So right now Genshin has the Windblume Festival again for this year, which I recommend you guys to read through the story because it's very good! It has cute character interactions and it was just really good overall for me.
If you guys played it already, then you'll know what I'm talking about. It's basically the Kaeluc situation all over again, except now with Cynonari.
There was a part where Albedo, Tighnari, and Cyno were all talking in the library (I can't exactly remember what in detail) and then Tighnari and Cyno starts talking about their relationship in terms of siblings and how Cyno sees himself as the older brother (which Tighnari disagrees with lmao).
The understanding of this scene is getting twisted around because of cultural differences and just how people understood the text in general. Cyno and Tighnari aren't blood-related brothers. Many Westerners read the scene that way since it's common in the West to read and take things literally. They're describing their relationship in a sibling way to show their closeness to each other. That's it.
And ever since that scene, quite a number of people are comparing Cynonari to Kaeluc in the most negative way possible, calling it "incest" or "ew don't ship cynonari anymore they literally see each other as brothers".
Again - it will sound really weird and won't make sense to Westerners, but it's really common for Asians in fictional media and irl too to call those they are close with (who they have no blood-relation with) as a "brother" or "sister" because siblings are seen as having a close and loving connection. I grew up (and still do) call my closest friends my sisters and brothers. Does this mean I think of them as my actual siblings? No, of course not.
Sometimes that one person someone have called their brother for the longest time, ends up becoming their boyfriend in the future. It's really not uncommon or weird at all when this happens because when we say "sister" or "brother", it doesn't always mean we are seeing that person as our actual sibling. Depending on the person, yeah it may mean that, but other times it doesn't.
It's also a thing where married couples would even still call each other "brother" and "sister". It might make you feel grossed out when you aren't familiar with Chinese culture, but this is anything but gross to many Chinese people - it's really sweet and just shows the person how connected you feel to them. Others do it as a little joke between them - nothing's wrong with that either.
I've read where people from other cultures also share how they also call their closest friends and their friend's family familial terms like "brother", "sister", "uncle", etc. which is cool because I used to think only Chinese people do this, so it was neat to read about other cultures and see this similarity and understanding.
Now that this problem has showed up, there are different reactions to this: the people harassing any cynonari shipper, the people who are happy bc now they have a "valid reason to hate the ship", and the people comparing it to kaeluc.
I don't know how many times I have to say this, but stop harassing people over fictional ships that aren't affecting you whatsoever. If you don't like it, scroll away. It takes zero effort to do that, but these people just choose to be hateful and bully people over something fictional that isn't hurting anyone at all.
I found this picture on Twitter and had to post it because it sums up this entire situation really well:
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u guys are trying so hard to salvage this ship it's hilarious...
^ I want to say with this comment that I noticed there were many Cynonari shippers who were spreading misinformation around, claiming Cyno and Tighnari weren't talking about them being siblings and that it's wrongly translated. Cyno and Tighnari were talking about all 3 of them together with Collei as the older (?) sister and them two as the brothers.
Cynonari shippers, do NOT feel ashamed or embarrassed for shipping them to the point where you're desperately trying to spread wrong info around to make it look like the two never said what they said in that scene. Just ship the two if they make you happy and ignore/block the assholes.
They're not related by blood so.... (Funny enough, this person is a Kaeluc anti according to their obvious username, obvious profile picture, and obvious bio....)
They're blood-related brothers and that's facts 🤷🏻♀️ sorry to the Cynonari shippers now y'all can't ship it anymore
I knew I was right for hating on this ship way before 💀 First Kaeluc and now this shit yikes
A reply to a user talking about how much she loves the scene since she had always seen them as siblings: (this comment is on a post that is ASKING for people's opinion on what they thought about the scene) Stfu and go kys already it's a damn mistranslation are u blind. They don't actually call each other brothers.
I also found this one Twitter account named Ragbros (something along the lines of that) who is a huge Kaeluc anti, always saying that it's an incest ship and not believing or listening to Chinese people when they explain the sworn brothers idea. Now that their ship, Cynonari, is getting all this harassment for being an incest ship, they're trying so hard to defend it and calling it a mistranslation.
So now Chinese culture only matters to people like the Ragbros just bc their ship is getting attacked? Interesting.
To do a quick rundown of this chapter: Cyno and Tighnari are NOT blood-related brothers. They have a wholesome and sweet relationship of a found family with Collei. That's it. What does this mean? If you want to see them as siblings (but actually understand it's based on a found family idea), go for it. If you want to see them as two friends who have crushes on each other, go for it. If you want to see them as siblings who have crushes on each other, go for it.
How do you guys view Cyno and Tighnari's relationship? Siblings, friends, siblings but have that romance part to them, etc.? Also - what were some parts that you guys liked about the Windblume event? I would love to read your favorites and reply back to them - I really loved everything about this event and all these interactions!
♦︎ AnnoyedAsian
Side note though: not going to lie, but I laughed a little seeing the Cynonari shippers who are Kaeluc antis and who have bullied Kaeluc shippers and "canceled" Chinese people and culture now getting a taste of their own medicine. As one Twitter user said, "Karma's a bitch, isn't it."
