i actually kind of like this kind of cold open where worldbuilding details aren't dumped on the audience, and instead we get a chance to just see the world and figure stuff out for ourselves. it particularly makes a lot of sense given the fact that this is a game our POV character has played 99 times. honestly, it's really refreshing.
however. something that isn't refreshing. i cannot stand it when a character who we're apparently supposed like, and view as a good and moral person, is literally involved in human trafficking. like the first thing we saw this woman do was just casually BUY our protagonist. and when this is pointed out to her she's like "nooo but i'm not going to specifically remove your eyes" as if that is the only concerning thing here 😭 and then she doesn't even clarify anything else!!! like if this is supposed to be a "no she doesn't support the slave trade, she's trying to free the protag!" then that requires her to SAY as much. but she doesn't even contradict asha's statement that "even if i say no, i have no choice anyway".
and i feel like later on down the line they're gonna come up with some bullshit excuse like "nooo she was only attending slave auctions because she was trying to find her kin <3" as if that makes it okay to just sit and watch people be abused and sold???? and then give 20 million whatever-coins to the people who are selling and removing the eyes of Other Human Beings?? money which they will use to finance their human trafficking???? the cold open style does not work on this one, if you don't immediately tell me why the hell this main character is a slaver i am going to stop reading
idk, i know this is mostly just a personal pet peeve but it bugs the crap out of me. I don't mind fantasy worlds which have slavery in them but if you're going to insert serious things like human trafficking into your work then you have to be prepared to treat them seriously, not like a minor throwaway detail. i'm getting really sick of seeing this topic just glossed over so much. it makes it seem like slavery was only put into the story because its edgy and dark without literally any forethought as to what that meant for the world, which is a huge red flag.
i mean, what does this mean for how the rest of the characters' actions are going to be written? if "major good guy participates in slavery" is something that doesn't even warrant a side-eye from the narrative, then that indicates to me that the characters' actions are just being chosen in whichever way progresses the narrative, without regard for what it makes sense for those characters to do, or how it would make sense for other characters to react.
anywayyyy sorry for the rant, this is like the third time i've run into this problem today while looking for a new thing to read and i finally felt like i could put my frustrations with it into words. if anyone on the TL team is reading this, absolutely amazing job, this series is probably not for me but thanks so much for all your work on it <3 <3 <3