#i miss inazuma there were so many beautiful women

[kujousaramybeloved]

inazuma shenanigans

[snailsgoingdowntown]

Controversial thought: Genshin's overall story, including side stories or character stories, aren't continuously good. What I mean is that the stories, even the main story, are hit or miss. Like the Inazuma quest wasn't that well executed, but the Shadows amidst Storms event was one of the best that Genshin made so far. And I'm not sure if it's just me but I fee like lot of the female character's stories feel a bit lackluster compared to the male characters. Mihoyo probably doesn't care as they know they're players will be happy with good looking waifus and husbandos.

Genshin is a really well made game but, in my opinion, it's been kinda lacking since Liyue, though it has only been out for a little over a year so we'll see how it goes. Since Genshin is Mihoyo's biggest money maker, it might fall into the "Disney-syndrome", where the company gets so much wealth and attention that they start making content that usually isn't as good because of their large following. (Though seeing the continuing success with Honkai it's probably unlikely, but at most, in the future, there will be a decrease in attention).

I agree with everything you said anon.

Also this post might have typos because I suck at spelling and autocorrect is not always my best friend.

Mihoyo has good ideas, really good ideas - but they *suck* at excuting them. Like... Wow. Horrible honestly. The general story and idea that is genshin is a *good idea* but the way they write it, the way they execute said story is just plain awful. There are loop holes throughout the story and while I know many stories have loop holes, it's a problem when it just... Doesn't make any sense.

For example, the entire vision thing with Kazuha and his friend - how did he activate the vision? Why did the vision come back to life? Why did that vision light up at that moment when he saved the traveler? Why did it go back to being blank after he pushed the Raiden back???

Because he went against Raiden? Is that why the vision came back to life??

Not only that, but the way they wrote the Raiden Shogun (the puppet) and the way they wrote Ei was just so fucking awful. Kokomi was shit too - these women had so much hype surrounding them. We were told ei was this strong warrior - which she is and I loved that cut scene in her story where she fights Kamaji - but in the end all we got was... UwU waifu.

That's the extent of the personality mihoyo *chose* to show us on screen. Obviously there is more to her character but mihoyo isn't showing or making much reference towards her other characteristics aside from "bad ass samurai" and "uwu waifu"

Kokomi, unfortunately fell into the classical "overworked maiden" category. In her story she literally falls asleep due to exhaustion. And her 'amazing' strategy skills aren't really... That... Amazing... We just ended up fighting the fauti in the end despite her giving us like 3 options of how to carry the plan out. We are *told* she's a good, no an amazing strategist but we are never *shown* that she is one.

don't tell us how amazing her skills are mihoyo, *show us*.

And not to mention her voice is so fucking annoying. As someone with a high pitched voice I am allowed to say this-

But on a more serious note, they're going for the innocent looking girl who's actually a bad ass route with Kokomi. And they failed. Horribly. Her design is very nice don't get me wrong, I love it, but I don't like Kokomi as a character.

And going back to Ei... Is no one gonna point out how her actions were simply... Brushed under the rug??? And by that, I mean the characters in game, not counting the soldiers from Kokomi's force. Now that's what I want to see. SOMEWHAT.

They didn't want to continue the war because of what the Raiden Shogun/Ei did to them. They wanted to continue the war because they wanted to fight.

And honestly, one of the best written female characters that are not the 3 smol ones is Sara. My beautiful Sara.

She's one of the most realistic ones imo. She doesn't fall into "overworked waifu" that we've been getting so far - or I could be wrong, I haven't read her character story yet. But I like what they show us about on her on screen.

AND YES ABOUT MIHOYO NOT GIVING DEPT TO THEIR FEMALE CHARACTERS DEPTH.

I had an entire conversation with a friend about how... Bleak the female characters' stories are. How bleak their personalities can be. They don't have the same depth as the male characters do. They're not as unique as their male counterparts. They're either overworked or uwu waifu.

Now, the female characters can and do have good lore. But it's never explored much if at all.

And going back to Ei for the 100th time... How and why did the traveler forgive her that easily??? They saw what she done to her Nation, be it directly or indirectly. They saw the suffering. The deaths. They saw how broken it was as a nation... And then suddenly they're besties in her character story????

No.

Give me the Rage, the hatred, the grudge the traveler would feel after finding out how she actually views her people - she doesn't have her people's future in mind, but rather just the land. Idk if that makes sense. But while playing her story and obviously the main storyline, That's the vibe I got.

I wanted the citizens to hold it against Her. I wanted the citizens to bring it up while she was walking - "why did you hold the vision hunt degree? " "why did you take away my vision/my friends vision", etc. I wanted THAT, not "omg it's the Raiden omg I'm about to jizz in my pants at the mere sight of her"

I wanted a fucking riot okay. I wanted to hear, to see the citizens frustration once they saw her.

Also, about the newest event with albedo... It was amazing. But I think it was only amazing because it was *Albedo* and not some female character who was the lead. Because whenever the female character is the lead of some story, it either feels like a date or some "uwu take a break" kinda thing.

Now I can't talk for the moon chase event because I couldn't do it. I didn't finish a side quest that involved some character for the event and I am still stuck on said quest. It's uh the one where you need to look for geo shards or something. I will watch a video of the moon chase soon tho. All ik is that gouba was a god once and gave up everything to save his people.

The bear was written better than Ei and Kokomi from what I've heard.

One more thing before I finish off in the the next sentence: not all the female characters are written poorly but the majority of them are.

I probably went off track a lot and I have so many more things to say, but I'll just end it with this: yes anon, I completely agree with everything you said.

[korporxie]

.|sons of the holy see

Misaki had never seen anything like it.

The decadence of the Ishgardians knew no bounds, even across the sea. The grand hall that they had rented was decked to the nines in shimmering decorations, with tables overflowing with foreign food and drink. A tower of champagne glasses was dripping with the bubbly liquid as the bartender popped a bottle and poured it straight over the tower. Tall, statuesque women in beautiful, wide, flowing gowns drifted like angels across a marble dance floor, and men in finery she’d only seen the members of Inazuma don walked with their ladies, or spoke in corners, laughing over drinks and cigars. 

Four weeks before, Mori had requested the presence of the geisha women to entertain a group of Ishgardian noblemen who dealt in arms. The idea was to share their two cultures in a visit to Kugane and build a stronger bond for trading and selling. And what better way, Mori had said, to share culture than to present the most beautiful and graceful women that Kugane had to offer. 

Three weeks before, the Hingans were subjected to learning western ballroom dances to the letter. Fortunately, the geisha women flourished in this environment and picked up quickly on all the waltzes, but some members of Inazuma struggled to keep up. They were not entertainers by trade. The geisha had teased them as they assisted the many gentlemen and small number of ladies in the foreign steps once they themselves got the hang of it. Misaki was surprised at the speed that Etsuji had picked up on the dancing, and was not at all surprised that Mori already knew. He was a well traveled gentleman. Poor Aya had never looked so distressed as she trod on the delicate toes of the geisha, apologizing profusely each time. 

Two weeks before, the geisha girls had all welcomed their Ishgardian visitors to the tea house in all of their own finery. They had all worn their finest kimonos and only served the most expensive of sake to share. Hana and Misaki had sung a sweet duet while Rei played the shamisen for them. Misaki performed her most dramatic of dances with her fan, telling the story of the goddess of plum blossoms struggling to reconcile her love for a mortal man. Their Ishgardian visitors - mostly towering and stately Elezen - had been enraptured by the young entertainers, raptly conversing with them. It was easier to speak their common tongue than it was to try to get them to speak Hingan, though a small number of them used the Hingan natives to practice the new language with. They knew more than Misaki was anticipating, truthfully.

One week before, the tailors that the Ishgardians had brought with them from the Holy See were fussing over the geisha girls in the okiya and taking their measurements and discussing amongst themselves which colors would best suit each woman individually. 

“Hana has always looked fetching in mint green,” Misaki had offered as they wrapped a measuring tape around her bust, grimacing at the intrusion of these strangers in their home. 

“And you?” one had asked immediately. “No, no. Forget it. I know exactly what to do for the Blossom of Kugane! Oh, you’ll all look so lovely in these gowns, you might just want to toss away your kimonos in favor of Ishgardian styles!”

The seamstresses had laughed and the geisha girls and Aya had all exchanged a look that clearly read: When were they leaving for the day, again?

The big day of the ball came up more quickly than anticipated, and it was the day before that the girls received their last fitting for the ball gowns. Aya had, conveniently, managed to not get herself a gown, claiming that she needed to be dressed more practically for bodyguard duties. And so, she watched as the geisha girls were cinched into corsets so tightly that their eyes bulged. Misaki was fairly certain her ribs were going to collapse, and remembered the time she’d spent with Etsuji in the market, laughing at the Ishgardian torture devices that a merchant was selling. Now, she was wearing one that pushed her breasts nearly up to her chin and sucked in her already tapered waist to an unnecessary end. Poor Rei’s eyes actually started to water, and everyone felt pity for the rather voluptuous Kumi as two of the seamstresses pulled on the strings to close the corset and keep her confined within. 

A hush fell at the sight of the procession of Hingan women, donned in Ishgardian gowns. Their hair was pinned up, or half up, in the case of Misaki and Hana. Their long, silken locks - which had been curled into tidy, bouncing ringlets - fell in a cascade down their backs and over their bare shoulders. That night, there was no trace of the white makeup that covered their faces at the previous party, nor red lips. The Ishgardian stylists had opted for more natural makeup for their new test subjects, and in truth, the girls looked beautiful. 

Despite the tight corsets and flowing gowns, they seemed as graceful and as elegant as ever, just as much - if not moreso - than the Ishgardian ladies themselves. The eyes of the Ishgardian visitors were glued to the girls as they were walked in by different members of Inazuma. Though it had been originally planned by Mori that he would be the one to walk with Misaki, duties at the party earlier in the evening had required his presence there, and Etsuji was the one who kept by the side of their Blossom - his rightful position. 

The seamstresses had made no secret of Mori’s plan to show off the girls, but Misaki in particular. As they sucked her into her corset and gown, the older women chattered at her as if they’d been old friends for decades.

“And you know your handsome boss - that Mori gentleman - asked us to make sure you had the finest gown of all. I can’t say I blame him! Look at this beautiful face,” one had cooed.

“He’s not my boss,” she’d managed to wheeze. “Quite the opposite--”

“Oh? A misunderstanding, then, perhaps -- but regardless, look at you! You’re like a star fallen to us,” another of the women sighed, looking at the girl in the mirror. “He was absolutely right to choose you to be the belle of the ball, mon chéri.”

In a gown of finest silks, in pure white, covered in small gemstones that sparkled in every catch of light, it was true that it appeared Misaki was meant to be the star of Mori’s parade of Hingan women. The highest earning geisha, with the largest reputation and biggest name, with a legend surrounding her to boot - in terms of good business, it made sense. Even still, Misaki resented the spotlight he and the housemother had picked for her without her input or consent. It was clear without a word that she was meant to be the largest representative for them all at the Ishgardian ball. The culture, dances, manners - everything she had only been soaking in for a month had to be perfect.

Even if she resented it, she knew, in her heart of hearts, that she had been the best candidate if they wanted diplomacy. 

And so, when she drifted in to the ballroom, she smiled and curtsied as she’d been taught. She was a walking vision, a mobile diamond, a creature plucked from the heavens themselves to grace the room with her presence. At least, that’s how she had to present herself. This deal seemed to be of great importance for Inazuma, and she wouldn’t fail them. 

“Ah-- Misaki, there you are,” Mori had said, taking her from Etsuji without a word and escorting her towards a very tall Elezen gentleman in a velvet suit. His dark brown hair was neatly combed and gelled, with sparkling green eyes peering down at the petite Hingan woman. She recognized him. He had been front and center during both performances at the tea house.

“I believe the two of you have met, but you may not recognize our Blossom in this state,” Mori laughed, bowing formally at the waist with his arm against his stomach. “Misaki, if I might-- this is Lord Bastien de Laval, viscount of House Haillenarte, and our most generous host for this evening. Lord Bastien, this is Misaki Ito, geisha of Kugane.”

“I remember you well, madame,” the Elezen man remarked with a wink as he bowed, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. She smiled and curtsied in turn, overwhelmingly aware of how close Mori was watching her to ensure she didn’t slip up by even an ilm. 

“And I you, Lord Bastien. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” she replied, pleasant and sweet and in perfect common tongue. “Thank you most kindly for joining us for our humble engagement at the tea house. It was wonderful to have such prestigious visitors with us-- and thank you most kindly, once more, for the generous invitation to your ball tonight. Everything looks absolutely beautiful.”

“If it is beautiful, then it is only enhanced by your presence, dear lady,” the Elezen said, his tone dripping with honey. Misaki didn’t need to turn to see Etsuji rolling his eyes at the wall behind them; she could feel it, sense his fingers itching for his flask as she was passed on to the nobleman. 

It was with Lord Bastien that she remained for the evening, for the most part. For several dances, he did have to pass her off, but he looked so wounded each time and encouraged the next gentleman to take good care of her. Not one Ishgardian man she danced with was anything but flirtatious and full of flattery, either stiffly and primly or with the air that they’d almost had too much to drink, or behaving as the seamstresses had -- altogether too familiarly. 

Misaki had to admit that they did throw a good party. The band was perfect, never missing a note or step, and the food and drink were deliciously decadent. Every person there seemed to have been born to these types of parties, and, she assumed, they had been, just as she had been practically born to tea houses and conversation and dancing. And, for all of his overt flirtation, Lord Bastien seemed a perfect gentleman. His hands and eyes never strayed from where they should have been, and he seemed genuinely enraptured with his partner for the evening, hanging early onto every word that fell from her pretty lips and laughing at her every joke. 

Mori watched, and watched, and watched as the pair apparently hit it off famously. Misaki seemed to even genuinely enjoy the viscount’s presence, and he found himself resenting it. He watched Etsuji, out of curiosity; the younger man seemed absolutely calm and collected, but every now and then, his eye or jaw would tick when he saw Lord Bastien lean down to whisper something to Misaki and she would laugh her lovely laugh and lean back to look at him and return quip for quip. 

Wordlessly, Mori handed Etsuji a glass of champagne as he hung beside the wall to watch his charge, and the young man downed it in a single, equally wordless gulp. Aya was fidgeting in the dress she’d been strong armed into wearing, though it wasn’t nearly as fine or as impractical as the gowns the geisha women and Ishgardian women were wearing. The housemother was speaking to a group of young Ishgardians and seemingly telling them a very entertaining story, judging by how much the lot of them were laughing. Geisha girls were being handed off to waltz with as many gentleman as possible. All in all, everything seemed to be going well. The Bakuto girl didn’t have a frog in her hands to jump onto the tower of champagne, and none of the Ishgardian visitors seemed to have overstepped their bounds with the young geisha ladies. 

“She looks very charmed up,” Mori had grunted, looking to Misaki.

“It’s her job. She’s entertaining. Like you made her do tonight,” Etsuji had replied back swiftly, almost in a snap. 

“...hmph. Well. She does look beautiful, doesn’t she?”

“She always does.” 

Silence fell between the two men again before Mori noticed a young Ishgardian woman who had found herself without a partner and, putting on his most handsome of smiles, he went to offer himself up. She seemed relieved to be saved from the social faux pas and joined him on the floor. Meanwhile, Etsuji had suddenly lost sight of Misaki. 

She had gone on a journey to find some fresh air and slipped through the crowd to the back door that had been tossed open to stir the hot summer air. She found herself stumbling into a fragrant garden with a fountain in the center. Sitting upon its marble edge was a little green frog, and she smiled to herself as she went to sit beside it. It croaked, blinking one eye at a time at her.

“I have a friend inside who would probably much rather be spending their time with you tonight,” she informed the little creature, reaching out with a finger to lightly pat its head. 

“There you are!” a voice suddenly slurred from the bushes. Misaki started a little, looking over her shoulder quickly. 

A man was stumbling towards her - an Elezen - with his shirt buttons half undone and a bottle of wine in his hand. Sloppily, he sat down beside the geisha and the frog croaked again before diving into the safety of the fountain. The girl leaned away from the inebriated man as he leaned towards her, her eyes wide.

“So...” He squinted his unfocused gaze on her. “Let’s... be real here, young lady. They say that geisha don’t get involved in the fun stuff, you know? But I don’t think that’s true. I just think you have to get them at the right time and place, kinda like some magical doors... Gotta be there at just the right time.. So how much for say... I dunno... thirty minutes?”

“Excuse me?” Misaki said sharply, rising to her feet. “Sir, you find yourself grossly misinformed. That is not what we do, and certainly not something I am even going to entertain--” 

His hand grabbed her wrist too roughly and yanked her back down to the fountain. Her eyes widened again in shock at the audacity of this foreigner, and she attempted to jerk her hand away from him, but to no avail. Even blitzed, he had a rather strong grip. 

“You were the one I was eyeing up since the tea house,” he whined. “Mori said you were the best of them! Come on-- twenty minutes? It’ll be the best twenty minutes you’ll ever have, trust me--”

“Get off of me--!”

Just as the Elezen was leaning in to press an extremely unwelcome kiss to Misaki’s neck, he was flying into the fountain. Misaki stumbled at the sudden release of her arm and was caught by a pair of strong arms. Upon looking up, she discovered it was Etsuji, absolutely fuming as he pulled the girl to his side and looked at the man he’d punched into the water. 

“I think all of this has gone on quite long enough,” he said, keeping a firm but gentle grip on his charge. She was too relieved to move, instead sighing and pressing her head against his chest for a moment as she murmured a ‘thank you.’ Peeking around him, she saw both Mori and Lord Bastien hustling out to the small commotion. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” Mori said angrily, looking to the sopping wet Elezen man climbing out of the fountain. Lord Bastien’s jaw went a little slack, and his pale face even a little paler.

“My brother... Miss Ito, I am terribly sorry for any trouble my brother Rafael may have caused you,” the viscount said quickly, bowing deeply at the waist. “When I saw your bodyguard hurrying out here, I knew that aught must be amiss. Please accept my sincerest apologies. When he drinks, the evening tends to get away from him and he becomes most unlike himself...”

“Yes... Yes, it’s quite alright,” Misaki said after taking a discreet breath. “No harm done, though I do apologize for the state of his suit.” 

“They can be cleaned,” Etsuji said firmly. “Lord Bastien, you and your friends and family are guests here in Kugane. I hope to not see any of them putting hands on the natives of this place again.”

“No, sir, I assure you that everyone will be on their best behavior for the rest of the evening and the rest of our stay,” Lord Bastien replied with another deep bow. “He put hands on her...?” 

Etsuji simply gave the man a look, and Misaki’s silence seemed enough to confirm. Swiftly, the geisha girl was walked back into the party and kept to the sidelines, leaving Mori and Lord Bastien to sort out the brother who had nearly ruined the spirit of the visit of the Holy See’s sons; unity and building a healthy relationship for easy trade. 

“Are you alright?” Etsuji’s voice and gaze softened considerably as he got Misaki to a quieter place and released her, simply holding her face in his hands to get a good look at her. She half smiled and nodded, and he sighed in relief.

“Just a drunken idiot. Thank you for coming to help me, Suji.”

“It’s my job,” he replied with a smile. “And a better one I couldn’t ask for, as long as you’re safe. Now... I believe the Ishgardians have had their fair turn of getting to dance with you. Might I have this one?” 

He bowed formally, in the western manner, his back and torso stiff, and extended a gloved hand out to Misaki. She thought he looked better in western finery than any of these Elezen noblemen could ever hope to. He looked better than them in every sense of the word, for all of their glamour and good looks. Grinning, she placed her little hand delicately in his.

“You may, Mister Goto,” she said with a smirk. With a wink, he twirled her out onto the floor as the dripping Rafael was discreetly rushed upstairs to be put into ‘time out’ and dried off. He wouldn’t be allowed to disrupt the evening of diplomacy again and, from there on, everything went smoothly...

Even if Aya did sneak off to make sure the frog in the fountain hadn’t gotten hurt when the drunken man had fallen into it, and Lord Bastien and Mori both watched Misaki and Etsuji dance together whilst the the two men sulked. The bodyguard and his charge seemed more at ease than any other couple had the entire night, laughing and twirling like they were two halves of a whole meant specifically to be pieced together. 

“You certainly know how to pick them, Mori,” Lord Bastien had remarked as he snuck a sip of whiskey from a flask in his jacket. “I mean that completely genuinely. She is absolutely something else. If ever you come to visit to Ishgard, do bring her with you. Maybe she’d end up staying.”

“I don’t believe she’ll end up staying anywhere where he doesn’t follow,” Mori muttered as he accepted the offer of the flask and drank deeply. “Sorry, old chap. I’ve been chasing this one for years and he’s always there to chase me away. I don’t know that anyone but him will be winning that prize.”

“She’s not a prize,” Lord Bastien said casually. Mori raised a brow at him, and the Elezen gentleman continued, “She’s a person. A beautiful, charming, witty person -- but a person nonetheless. Maybe that’s been your problem all these years, old friend.” 

Mori got quiet as he watched Misaki and Etsuji together. She was absolutely glowing. It was only then that she truly and naturally looked like the star he’d been aiming to make her appear that evening. And, when the Bakuto girl rushed inside very obviously hiding something in her hands, and Etsuji and Misaki spotted her and began interrogating her through laughter and Hana came to join in, Mori supposed he understood what Bastien was saying. It agitated him that the Elezen was... right. Misaki was in her element with her friends, with the people who knew her best and treated her exactly like she should be treated:

Like a person. Like a normal girl who was absolutely extraordinary. 

(( Mentioned: @keeper-of-the-lilacs and @myterribleboysffxiv ))