Hiii, I really don't come here anymore, but I'm taking this moment to rant to the world because I need to put this SOMEWHERE.
Okay, beginning disclaimers:
I am FULLY aware that I am biased on this topic. I acknowledge this, but I'm going to rant anyways. This is just an opinion, after all.
It is completely fine if you disagree with me! I enjoy civil discussions, and I'm almost always willing to hear the other side of things.
Thanks to Pinterest, the only platform we're active on besides Discord, I've every now and then stumbled across whispers that are very negative in regards to Columbina. Now, if you don't like her, that's fine. Everyone has their kind of person. There's just certain things I think about.
First off, I like her as a character. I think that's pretty obvious. Even with the complete 180 on expectations, I like her. And I'd also like to include that just like many others, I was on the 'ominous angel' bandwagon. I literally love eerie, biblically accurate angel characters.
But let's talk about the whole 'rewritten' thing. Most of the evidence pointing to Columbina being a little more sinister was based on Childe and Wanderer's voicelines, being wary of her. Arlecchino states rather differently, of course. But I also can't help but wonder if some of the misconceptions also come from how her singing was perceived.
In A Winter Night's Lazzo, the song she's singing may sound ominous, but in reality, it's of course Signora's theme. Really, this only proves that she was good friends with Signora. Another thing of note from Lazzo was her being antagonistic to Dottore. This makes more sense, but also just shows that she didn't like him. And lastly, I'm quite sure that House of Wolves swayed some views, despite not being official. Honestly, can't blame them... that video is amazing.
But was she really rewritten? I'm not sure Hoyoverse would introduce a character that far back just to completely change how they came out. It would probably upend quite a few things, and they usually plan pretty far ahead- for example, Zibai.
I'll reiterate, I understand being disappointed in the subversion of expectations. However, this is where I start to be a little more annoyed, because I've seen a number of people call her 'waifu bait.' Which I'm really not a big fan of. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying fan service doesn't exist in Genshin, I just don't think her relationship with the Traveler is solid evidence. I'm also on the side of being tired of hearing everyone say women can fight back against being censored and then turning to a game and saying they need to cover up. (But I also understand if a guy designed the character, in that case, that's obviously not the same.)
Anyways, if you pay attention to how she acts with the Traveler, how different is it really versus how she acts with Sandrone? The Traveler was an incredibly big part of saving her, of course they're close.
And to get to a big part of this, I also think that the way she interacts with people is going to be strange. It is practically outright stated that she really doesn't understand normal people. Signora having to teach her manners, misunderstanding why everyone in the House calls Arlecchino 'Father', her voiceline about alcohol, it's hardly even subtext. And furthermore, this is exhibited in the teapot. In her teapot dialogue, she requests help in practicing what to say to the Scions. The following exchange happens:
"Will you leave us again?"
She then goes on to state that people come and go from places all the time- once again misunderstanding the question. And honestly, I also feel like her irregular way of interacting with people may have contributed to how even her fellow harbingers see her.
It could also be true that she was bitter towards people for some time after seeing how the Scions were treating her- only for her perspective to change again upon realizing that the Fatui was doing the same. We can't really be sure, as the only time we see anything potentially similar is upon meeting her for the first time, where she ignores questions she doesn't care for, but does blatantly threaten the Traveler when she thinks we're here on the Fatui's behalf.
I also just hate the double standard on everyone saying she was moaning and thinking it's weird and disgusting, meanwhile when Varka does it, it's no problem and attractive. Everyone only points out fan service when referring to women in game, and not to men, EVEN when things like that are a thing. (Cough cough, Kaveh's trailer is a big pointer.)
And my last talking point is just to say that making her an angel might not have worked well in regards to the lore. Though the angels could be rebellious, they have a clear draw towards guiding humanity, as seen with Nicole- who is human, but still retains this trait, as she finds joy in guiding others to treasure (as we do in her cabin). That's a big reason why making her an actual angel of sorts doesn't really fit, and with angels being a thing, it's a bit pointless to try and fit in something that's adjacent but different. Her winged headpiece is homage instead to her dove motif.
Okay, I think I've (finally) run out of points to make, this is just my perspective and slight character analysis. Please be civil if you have anything to say, and also know that if I come on here, the only reason I'm online is to reply to people.
The internet terrifies me slightly, I'm not used to openly posting rants and things with my opinion, but thank you for reading. If you actually did read through this, ily <3