What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Lauront]

Precisely! I would also say that this is empathy going above and beyond what I'd consider necessary given what these beings are at the end of the day, but all the same, they were shared sentiments to some degree. Obviously not all ancients shared such views, much as humans differ in how we view animal life, but it was clear that these sentiments were fairly normalised in their society, and that Hermes's specific issue was more to do with his inability to cope with death and where that left any sense of purpose in life. It doesn't take an awful lot to rekindle this in Amon. The judgement of his society, which he uses to excuse damning them, seems to be a sideshow.

Only half-jest, no less. I don't think I can stress enough how everything we've seen in Venat borders on resembling a clinical narcissist or, if I were to stay in my lane, a prodigal coward. This entire story was simply a fetishization of pain and suffering with someone mentioning an analogy I agree with in saying it's as if "An aristocrat listfully thinking about the charm of what a peasant endeavors." A story about pain by people who don't know what pain is. And I'm to understand the one who made themselves into the divine protector of a now-wartorn world rife with calamity and viciousness from what we know of how beast tribes are treated and things like the Dragonsong War is the ultimate do-gooder that simply wants people to feel pain because pain builds character. Also people call her the Mother Crystal?

I was already beaten enough by my real mother, thank you. I don't need a virtual one chipping in.

Harrowing look into my personal life aside, this really is all I extracted from the expansion and with pretty potent bile growing in me. To worship what's adjacent to abuse and is just flat out treason? Bah, I'll leave well enough alone. It's definitely something I could get carried away from. I'll maintain that EW simply feels like it was written by people who are completely disconnected with those who have truly felt what it's like to be trampled underfoot while.. well.. idealizing said trampling (but it's okay because if you kill everyone who thinks you're wrong or happen to be favored by the right people, you'll be justified and nothing can hurt you. Right, Heidi/Scions?). I really hope 6.1 onwards is better.

I agree with your analysis. Much as Yoshi tries to chalk it up to her being an ancient, it's not really consistent with what we see of the rest of them (and we see behaviour similar to this with some sundered antagonists and even protagonists), and he has to refer to an Emet-Selch very much changed after 12k years of gruesome toil to restore his people, to make the point, and Hermes, who by all accounts is an outlier. In comparison to everything else we see of them? It's a poor fit. I wanted to like her after Elpis, but unfortunately the way it all concluded leads me to think you're correct, and I'd add to this that she seemed to be a rather special case of Munchausen by proxy, along with a messianic complex. Coupled with the time travel and all its associated contrivances, yes, I caught the Meteion despair bug going around in the story - at least with respect to its possible future.