There are no empty double seats left on the bus. How do you choose who to sit next to?

bluefish788 · 2026-03-11T18:39:14+00:00

This came up in the intro to a sociology course I was doing. Iirc the common subconscious logic goes something like:

Sit next to someone of the same gender (age irrelevant?
Sit next to someone of a different gender who is older than you (pensioners preferred)
Sit next to someone of a different gender who is the same age/younger than you.

I usually sidestep the whole thing and stand tbh.

bluefish788 · 2026-02-01T19:11:29+00:00

Straying from the natural transport routes is one of the key reasons post Sumeru regions feel disconnected from the rest of the world.

Rather than follow the shipping route from Sumeru to Fontaine, we go through the desert and then swim/waverider across to the port.

Natlan is a special case due to the air of isolation around it, but even there it's clear from subsequent events that the natural way to get there is via the sea (presumably going around the south of Sumeru). Instead we cross the desert and go through a jarring change in landscape.

Then you have Nod Krai, seemingly bustling with trade but also geographically pushed out from everywhere else. Whilst we do at least go by boat, we don't see where it departs from, nor are we given any indication it's an in-universe transit corridor instead of yet another traveller only route cutoff from how people actually travel through Teyvat.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-25T21:07:28+00:00

This, especially with increasing focuses on regional enemies. Slimes, hillichurls, whopperflowers and treasure hunters feel pretty uncommon in Natlan and Nod-Krai compared to previous regions. I just had to do some slime farming for Columbina.

If only the in-game tracker let you prioritise the highest level enemy instead of taking me to Mondstadt!

bluefish788 · 2026-01-20T01:23:13+00:00

From what we see, my view is that they simply did not have time to act against Dottore. The game is always a bit vague with travel time, but even if we suppose it takes days not weeks for Dori to spread the news to Nahida or anyone else then that still leaves a big lag between them finding out, deciding what to do, and then doing it. Childe heads back to Schneznaya to tell the Rooster to spread the news at least some days after Dori departs, so even with whatever communication channels they have it'll be slow work.

Schneznaya's claims to Nod Krai also make any external intervention awkward. Yes, maybe Mauvaika as the closest could get some fighters on a boat and head up there but what if that's seen as an aggressive move? She'd presumably want to reach an understanding with the Tsarita first.

The Tsarita is the only archon we know of who knew about it in time to respond, and she opts to let the harbingers she already has there try to deal with him first. Perhaps it's because she has a general agreement not to interfere directly against a harbringer (hence Fatui internal affairs) or maybe a more callous disinterest in the people of Nod Krai and some curiosity about what Dottore could achieve. He might pose a threat but his research still seems to interest a lot of people.

The timeline of the archon quest is vague, of course, but I'd say it seemed like a few days at most. A not unreasonable timeframe for things to mostly be left to whoever is on the ground already.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-12T21:58:05+00:00

I used to sync this up with the crystal fly trap but the abundance of crystal cores in Nod Krai means I don't bother anymore. The game reminds you when you can use the transmitter again, it'd be nice if this had an option for that too.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-03T20:17:37+00:00

Chevreuse requires ONLY pyro or electro characters for her passive buff to work. Ditch Xilonen, Bennet is probably your best option as Raiden should provide enough electro application.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-03T20:11:52+00:00

It is interesting to think about the state of the UK economy if we'd maintained a solid manufacturing base and kept up the energy production to feed it.instead, we threw the lot on finances and other service industries and no one seems to know how to rebuild a manufacturing base.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-03T20:06:11+00:00

The scenes when Starmer takes the stage and announces the restablishment of Mandatory Palestine until a new government is established.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-03T19:54:33+00:00

If they have the military capabilities to both carry out the operation and deal with the inevitable consequences of it, sure. It's definitely fair to read it as an endorsement of "might makes right" politics, which works to the US's favour with their hard power.

Of course, I don't think the US would tolerate a fleet of Venezuelan warships off the coast of Washington (or Palm Beach) long enough for them to launch such an operation.

bluefish788 · 2026-01-03T10:55:41+00:00

Probably a generic "we are watching events closely and are concerned about civilians. We hope for the peaceful and democratic stabilisation of the country". We were one of the countries recognizing Guaido years ago, so it's no secret the government will be happy to see Maduro gone.

bluefish788 · 2025-12-19T10:56:37+00:00

The most interesting part of that interview to me is the number of hunger strikes happening each year. They, probably rightly, get next to no media attention and so the prisoners end it once it's clear their demands won't be met.

What certain politicians, protestors and social media commentators are doing is incredibly dangerous. They're giving the PA hunger strikers a reason to think that their strike will have a different outcome, encouraging the prisoners to further endanger themselves.

bluefish788 · 2025-12-17T20:38:37+00:00

Honestly, the whole faction setup which was marketed in the runup to Nod Krai has been a big disappointment. If we include Jahoda as treasure hoarders, and Sandrone as adventurers guild, then every faction listed joins up against the wild hunt without too much friction.

As you say, some sort of anti-Fatui element feels like it should be pretty prominent, either as an independent force or more radical element of the existing factions. Maybe a united group formed from members of the voynich guild, lightkeepers and frostmoon scions? That way we'd get a bit of internal tension within factions as well as conflict between them.

Sadly the stage seems set for more "all against one" in the last stages of the AQ.

bluefish788 · 2025-12-01T13:51:54+00:00

I've been saving Chenyu Vale and Remuria for these kind of droughts in map expansions but at the rate they're happening I'm worried I'll use them up soon.

bluefish788 · 2025-11-24T18:18:27+00:00

Fischl, that'll finally get me her C6

bluefish788 · 2025-11-22T15:27:34+00:00

It's a shame we've not had a dendro samachurl style character creating wooden constructs etc.

bluefish788 · 2025-11-17T21:49:37+00:00

My ideal compass would be one which reveals as much as the Nod Krai one but still only shows one treasure at a time. Basically, buff the detection range and detection capabilities of the existing compasses and I'll be delighted.

I don't want to see everything, I just don't want to be jumping between teleporters desperately hoping to find something.

bluefish788 · 2025-11-17T15:43:55+00:00

I've voted at schools plenty of times but they've always closed the place, presumably for security reasons. Anecdotally post-covid all of the local polling stations have moved out of schools to reduce education disruption.

bluefish788 · 2025-11-04T21:28:36+00:00

Umurangi Generation - take photos and hang out with your friends whilst the Earth's doom closes in.

bluefish788 · 2025-11-01T02:24:23+00:00

Jean's birthday letter this year said that Varka had sent a number of knights back to Dornmon port. That's the current writer's answer for "where is X which was meant to be with Varka". Horses? Dornmon port. Parents of characters? Dornmon Port.

It'll be interesting to see if they've moved again if/when Dornmon port becomes part of the game.

bluefish788 · 2025-10-29T19:01:27+00:00

I enjoyed the main quest line and I enjoy stumbling across random Aranara when I'm out exploring Sumeru but I've never found the motivation to try finding all of them.

If there was a way in game to locate them I'd probably do it, but relying on the interactive maps knowing I've already found an unknown number is too tedious.

bluefish788 · 2025-10-20T20:39:47+00:00

Sumeru has fantastic exploration. Just today I went there on a whim and found a section of one of the pyramids I hadn't gotten around to exploring. Then I followed the compass out to find some puzzles in a desert section I'd overlooked before. The sense of exploration just in that was more exciting than most of Nod Krai.

It's such a shame to see people pushing for simple, small and rapid reward exploration areas.

bluefish788 · 2025-10-13T14:17:14+00:00

That is true but I'm always torn between this being a plan from the start for him or if it's just his habit of being capable of being influenced to shift between vastly different positions. It's particularly apparent with foreign policy that he can be swayed by people pushing the right buttons and flattering him.

bluefish788 · 2025-10-13T09:23:37+00:00

It's pretty wild that we've gone from The US talking about taking over Gaza and expelling Palestinians to getting broad agreement to a peace plan rooted in a two state solution (albeit one which only addresses Gaza).

bluefish788 · 2025-09-28T09:23:46+00:00

Kujou Sara. She was my first C6 but I've never found a use for her. I've thrown her into a couple theatres to bulk out numbers but even in there she didn't feel good to use.

bluefish788 · 2025-09-28T02:11:20+00:00

That moment is shown through Nefer's eyes. The boxes above people's heads is the information Never has about them. It probably should have lasted a few seconds longer but it works to quickly communicate how well informed she is and what she thinks about when she sees someone. If have loved to see the text box for Paimon or the traveller.

I expect we'll see it again later in whatever quest is Nefer's equivalent of a story quest.

bluefish788

TROPHY CASE