firelightmuse

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"I hope Zenos stays dead" well I hope he doesn't, I hope he comes back to life, I hope he dies and comes back to life 20 more times, I hope every time he comes back Zenos haters cry and cancel their subs in droves and have to set up appointments with their therapists to unpack the trauma and emotional whiplash of it all, I hope he dies and comes back once per expansion, I hope there isn't even an attempt at a lore/story explanation for why it keeps happening, I hope Zenos comes back to life for no other reason than this alone

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Happy birthday to me, self indulgent Viper Zenos

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genshin impact scenery [35/∞]

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All your hate, all your rage, you will render onto me.

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If you ever wonder what I mean by the game does a good job of Showing Zenos' internal self but fails at Telling it is: Unlike with Yotsuyu, who you not only get to see the past of but you also get told about it from her and other NPCs that knew her closely, Zenos gets next to nothing OTHER THAN assumptions by characters who don't have clear pictures of him themselves.

But like. First scene. Guy talking to him. Mentions an ambush and only one survivor. You can HEAR in his voice that Zenos is impressed by the enemy. Which lets you draw a conclusion that his sense of morality? Of allegiance? Very fluid. Very whatever he wants it to be. Because any actual die-hard Garlean military leader would be pissed or appalled that their men were attacked, their men lost, etc. but Zenos is just like, "Oooh. Good for them. Well done."

And then. The survivor. Zenos kind of, "There's nothing wrong with having a desire to live." So, whereas Garlemald typically treats desertion as a capital crime, Zenos just shrugs. Again: Zenos doesn't care about the usual rules. He is, in fact, quite disrespectful of Garlemald. You can FEEL IT.

And then of course you get the cowards line. Where the commander is all, "Yes. The XIIth is no place for cowards." And there's a PREGNANT pause that you instantly understand as this man signing his own death warrant. Because you already know HE'S the coward. You can already tell Zenos is going to remove the actual coward from the ranks.

The cinematography, the pacing, the use of well-known tropes with the character. I found it very easy to read Zenos from the visual cues and such I was being given.

But not everyone is good at that. And when they try to use the information given to them via text, by ignorant characters, they get a skewed idea. Which becomes the wrong idea.

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Zenos dreams of Amaurot's final days

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IDR WHO MADE THIS GPOSE BUT I HAD TO REDRAW BCS OH MY GOd???

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SOLUTION 9 RACER ══════════════════

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ma zhaixing 🦋

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Perhaps samurai swords and cherry blossoms?

Swords and Cherry Blossoms

You got it anon! Xx

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Senbonzakura Kageyoshi

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"Say that again, I liked it..."

Art of Zenos :)

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Ribboned Gothic Lolita~