The returning mention of the winter and its lights was the Genshin Impact Account on Twitter. Casually, a mildly calming post displayed Arlecchino, Columbina, and Sandrone, Harbingers of the Fatui in their finest and laziest relaxation, cake and wine to hand, in front of a fireplace.

The post was made even chirpier by its romantically captioned references to snowflakes and the stupendous days to follow; lucky they are. Alas, then the whole post was transformed at breakneck speed by the Genshin player base into something absurd and wonderful. How could it have been any different?

At first, it was simply a very pure holiday greeting, but as quickly as was humanly possible, the players began to notice that something was off. The image had been reuploaded. “There was an error with the images in the post. The correct images are now displayed! Sorry for the inconvenience,” the accounts needed to clarify to Dearest Travelers! So this is where the fun began.

Responses that would, in any other situation, be hailed as a masterclass in gamer culture. Forensic investigation: ‘error with sandrones sleeve so they reuploaded the image, but in the process they somehow got a giant blob on arles plate.’; ‘columbina was holding a plate of corn in the first one,’ said yves (@cynoimpact). A plate of corn! Why? No one knows. But it’s very funny. Oh so darling. The community was practically making a forensic analysis of a damn digital Holiday artwork.

And then, ultimately, what else? The moment men from the official Genshin account start using the words “apologize” and “error,” out roars the band of “apologems”. It’s given. Comments like, “apologems please good sir” would fill up the comment section. @ItsukiBalls, “Unplayable, 1600 primogems now 🧘🏽‍♀️,” demands @khaslanamydei. Why not even try chatting on business matters, some wondered? “no worries. a 10 pull would suffice.” Aaah, tradition. A microscopic graphical hiccup? 10 pull, miHoYo says the players.

The anticapitalist faction aside, the tweets reveal ever more about how much people love these characters. The tweets are quite greedily warm. To note, Tartaglia (Childe) finds his environment tickling the fancy of merriment. In particular, @pregnantsylus posted, ‘love how childe is there too 😭😭😭.’ Other lovingly remembered the late Harbinger, Signora, because “The goat Signora is there in spirit,” so tweeted @pachlado, “RIP white blob 🙏🏻” from @KotoriMint5, a nod toward her…unique fate in the story. The community’s passion extends to other platforms, with many fans debating characters on PlayStation and Xbox forums as well.