weave and country of origin rather than outfit stylings. it kinda resembles the "bag of winds" the Japanese wind god Fūjin carries, which would be a neat nod to Greco-Buddhist syncretism if it wasn't for the literally everything else about this outfit. one friend brought up that it could be a sbai, another says it looks like a pibo, it's worn very similarly to some modern dupatta stylings, it almost seems like it could be a khata if not for those generally not being worn in the first place, oh gods was Greco-Buddhism even much of a thing we are going to have an aneurysm we cannot keep thinking about this. it's nothing. the shawl is nothing. it is a generic amalgamation of a whole swath of different forms of cultural dress, none of which are Greek.

the sleeveless top: another thing we are struggling to trace. the closest we can come to identifying it would be that it looks kind of like a non-crop-top version of the Gerudo Top from the Zelda series, which, if so, yikes, the Gerudo are notoriously an Orientalist stereotype. otherwise we're having a great deal of trouble pinning down where it's coming from because tight sleeveless tops are... somewhat ahistorical. the closest visual match we could find is the sadri, which is not worn as a sleeveless top but instead as a vest and is yet again South Asian instead of Greek.

the open-toed tights: shrugs. open-toed pantyhose exist in modern day. not Orientalist in and of itself, just ahistorical and a deeply strange design choice in general. swagever.

the outfit overall: also bears resemblance to a "belly dancer" sort of outfit. now, there is some historical precedent for Greek culture to have been one of the originators of this style of dress with the existence of the Tsifteteli style being potentially tied back to the older, less well-cited Cordax. it's still questionable, though, because belly dance is also historically used in extremely Orientalist contexts, and also if you google "Tsifteteli dance" you will very quickly run directly into the G-slur referring to the Romani people. yikes.

okay, so how is any of this a problem? well...

Pantheon Scott is for a series based on Classical/Greco-Roman mythology, with a heavy focus on Greek myth specifically. Despite this, his outfit (when not generically anachronistic) consists almost entirely of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian design motifs, often in a way that cannot be traced back to any actual form of cultural dress besides generic "exotic" signifiers. Because this outfit consists entirely of these articles of cultural dress used interchangeably, it consists to a view of non-Western cultures as similarly broadly interchangeable. It is reductive, it is completely unjustifiable given the context the server is supposed to take place in, and it is racist. We do not care if it's "based on the version of Aeolus in the Epic musical series." Cool. That's also a racist and Orientalist design. Do better.

Oh, and the real kicker -- Scott has also described his character as sexually promiscuous, an extremely loaded comment considering the way "exotic" Orientalist design tropes are used to similarly denote promiscuity and sexual availability (especially in French Orientalism specifically). Fucking yikes.

A scenic crimson forest cove discovered by one of our bedrock users, @ikki-katlin 🌋🧡

alright, fair enough. here's as comprehensive a breakdown as we can muster. a disclaimer: when we call this outfit Orientalist, we are referring the usage of the term popularized by Edward Said in his book on the same topic; which is to say, a reductive combination of of Asian, Middle Eastern, and generally "non-Western" cultural signifiers used to denote a group as "other" or "exotic".

"that's a Greek pottery pattern": no, it is not. that pattern is pretty clearly visually referencing Xiangyun, a traditional Chinese design motif often used in ceramics. if it is meant to be Greek, it's either very poorly conveying that fact, or someone was severely misled.

the corset itself, pattern aside: …well, it's certainly not Greek either. it does loosely resemble a fabric sash like you'd see in Turkish dress, or a somewhat Western-stylized obi sash, but we'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it's just a generic anachronism. technically it could be considered a cummerbund, which does show up in some forms of South Asian formal dress, but we didn't know that until checking the Wikipedia page for it so, again, benefit of the doubt, generic choice but still deeply strange.

the skirt: is not a skirt. there's a seam down the middle indicating they're pants. these specifically -- where the fabric is tighter around the waist, flows out towards the bottom, and then is gathered again at the ankle -- are known as harem pants, and are a Western fashion trend explicitly based on Middle Eastern traditional dress.

the translucent pants fabric: our good friend Loudn has identified this as being very visually similar to muslin fabric, especially as depicted in Bengali dress. worth noting that the particular painting linked there is alternately called Muslim Lady Reclining or Indian Girl with a Hookah, because this is an emblematic example of the equation of two very different cultures under the broad Orientalist "desert" trope.

the cloak/shawl: we're. genuinely having trouble figuring out what this thing is even called (other than being a shawl worn like a stole specifically) but it is definitely not Greek in origin. it seems like Kashmir shawls are often worn similarly, but those are classified based on their weave and country of origin rather than outfit stylings. it kinda resembles the "bag of winds" the Japanese wind god Fūjin carries, which would be a neat nod to Greco-Buddhist syncretism if it wasn't for the literally everything else about this outfit. one friend brought up that it could be a sbai, another says it looks like a pibo, it's worn very similarly to some modern dupatta stylings, it almost seems like it could be a khata if not for those generally not being worn in the first place, oh gods was Greco-Buddhism even much of a thing we are going to have an aneurysm we cannot keep thinking about this. it's nothing. the shawl is nothing. it is a generic amalgamation of a whole swath of different forms of cultural dress, none of which are Greek.

the sleeveless top: another thing we are struggling to trace. the closest we can come to identifying it would be that it looks kind of like a non-crop-top version of the Gerudo Top from the Zelda series, which, if so, yikes, the Gerudo are notoriously an Orientalist stereotype. otherwise we're having a great deal of trouble pinning down where it's coming from because tight sleeveless tops are... somewhat ahistorical. the closest visual match we could find is the sadri, which is not worn as a sleeveless top but instead as a vest and is yet again South Asian instead of Greek.

the open-toed tights: shrugs. open-toed pantyhose exist in modern day. not Orientalist in and of itself, just ahistorical and a deeply strange design choice in general. swagever.

the outfit overall: also bears resemblance to a "belly dancer" sort of outfit. now, there is some historical precedent for Greek culture to have been one of the originators of this style of dress with the existence of the Tsifteteli style being potentially tied back to the older, less well-cited Cordax. it's still questionable, though, because belly dance is also historically used in extremely Orientalist contexts, and also if you google "Tsifteteli dance" you will very quickly run directly into the G-slur referring to the Romani people. yikes.

okay, so how is any of this a problem? well...

Pantheon Scott is for a series based on Classical/Greco-Roman mythology, with a heavy focus on Greek myth specifically. Despite this, his outfit (when not generically anachronistic) consists almost entirely of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian design motifs, often in a way that cannot be traced back to any actual form of cultural dress besides generic "exotic" signifiers. Because this outfit consists entirely of these articles of cultural dress used interchangeably, it consists to a view of non-Western cultures as similarly broadly interchangeable. It is reductive, it is completely unjustifiable given the context the server is supposed to take place in, and it is racist. We do not care if it's "based on the version of Aeolus in the Epic musical series." Cool. That's also a racist and Orientalist design. Do better.

Oh, and the real kicker -- Scott has also described his character as sexually promiscuous, an extremely loaded comment considering the way "exotic" Orientalist design tropes are used to similarly denote promiscuity and sexual availability (especially in French Orientalism specifically). Fucking yikes.

play gravity circuit!! (spoiler drawings under cut)