#one of my fav characters...u wouldn't know it bc i don't talk about him enough

[eastbluecrewed]

FOXFIRE

[mettasing]

I'll... ramble a bit. About Genshin's Ch. II. Might roast on someone's fav characters (Ayaka & Kokomi, to be clear). If it will likely affect you, please don't read. If you have a life, please don't read. I can't get enough of this.

I stg I'll lose it when theories about Paimon betraying us will become reality. Because in Inazuma EVERYBODY HAD PISSED ME OFF, especially Ayaka's manipulations and Kokomi's carelessness, if not stupidity. After delusion factory I said to myself – I'm sorry for calling Paimon 'emergency food' earlier bc seems she is my only friend here. Everybody is using MC, and... that would be okay (grandpa's shenanigans in Liyue were really fun! also he had everything under control), if not the responsibility and all of the dirty work everybody were placing on random, worn-out traveler.

Ayaka says "Hey, can u help us in our civil war against a literal god?" And our traveler, if my memory doesn't fail me, couldn't care less: when Thoma said something similar, she/he brushed him off. Sure, Thoma helped; but participating in, I'll say again, civil war, doesn't fit the principle of equivalent exchange. Traveler literally lost her/his sibling. She/he doesn't know when they will reunite. All she/he wants is to find something about her/his family and move on. And then Ayaka fucking says – "oh, you don't want to help, bah! Do you know what happened to poor old people who lost their vision? You'll be a meanie too, if you'll check on them and won't agree to participate afterwards >:(" You don't say! I'm sorry for their loss, what happened to them is horrible, I agree! But it doesn't correlate with your words and actions, Ayaka. Traveler, who's, by the way, fucking tired of Monstadt's indecisiveness and Liyue's games (fighting fatui's harbinger and a literal demigod in some senior citizen's scheme is tiring), isn't some tool for solving every nation's problems (by everyone's words, I can see they're starting to get used to it), she/he wouldn't want to do your every bidding, fulfilling your personal agenda under the guise of "ah, poor poor people, help 'em pretty please". It's disgusting. I can see mhy tried to sorta explain why Ayaka is like this, and even, as I see it, excuse her behavior. Boo-hoo, she doesn't have friends, being rich and respected isn't fun (it's not a sarcasm, being on top is lonely). I don't have much friends, and most of them are online. Fucking pigeon kid doesn't have friends, except a couple of children and, well, pigeons. I do not see her situation as an excuse for manipulative behavior. It just kinda... kinda explains something, and that's it.

Then Kokomi. Oh, Kokomi. I... I don't know how you would OOC your own fucking character. In canon. In the main story. I hate her with burning passion. Do you know, what a brilliant strategist would do, receiving a mysterious letter from anonymous well-doers, who, along with rations and manpower, donated you some strange devices (looking like visions) with the only condition for their rebellion to dedicate itself fully to fighting with shogunate? OF COURSE YOU'D LISTEN TO THEM AND ACCEPT EVERYTHING, NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE AND WHY THEY WANT SUCH STUFF FOR YOU TO DO. Okay, she says that Watatsumi is in need. But... the quote alone, "only condition", "fully dedicate yourself to fighting", isn't it at least shady? It's the third party we're talking about. If the inhabitants of Inazuma archipelago heard about you, didn't they also heard about Fatui's shit, for example? About Stormterror situation (in which Fatui tried to participate), about crisis in Liyue (where you literally threw hands with one of the Harbingers and, though not publicly, had seen the second's schemes (again)). Yes, people can't know everything, but literally 1) on the one side, it's the Divine Priestess, de-facto ruler of Watatsumi Island and "strategy genius", Sangonomiya Kokomi, 2) on the other, the infamous Snezhnaya's diplomatic & military organization with powerful and talented vision holders and Cryo Archon herself in command. The second side goes with us hand in hand, it has its roots in every Teyvat region, as these masked fools decided to shake the world's foundation, doing everything beyond human morals and capabilities to achieve this goal.

I won't say I'm not just salty about Teppei's death. He was reckless, but he didn't deserve to die like this. If not for Kokomi's, dare I say, grave mistake, he and many others wouldn't be gone. And his demise made me dislike Kokomi so much more, just for emotional impact. I didn't do her own quest, and I wonder if my opinion of her will be colored in new tones. I doubt it will change.

And you know what? MHY could've made them problematic. They could've stated that Ayaka is manipulative (ok, her situation might be better here), focus on this side of her; they could've made Kokomi more naïve and lost, being forced to take huge responsibility in times of war – or, on the contrary, made her more heartless, uncaring and focused just on victory over shogunate.

It could change this chapter, yes, but it also could enrich it. Instead, the plot went soap military drama path, with it's clichés looking illogical and contradicting with story's flow itself.

EDIT: Seirai and Tsurumi's quests fucking SLAP. The atmosphere of these islands, ghostly, haunting, honestly terrifies me. It may sound stupid and strange, but I can be brought to tears just by being on them. The landscape, the story – it's just devastating. I feel hollow and alone. If only the main quest could be like this...

Edit: I finally completed Kokomi's quest and I fucking despised every second of it. In the beginning, when we attack the Fatui, she spits most basic shit about fighting in GI, and everything any player does without thinking that much (enemy near the explosives? fucking boom. you have the high ground? jump on them, hit with the plunge attack) she spells it all out, and the game says to us it's her STRATEGIC GENIUS. Ok, next, she doesn't have the strongest social battery. She says she isn't cut out for leadership. Hun, you can't even think behind the scenes, I still remember your big fuckup in archon quest, and I'm sure everyone do too. But moving on. The quest consists of two ingredients. First, we care for her as for the apple of eye owo uwu she got anxiety she shyyy. It's not a complain, it's just another thing in this hellish concoction of a character. Second, we're bowing before her beeg brain. For this, we've got Watatsumi soldiers being complete idiots, ready to fight for no fucking reason besides grudge. Your friends died, you wanna avenge them? Look no further- ah, I'm sorry, you've been brainwashed, just like your general Goro, who just fucking idolises her and reads her war fanfics 24/7 non-stop and has every voiceline being about the war (mind you, the decree was a thing FOR A YEAR). Just all edge and no point. And us with Paimon, praising her every time she opens her mouth. I just can't, I fucking ended when negotiations begin. What I'll write next is not a full-on complain, it's the fun stuff. We've got Sara Kujou. She may be a little problematic for me as I can't care for "blindly loyal" characters, who kiiiinda doubt all of the unjustice their liege does at best, and then they go on with their duty without major internal conflicts until the end of the story or until boom ded. But moving on. We still see that absolutely sickening Kokomi swag, and Sara is presented to us as an evol whamen who attacks our poor mermaid with her harsh tone and um... reasonable conditions??? wow how dare she. Keep in mind, before the negotiations Kokomi wrote a book for us WITH 186 VARIANTS OF EVERYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG WITH INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO DEAL WITH IT. WHY??? Ok. Ok, some people have troubles solving problem on spot. Ok, some people cannot adapt for shit. It's alright, and these people know how to deal with it. For example, writing instructions. BUT IT'S NOT THAT. SHE JUST FUCKING THOUGHT AND THOUGHT ABOUT THE EVENT AND THEM CAME UP WITH IT. BECAUSE SHE'S A S T R A T E G I S T. She's not a strategist. She's a joke. This is fucking joke. It almost sounds like a flaw, you know, comically portrayed human flaw ��� her inability to adapt to the situation quickly in stress (as I imagine, her responsibilities are stressful), her attempt to save herself from breaking down in a crisis. But no, it's not – we know it because mihoyo said it's her strong mind and her brilliance. No. No, it's not. Ugh, I'm tired. It's 12am, my mind is swirling. But hey, I got 60 primos for that mindfuck of a quest.

For every Zhong Li there is a Kokomi, I guess.