English is indeed my first language.

Xiao is one of the 5 Yaksha and has lived for over 2000 years despite his young appearance.

I'll probably make a proper Xiao rundown post at some point but for you to understand them as a whole we're going to skip around his lore a bit.

Before he was a Yaksha Xiao was enslaved by an ancient and cruel god forced to do cruel things against his will before being freed by Rex Lapis.

Xiao joins a new contract with Rex Lapis this time of his own free will and joins the Yaksha who battle and help cleanse the karmic debt marring Liyue.

Due to how much of a toll this takes on a person (or illuminated beast) all of the other Yaksha's have succumbed to madness, died, or went missing presumed dead.

Xiao, being the lone survivor isn't free from the effects of karmic debt either, cause his pressure is slightly corrosive to normal mortals and for him to always be suffering, in pain, and near the brink of losing himself to madness as well.

Despite his contract having long been fulfilled Xiao still chose to keep watching over Liyue and to protect her people from afar. Wearing the mask of the Yaksha, the silent but ever-present warrior.

Venti is one of the 7 Archons and is over 2500+ years old despite his also shockingly young appearance.

He is know as the god of music and songs, of festivals, and of freedom.

Venti having suffered the great loss of his close friend due to them participating in the overthrowing of a cruel dictator. After gaining a proper form he takes the aperance of this lost friend to hold onto and honor their memory.

Fast forwarding a bit (If you're unfamiliar with Venti's lore I ask you do go look into it it's fascinating)

Throughout the year venti takes the mask of a carefree bard intermingling with his people and taking a backseat to let his people rule themselves.

Despite this he is shown to still take his job as Archon pretty seriously going out of his way to visit other nations to collect souls of his citizens and guide them back to Mondstadt.

He is also shown to not be as carefree (we see him very serious on multiple occasions always stepping up to the plate when needed) still bearing his responsibility and grief despite his happy-go-lucky demeanor.

Now to Xiaoven's interactions in lore and canon! (So weird they have interacted in canon now and not just through lore. Man I feel old.)

Xiao nearly lost himself to his karmic debt in Dihua Marsh during the middle of the dark night, collapsing to the ground in agony, but was miraculously saved by the sound of a flute.

The song gives him a desperately needed reprieve from the pain and quiets his mind. The beautiful flute song lasts all the way to the morning light where it leaves Xiao in a much better state than when it started.

Xiao having already been saved by one of the seven, rightfully assumes that the stranger who saved him the second time must also be an Archon.

The character story implies it's Venti with wording like "carried by the wind" but it is fully confirmed to be him in Xiao's story teaser.

Xiao is a character who takes life debts and being saved very seriously, but Venti would accept a service contract like Rex Lapis, so the way this moment affects him is quite different than how him being freed did.

So not being able to repay him, this moment lingers with Xiao and develops into a "sweet dream" of a gentler life where he can finally put down his blade and wear his mask for a proper dance instead of the "Nuo Dance of Evil Conquering". Accompanied by the sound of that lovely flute being played for him once more in Dihua Marsh.

Because karmic debt likes to erupt during human celebrations and very specifically on Lantern Rite. In one of the collectable books, it's implied that either Venti comes to visit Xiao every Lantern Rite to help ease the extra burden the holiday brings him, or that Xiao plays the melody for himself to remember that serene moment. Both may also be true: Venti coming to visit some years and Xiao playing when he doesn't.

Lantern rite become the main pillar of their interaction in canon.

During a lantern rite a few years back, we see on screen that Venti came to visit Xiao (he is clearly doing better because of this and even the traveler points this out and Xiao said it was because he met up with an "old friend") this lantern right his entire reason for being in Liyue clearly a cover up for him coming to visit Xiao and help him.

During this dinner Xiao is is seen to be uncharacteristically shy and demur stumbling over himself whenever something with Venti comes up. Which is adorable considering his normal personality.

Last but not least is the Endless Suffering teaser! In this Venti is drinking on the roof of Wangshu Inn (Xiao's base of operations honestly) and in typical Venti fashion offers him a drink (and sniffs him heh) and while Xiao declines wanting to rest he does so implying that they have potentially drunk together before and/or will do so in the future, just not tonight.

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For so long these two had 0 on screen interactions and trying to explain that there was actually a deep connection between them was such a losing battle.

Now on to the appeal of Xiaoven from a shipper's viewpoint.

Other than that very obvious things like opposite attract and grumpy gap moe x cutie who experienced the horrors.

These two have such a deep connection not only as savior and saved, but as two people who have been through so much but both want a happy life full of song and dance. And what they have been through mirrors each other's trauma and pain to the point they are both uniquely suited to understand the other.

What is romance if not understanding and the desire for a softer life within each other's worlds? What is more romantic than understanding each other in a way impossible for anyone else to understand?

And despite the distance of their homes the effort they go through (especially on Venti's side for a moment together is so touching.

Xiaoven is one of those ships I truly think you have to dig through canon with and understand both characters beyond a superficial level to really love and appreciate.

Anyways I'm getting to the ramblings stage so I'll leave this off here.

Sal Fisher is a chill guy who has long blue hair he wear's in pigtails, he was disabled and deeply traumatized at a young age by the death of his mother and a gun shot wound to the face. This left him with major scaring on his face and without an eye, he uses a white and pink prosthetic mask do to the insecurities he has around scarring.

Outside of his trauma and the horrific circumstances surrounding canon Sal is all around a very empathetic and caring person.

He gets miss gendered, mocked, and questioned for his pigtails multiple times thought the game and he gently explains to those who are genuinely curious and defense himself and his friends from purposely antagonistic comments.

Despite being willing to stand up for them He seems to not enjoy conflict or a physical violence much preferring more pacifistic ways of problem solving.

Travis Phelps is a queer teen who is closeted and lashes out violently because of it. His father is a lot of bad things (being the one who shot Sal) but he is also a religious zealot and pastor of the local church.

He often lashes out at Sal and his openly queer friend group often call them slurs, degrading them, and is sometimes physically violent in a misguided attempt of suppressing his own crush on Sal and queer identity.

We as the player find this out by finding him crying in the boys bathroom and a crumpled up confession note next to the trashcan talking about how boys shouldn't feel this way about other boy's.

Going back to Travis's father for a minute before it's important to how fans view this ship:

Many fans believe that Travis's father is physically abusive twords Travis because of his violent tendencies and his black eye. Alot of people emulate the violence they see and or receive so it's a common explanation for Travis's behavior.

Now what in cannon makes people ship Salvis as a whole.

When Sal finds Travis in the bathroom and his note he stays and comforts Travis despite how much Travis has antagonized him and his friends in the past. He offers kindness and support and we see it get through to Travis to a degree.

After a lot of canon's plot goes down— which we won't be getting into if you don't know how we get to what I'm about to talk about next you need to not be reading this and be playing the game instead — and Sal is set to be executed Travis shows up for his execution.

And after that Travis sacrifices his life to stop his father and his cult from hitting the not so metaphorical doomsday button.

In canon Travis's crush on Sal doesn't develop into an actual relationship but is shown to have a pretty big impact on Travis and his character arc as a whole.

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Okay we're at the section i have the most thin to yap about so buckle up.

I feel like a lot of Salvis's appeal comes from the fantasies of:

Being forgiven for the fucked up shit you did when you were suffering and loved anyways.

Being seen and saved from a horrible situation and comforted and cared for by someone you love and who cares about you in turn.

Being able to help someone you love who you know is suffering even if there lashing out because of it.

Alot of fans also project there own fundamentalist upbringings and trauma onto Travis and Sal so that also brings a level of catharsis and comfort to their shippers. Plus the inherent tragedy of both of their outcomes also has a level of appeal all on its own.

Another thing I wanted to mention was the other confirmed queer characters in Sally Face. Neil and Todd Morrison are both gay men who are not so coincidentally dating!

As a game who ran from 2016-2019 it's honestly has what I would consider a more realistic (considering how bizarre and strange the series is that feels a little weird to say) representation of a queer highschool friend group I've seen to date.

Alot of the characters sexualitys are purposefully left ambiguous and Sal as a character over all is just so important to me.

Overall: