#beezelbul

raiden ei who even without her gnosis kept a perpetual near-uncrossable storm raging around her nation and executed a harbinger seemingly effortlessly. also she was downright scary cold as the shogun puppet, still the archon with the coldest aura imo.

nahida used the power of the gnosis and dreams to help free herself, save her nation, purify the literal tree of memory, erase her creator and help bring down a self-made god and harbinger using another gnosis. also fended off another harbinger with words and a transaction and a threat.

focalors and furina spent 500 years carrying out a plan through sheer strength of will and a gnosis alone, which shattered a divine throne, threatened the heavens and returned their power to a sovereign, leading to focalors dying for her people and finally freeing furina from her curse.

mavuika lost everyone she knew and held dear, returned from death, beat the strongest (?) harbinger in a fight even not at full power herself, rescued us from the abyss, cracked the bloody sky itself open, and fended off an abyssal invasion with her skill, her people and her gnosis, even at the possible cost of her own life.

If you are a diehard Raiden fan or won't take me criticising Genshin for some other reasons, plz skip this post, because It's gonna be one hell of a Rant.

Don't get me wrong, I love Genshin and I'm not planning to quit it or something, but criticism must be given.

And that being said...

GENSHIN 2.1 STORYLINE WAS VERY, VERY BAD

And here's why:

Barely any playable characters were given any depth in this version. They were all treated just like plot devices.

Especially Yae Miko, who was there just to explain everything to our dumbassess and and give us an axcess to the power of ambition and friendsip I guess

Kokomi and Gorou? Nahhh, why give them any actual spotlight, if they were there only to deliever the schocking news that Fatui gave dellusions to the resistance? We might've as well learned that from some random soldier NPC and it would make little to no difference.

Speaking of delusions, don't Kokomi and Gorou fight on the front line? HOW THE HECK did they not notice that all of their visionless soldiers suddenly can use the power of elements? Did everyone hide it from them and everyone actually succeeded? Wasn't Kokomi weired out buy th sudden improvement of the whole resistace? How the heck did none slip up? WHY DIDN'T KOKOMI OR GOROU CHECK OUT THESE "WEAPONS" BEFORE GIVING THEM TO THEIR SOLDIERS? THEY COULD HAVE BEEN BOMBS OR SOMETHING

Also the fact that Kokomi just made us a general without giving us time to get to know how resistance works, or that she would give Teppei promotions just because he asked was extremely stupid. Not a master strategist move for sure. We could be a spy. Kokomi didn't even aknowledge Teppei until he asked her for a promotion.

Overall the whole resistance arc was extremely rushed and basically almost useless. If it was wisely prolonged, this update could be spread between two versions no problem. We could have had more quests where we and Teppei would slowly climb up the ranks, get to know more about Kokomi, ACTUALLY FIND OUT STUFF ABOUT EI AND SCARAMOUCHE INSTEAD OF LETTING YAE INFO-DUMP IT ON US.

Kazuha was ok I guess, but he was given very little screentime, and as my friend (a big Kazuha fangirl, mind you) noticed, that his whole arc revolves around Tomo and he barely has any personality besides grieving his loss, which is dissapointing.

I'd rather see him actualy join the resistance and face Ei not because he randomly appeared to save us, but because he was banished from Inazuma and had the courage to return.

Speaking of random appearances, why were Kazuha and the resistance at Tenshukaku anyway? Like, hear me out: Last time they've seen us alive was when we declared we would find the dellusion factory. So unless Yae told them we were here, they had no right to know (and if she did, how would that help?) And if they ACTUALLY thought that they could raid Tenshukaku, why do that right after their army recieved such a big blow, and with so little men? Besides the fact that Kazuha Conviniently managed to save us, it was all just an unnecessary bloodshed.

And Ei... Oh my god, I'm sorry, but the way they did her was such a mistake.

She basially went through the same thing as Venti and Zhongli, but was the only one to chose violence.

When we tell her that her people are suffering she's like "yeah, I know, so what?" But then we defeat her with what's basically a power of friendship and she's like. "Ok, I'll stop the decree I guess" and in her story quest she suddenly wants the best for her people? Oh no I know you don't.

She could have been the actual victim of The Fatui's plot. Imagine if Sara was actually collaborating with the Fatui and when we told her about them "manipulating" Ei she'd say she's gonna tell her but would actually go to backstab her before she realises the truth. Or if the "you've changed, you're getting weak" line would be what Scaramouche said to Ei after he defeats her.

Or, she could be an ACTUAL villain. The one that isn't forgiven just because she buys some dango milk and pulled a sword out of her boobs. She's a tyrant and there's no denying it. So why didn't she die to get what she desserved? Why didn't she get any actual redemption, or make some sort of sacrifice to show that she wants well for Inazuma after all? She could face the consequences of her wrongdoings and see the death she caused or experience the wrath of the people she hurt but noooo, her people already forgave her and are concerned for her health! But she's just being angsty, so let's go on a peacefull stroll and show her some horny light novel people wrote about her <3 Like come on, really?

Like seriously, if Mihoyo had the guts to actually call her evil, that would barely infulence her popularity. People simp over well-written villains like crazy. Well-written villains rule.

I'm honestly worried about how The Tsaritsa will be handled...

But okay, okay. To lighten up the mood, here are some things that I liked about this update:

Teppei, duh.

Watatsumi Lesbians.

Sara. Oh dear, oh dear, gorgeous. Once again, she proved herself to be an honorable person. We've seen her admit that she was doubtful about the decree. We've seen her world being shattered as she realised what her family did. We've seen her put away her selfless devotion to do what's right. My hot tengu gf, I absolutely love you and your writing so far.

Scaramouche has more interesting backstory and motivations than hid creator. He's the villain we deserve. He has the gnosis and he's yet to cause some drama, so hopefully he fixes this hell of an arc.

Thoma didn't have much screentime, but I like how they touched the topic of how it's hard for him to stay in hiding

Sayu was cute and fit into the story nicely.

ANGRY TRAVELER YES. They spoke. They were pissed. They were traumatized by witnessing Signora's death, even though they hated her. They see that the gods are nothing to mess with, they're changing, they're becpming just like their sibling. YES, YES, YES.

I did Ei's Story Quest today and even though I wasn't very excited about it at first, it quickly caught my attention because it covered a bit of the "puppet" topic.

We knew that Raiden Shogun and Ei are seperate, but I think this quest empathized it a lot. Raiden (the vessel) unable to pursue eternity in her usual ways, seemed distressed, while Ei, hiding on her Plane of Euthymia, seemed a bit lost, but not really stressed.

Ei was also telling us that she disabled some of Raiden's functions for a time period, while she was thinking how should she "reprogram" her to pursue eternity in a new, less tyranical way.

And this made me think how Scaramouche works.

He seems much more lively and more considerate of his surroundings and human emotions than Raiden. Why is that? Is it a result of free will, or just really good "programming"?

Does he have his mean personality since his creation? Or is it a defense mechanism he created for himself because of his abandonment issues? Or maybe it is a result of the tinckering Dottore did to him?

How much of a free will does Scaramouche actually have? What if Dottore "programmed" him to be his sadistic self? Or do the Fatui trust that his hatred towards the gods is so strong that they gave him free will? Since pale flame mentioned that Scaramouche found these "funny people in mask interesting enough to join" it seems to be the latter, but I'm kinda suprised that the Harbringers, especially Dottore, aren't trying to be more controlling. Or maybe they simply can't order him because unlike Ei they can't use him as their vessel? Would Tsaritsa be able to do that? WILL she ever do that?

Him Being a puppet would also explain why did the strange gas (archon residue?) Not affect him, or why he woke up from the meteorite slumber back in 1.1. That's because he's proably just unable to sleep in the first place, just like The Shogun. He doesn't need to rest. That might also be one of the reasons why he has such a bad reputation - even if he wanted to, It's hard to even think about your soldiers' physiological needs when you don't experience most of them yourself.

It also makes me think about Scaramouche's fate.

As much as I love him, I assumed that just like Signora, he will eventually die. But maybe, just maybe... He will get reprogrammed? Maybe by Ei, or a character that we're yet to meet. Maybe someone from Sumeru? If anyone can use ancient technology, It's someone from the city of Scholars. Cyno? Collei? Lisa? Or Mybe the Dendro Archon, Kusanali herself?

It would also explain the way he'd get into the Traveler's party in his voice lines. OR - In some scenarios, it might be fate even worse than death.

He might get rebooted. Basically erased from all existence just to be replaced with his new, memoryless, well-behaved self.