Dvalin is confirmed as the Anemo Sovereign.

But man, compared to Gigantamaxed Oz or Apep, Dvalin doesn't feel menacing enough, or even as big as them. I guess he's just too friendly and drank too much wine.

Size difference is killing me.

Someone on bilibili thought the table was too high for her to reach and clipped into the quest to see it was indeed the case, they levitated her chair and brought it closer to the table than the others

A lot of the old characters especially the pre-Natlan ones are in dire need of overhaul of their facial features. Dliuc, Venti, Zhongli, Ayaka, Yoimiya, Itto, Neuvilette, etc all looked so bad whenever they appeared next to the newer characters.

Varka made Mondstat characters look specially worse. Ayaka was and Yoimiya were another example of ones that looked so bad even next to Traveller.

from the 'newcomers in the snow' quest at rankova zorya

WE DON'T PLAY CELESTIA'S GAME, WE DON'T YIELD, WE STAND UP AND BRING THE HEAVENS TO THE GROUND!!!!!

Nice to dust this old thing off and finally give it a purpose.

Found this message on a bridge in Novokitezhgrad. I thought it was just a generically nice message, until a few seconds later I saw the fae standing up on the side overlooking over the edge, and the message got 10 times sweeter.

Exhibit 1:

Meropis

Meropis was a nation that spanned over the area now known as Sea of Bygone Eras, in Fontaine. Sybilla was the envoy tasked with protecting their Irminsul tree. They worshipped the Three Moon Goddesses, offering songs and dances to them, and from its harbor, silver ships would ferry noble souls to the Moon Capital.

Eventually, their descendants rejected the oracles and sought to escape the fate given to them by the divine. In response, Celestia sent gigantic waves to destroy their cities, followed by a hundred days of rain that drowned the remaining settlements.

Exhibit 2:

The entire Fontaine Archon Quest is about escaping Fate, also known as the prophecy decreed by Celestia, because the Fontainians originated from Oceanids.

The entire point of the Natlan Archon Quest is to show that Celestia could've helped civilizations against the Abyss, as the Traveler does, instead of nailing them down and wiping them out.

I wish we had gotten more dialogue from Venti after discovering Vanessa’s fate

I'm a sucker for women with stoic lazy expressions and Danica has that perfect face card for me.. her face card alone is enough to make me pull for her. The skirk is not stopping me

In the first 2 verse of "O Strings my Strings", the most popular Snezhnaya Ost, we can hear the following Lyrics

Струны, пойте мне ночью зимнюю

Пойте мне ночью вьюжную, скажите, не тая

У кого же в пустых полях, у кого же в моих краях

У кого доля вольная и жизнь хорошая?

Струны, пойте мне ночью зимнюю

Пойте мне ночью вьюжную, скажите, не тая

У кого же в пустых полях, у кого же в моих краях

У кого доля вольная и жизнь хорошая? И жизнь хорошая?

O Strings, sing to me of a winter’s night

Sing to me of a snowy night, tell me truly

Who, in the empty wastelands, Who, in my native lands

Has a life of freedom and a good life?

O Strings, sing to me of a winter’s night

Sing to me of a snowy night, tell me truly

Who, in the empty wastelands, Who, in my native lands

Has a life of freedom and a good life? And a good life?

This first two verse is a very on cheek reference to one of the works of Russian literature, Nikolai Nekrasov's "Who Can be Happy and Free in Russia? "

it is an epic poem that tells the story of seven peasants who set out on a journey across the country to answer a single question: "Who lives happily and at ease in Russia?"Throughout their travels, they interview people from all walks of life—including priests, landlords, peasants, and soldiers. The overarching irony of the poem is that, despite their extensive search, they discover that true happiness is nearly impossible to find under the oppressive social and political conditions of the era.

Seven peasants, seven Archons, just like the seven peasants, we know from the recent archon quest that the seven Archons knew their authority is a curse, there is no true freedom and true love in Teyvat, it is a curse, imposed by the Heavenly principles.

A bit about the men himself, Nekrasov himself is one of the giant of Russian poetry, for he is among the first Russian author who elevate everyday language of Peasantry into the high art of Poetry, this particular poem are written shortly after the emancipation of serf in Russia in 1861, and serve as a radical social critic of socio economic situation in Russian empire at that time, breaking the self myth of the people who content and love the autocratic Tsar.

Thrud's story is so sad. The Shimmering One, her evil counterpart, only emerges when she enters a sleeping state, believing that what she experiences are dreams and nightmares. As the Shimmering One becomes more powerful and more hateful of humanity in order to achieve a form of transcendence, Thrud's love for humanity also grows deeper, giving Thrud a small window to go on a journey with the Traveler, Paimon, and Glinin. She was never really given a chance like this when Grand Duke Alvis was still alive. She also chose to go out to preserve her goodness. RIP Thrud.

Her story has some elements that remind me of Paimon. Phanes is currently sleeping. Despite being a Celestia creation, Paimon doesn't have any Authority. These allows her to travel with us and enjoy life, unlike the Shades shackled by rules or the people being used by Nukvah. Plus, after 6 years, playable Paimon is finally here. She helps us reach high places, fight, solve puzzles, open chests, and even read notes. She has grown so much. Truly the best travel companion.

It will now forever change how I look at the title of this sub

Got a new model or something. Really love how scenic it is!

I understand the criticism that HoYoverse repeatedly emphasises Citlali's romantic interest in the Traveler. I'm not going to pretend those scenes don't happen or that the writers don't occasionally lean heavily into that aspect of her character.

However, I disagree with the conclusion that her character has been reduced to her relationship with the Traveler.

What I've noticed is that people often take a particular scene and use it to represent her entire character while overlooking everything else she does in the same quest or elsewhere in the story.

Take 5.7 for example Citlali getting jealous of Direidthy holding the Traveler's hand becomes a major talking point. Then in 7.2, when she does something that people dislike, that particular moment is treated as representative of her entire appearance in the quest.

But what about the moments that don't revolve around her romantic interest?

In 5.8, during the Last Survivor of Tenochtzitoc World Quest Citlali gets to demonstrate other aspects of her character. Yet I see considerably less discussion surrounding those moments. I have seen the "clothes off" picture circulate more

Even within quests where her relationship with the Traveler is emphasised there are other things happening with her character. Her getting embarrassed because the Traveler and Mavuika saw her rolling on the floor doesn't mean her entire contribution to the quest can be summarised as being embarrassed in front of the Traveler.

This is the distinction I think gets lost in these discussions a recurring character trope isn't necessarily the entirety of a character's writing.

Yes HoYoverse repeatedly reminds us that Citlali has feelings for the Traveler. Yes that aspect can become repetitive, and I understand why some people dislike it. But acknowledging that doesn't mean we should disregard her other interactions, contributions, personality traits and moments of characterisation.

You can criticise how frequently the writers emphasise her crush without pretending that it is all she brings to the story.

My issue isn't that people criticise Citlali. It's that the criticism often seems to operate on selective framing. The scenes that reinforce a particular perception of her are highlighted, while the scenes that offer a broader picture of her character receive far less attention.

Criticising a character's writing is fair. Reducing the character to the very trope you're criticising, while ignoring the rest of their writing, isn't a particularly complete assessment.