Such

Now for the rant part of the post.

I am tired of Genshin honestly. Which is a shame because at one point it was my entire personality (sorry to my friends who had to listen to me yap about it) anyways. I LOVED this game. Mind you i kinda am Newgen since i started on Fontaine. BUT I read most of the dialogs and really found myself caring for the characters and story. But it's getting to a point where it's just unbearable.

1.The dialogue is so much padding it's making me question my sanity. And they announced a "skip button" (it's not at all). The thing is, I would love to read the lore. The story is interesting-ish (they've been fumbling since Natlan but i'll ignore that). I would love to read it all. But it's genuinely only interesting for 3/4 lines in 7 hours of "gameplay". The whole quest with Irminsul burning was just 90% Haikaveh fanservice (i love the ship but genuinely the quest was too focused on them), 7% Dottolone (which i love too but same problem) and like 1% interesting stuff, the other 2% being just filler with other characters and the moving of sumeru. Just like nodkrai the last quest with columbina going "..." every other dialogue. It's so bloated for nothing genuinely. You don't need long quests to make them interesting. 2. The character designs. First, my biggest disappointment, Columbina. Her current design makes no sense. AT ALL. she was very clearly designed with doves and angels in mind in the first trailer thingy. But the rewrite happened. I'm not against the rewrite itself, even though it was bad, it could've been great. BUT the redesign makes me want to tear my hair away. Why is she mostly blue? They kept the angel wings on her hair but clearly because they were "forced" to. Where the hell is the "moon goddess" bs implied in her design? ugh. Second is Sandrone. FIRST WHERE IS PULONIA IDGAF ABOUT "LORE" REASONS. Second, her skirt. I know, basic of me to complain about it when the whole world already has. But the short apron thing (i refused to call that a skirt) with bare legs or transparent-ish socks needs to stop. It's overused and frankly ugly. And her colour scheme, where the fuck did the red come from??? I guess it's just a Fatui thing at this point to have red for whatever reason, Signora/tartaglia/Arlecchino. Her orange shade was so refreshing, why did they take it away?

3. It's a mix of both issues but... the personality changes. Now i know some hoyo defenders people will say the rewrite didn't happen or whatever but again- Columbina? What the fuck happened? She was supposed to be eerie, to be a curiosity. I don't mind her being friend with the traveller or even the moon goddess bs (even though it came out of nowhere) but make her eerie, make her mysterious, make us wonder if she's being genuine or if she will betray us any moment. Why is she a clutz, babied stupid girl??? They genuinely can't go on with their way without stripping girls of their agency making them rely on the traveller. It's not even a waifu bait problem at this point. It's even more. Same with Sandrone, the Marionette was supposed to be a closed off woman with little interest in others, kinda like a fem Dottore except with robots. Turns out she's just a Tsundere who refuses to admit she cares. Can we just have a woman who isn't a bumbling idiot? The bar is in hell. And as someone who identifies more with fem characters i just die inside every dialogue that's just blatant gooner bait. At this point hoyo should just go full Love And Deepspace style and make an otome game, i bet it would sell well. (Which makes me genuinely wonder why they haven't yet).

But those are just my opinions. I will forever mourn fanon Columbina and wince everytime a 7h quest exist. The thing is, i still love the universe the game is set in, and care for the game. It's because i love it that i am so critical of it. And obviously people can disagree, can love the designs and new personnalities. Everyone is different.

I found that very interesting when I first watched, because I've never really made the difference between the two. But I thought about it more and I think I understand the difference.

Maybe not in the same way the director mentioned it but whatever. I'll try to explain.

This immediately made me think of Corpse Bride. Specifically of Emily and Victoria's relationships with Victor.

The way I'd explain Romance is that it's not really about the feelings. It's about where it ends. In romance (especially today I feel) it's not about how they get together in the end but rather when. It's more about how we can get two characters together fast, chemistry or not.

While a Love story, it's all about emotions. About how characters feel for one another even if they don't end up together.

Which brings me back to: Corpse Bride.

Emily wanted a romance but ended with a love story whereas Victoria wanted a love story and ended up with a romance.

In the beginning of the movie, Emily doesn't care so much about who will marry her, or his feelings. When Victor mentions it was an accident she doesn't really react. Because she doesn't exactly care. This is the romance. But she grows to care as the movie goes on. She develops feelings for him. And in the end, because she loves him. Because she sees he cares for Victoria, she lets him go. This is the love story.

But for Victoria it's the exact opposite. She wants a love story, she yearns for a marriage full of love. The movie shows over and over how she wishes she could find someone who will love her and she will love back. But the movie being focused on Emily puts Victoria in the backseat, she never really develops the love for Victor, their relationship lacks chemistry. It's never really about them sharing a special bond so much as it is about them being together in the end. It's a romance. It's thoughtless and flat, in my opinion.

And it also works with Obsession.

"NO!"

No one ever saw Mammon like this. The second born was usually collected, well… mostly flustered but never… never angry. Mammon didn't get angry. He NEVER hurt his brothers.

But that day.

Seeing MC on the floor.

Breathless.

It snapped something in him. He shoved past Lucifer. Past anyone in his path. He tore Belphie away from them. He held them in his arms.

Surely. Surely they were still breathing.

"Please… MC. It's a joke right?! Ya'd never leave the Great Mammon. C'mon treasure. It ain't funny…"

Cradling their form to his chest, brushing hair behind their ear more tenderly than he ever had before, he couldn't bring himself to believe it. His demon form was out, wings flared as big as they could to prevent anyone from approaching them.

When he finally realised he rushed to his youngest brother, hitting him, choking him like he had done to MC. Mammon saw red. He couldn't control anything.

Everything hurt. His throat was tight and ached as though barbwire was ripping his skin apart. A pounding headache with the anger and sorrow mixing into a delirious throb. His fingers digging in his own brother's skin.

He roared at the top of his lungs. All the pain echoed in his voice. He couldn't handle it.

MC. The only one who saw the good in him. Who saw beyond the scumbag. Beyond the greedy bastard. The only one who saw him as a person.

And now? Now Belphegor had betrayed them, had murdered them. Had held them and watched their life disappear from their eyes by choking them.

And that, Mammon would make him pay.

It took all five brothers to hold him back, blinded by rage he'd almost killed his brother.

The word felt disgusting now. His lover's murderer was his own brother.

With that, now a bit calmer, Mammon returned to MC's body. He kneeled and scooped them up in his arms once more. No one would approach them again. He'd make sure of it.

The Sin of Greed left the House of Lamentations in the middle of the night, carrying his lover's corpse like it was something precious and fragile.

He was the one to bury them and the one to make their tombstone. Engraving their favourite flower, picking their favourite place. He also left small trinkets on their tomb whenever he found something he thought they'd like.

A murder of crows always guarded it.

He wouldn't move on. Couldn't. No matter how much he tried. Not that he did. In fact quite the opposite, he clung to their memory, cherishing the smell of the shirts in their room, and staying there almost all the time.