#I know she defied Celestia for the people of Fontaine

[starcurtain]

Focalors, at the bottom of the sea: Is it really worth it, to risk everything to defy Celestia and return the hydro authority to a dragon sovereign?

The dragon sovereign:

Focalors, penning that letter ASAP: You know what? This one's for us.

[salemsrealm]

i have a theory. a genshin theory. a venti theory.

spoilers for entire game up to now.

In the finale of the most recent archon quest, focalors returns the power of the hydro throne to neuvilette. when he did his cool hydro thing to save the people of fontaine his little hair tails got longer and he looked a bit more hydro dragony

(screenshot from "The Death of a God | Genshin Impact" MaxLeveL on Youtube)

In the finale of the Mondstadt Archon quest, Dvalin gets a similar upgrade in appearance after saving the gang from falling to their deaths.

okay, so you know what i'm getting at here. so, let's establish some things.

neuvilette is the hydro dragon sovereign,

the dragons who are also known vishaps, were the previous civilization of tevat before the descenders and humans

in the 3.1 livestream Enjou (the abyss herald from enko) referred to dvalin as a vishap

dvalin has been around for about 2000 years, helping venti with mond

therefore, for this theory, it can be inferred that Dvalin is a potential new anemo dragon sovereign

but why do i think that venti was able to give Dvalin the power of the anemo throne back, like focalors did for neuvilette

the answer has to do with venti's trickster tendencies, forgery abilties, and his connection to the god of time.

so here's a quick rundown of the venti stuff:

he's a liar and trickster who tends to redirect most conversations hes in (watch any cut scene he's in)

he's known for forging things, from Morax's signature, to the Holy Lyre at the end of the mond archon quest

in Venti's trailer it is said he is "full of mystery, born from the branches of time, a history of glory and sorrow, a witness to the divine"; he also says is one of the thousand winds, the thousand winds is an epithet for the god of time; venti and the god of time were worshipped together at the thousand winds temple; venti used anemo powers to draw memories from the past during ludi harpastrum; and although he tends to be humble as a god, he does brag that there is not a song he doesn't know, past, present, or future; there is so much more

so, when focalors gives the hydro throne power back to neuvilette, it's in the shape of a watery orb. in the mond quest, as the gang is leaving old monstadt on the back of dvalin, venti sends an anemo power orb to dvalin, causing dvalin to light up all anemo and state "is this... the power of the anemo archon?" and questions it, venti responding that he is giving him proper freedom.

okay but it took focalors a lot of work to trick celestia and gather power to destroy the throne. focalors was not just trying to give back the power to neuvilette, that was just one of her goals. she was also trying to defy a judgement from celestia (known to turn people into hilichurls for accessing forbidden knowledge, and dropping nails onto misbehaving civilizations) That is why her plan is so convoluted. and successful.

why do i think venti could do something similar. because he lies about how powerful he is. when signora takes his gnosis, he could have just turned into wind and left. it's literally one of the first things we see him do. instead he just blows wind at her and talks in rhyme (like he does when he's performing). he says he's the weakest archon because of his non visibility and amount of worshippers, but out of the nations we've seen, he's got one of the most visible and active worship bases out of all the archons. he also tends to sleep during time of peace, ostensibly to stave off erosion, but it could also be a way to collect power over time.

we also know he doesn't like celestia, saying he wouldn't visit even if invited, and having that trauma flash in the manhua.

i think it is possible that the anemo throne is already destroyed, either in the past, or recently; or that it will be in the future, but venti was able the draw the power back into the past so that it could not be intercepted by a third party (tsarista, who wants to destroy celestia). we have seen time powers maintain an illusion from the present to the past (the great sakura tree was grown in the present, but also in the past thanks to istaroth and makoto). it is not far fetchted to think that ability could be used similarly on the throne.

venti, who cares for dvalin like family, returns the power of the anemo sovereign back to him, but uses time to keep up the illusion of the throne until such time that illusion is no longer needed. the throne is either already destroyed or will be destroyed, but the power is in dvalin. venti pretends to loose the gnosis to keep up the illusion to celestia that he is nominally loyal to them, but without the gnosis, he is now truly free

"Is this... the power of the anemo archon?"

Genshin Impact Venti Archon Quest Prologue Full Story Gameplay (Eng Dub) Bluemeat GG on youtube

[nya-vivi]

Thoughts on Focalors and Focalors only (okay maybe I lied, about Furina and Neuvillette too). Uhh spoilers for absolutely all Fontaine Archon quests because is 3 am and I don't want to search which one is each.

Not proofread.

Focalors being the archon of justice because it is only rightful to give back usurped power, even if that means losing one's own life.

Because if we look at the problem in a pragmatic way, which Focalors was (that was why she divided Divinity and Humanity) using usurped power for generations only creates resentment (Apep) and resentment will only create conflicts. And we all know how conflicts end. With innocent people perishing and the powerful not. And usurped power is not fully yours. And it has drawbacks.

And Focalors knew all of this. So she created L'Oratrice. She created L'Oratrice to be worshiped in her stead. Not because she didn't believe in Furina, the exact opposite, she believed that Furina would perfectly play her role: to watch humanity, learn about it and reach the apex of humanity's visualization of divinity.

And that made Furina famous. And with fame unfortunately comes dehumanization, but in the end it helps. Divinity = not being human. And so, she creates L'Oratrice to be the idol. And we know that Archon's powers come from worshipping (that's why like a lot of ppl think Venti is one of the most powerful archons, but I won't talk about that). Anyways. She creates the thing that would hold all of Fontaine's belief. And she will put Neuvillette just above of it.

It paints a clear picture: Neuvillette = L'Oratrice, ergo, Neuvillette = Justice, ergo, Neuvillette is to be the next head figure in case anything happened to the Hydro Archon.

Did you see what she did there? She is manipulating everyone and I think it is fantastic. Anyways.

So she knows the pieces are perfectly placed. She needs the time to collect all the belief and become powerful enough to destroy the throne. No more hydro archon. No more usurpers in power.

And she loves humans. She loves humanity, and loves Furina above all. Her idea of humanity and everything she had wanted to be.

So she decides rather quickly, truly. Because time is of the essence and her people, humanity, deserves to be allowed to live in peace and not destroyed because of her predecessor's actions, as noble as they were.

And she knows usurped power is not powerful enough to defy heavenly decrees. So she waits, she waits and waits. She makes Neuvillette like humanity (how could not he, if Fontaine's humanity before this was simply one of them?), she avoids as much conflicts as she can. She makes amends. She makes Neuvillette Iudex, the judge, the law. And she makes Neuvillette understand the concept of Justice (how could not he? He understands injustice very well. It is in his own skin, in his predecessor's. But now he has three perspectives. Now he can be called just without bias).

And she is terrified, but she decides to die. She decides to stop Celestia to protect her people. Because usurped power creates conflicts. But if the usurper is not there anymore, what conflicts can be made?

And she dies. She destoys her throne. And Neuvillette becomes the next figurehead. And Furina can finally stop faking and suffering (a necessary sacrifice, unfortunately). And everything continues without anyone being none-the-wiser. She is only remembered by the people she wanted to be remembered.

Celestia loses this one. Humanity wins this one.

Because that's how it was meant to be, too, since the very beginning.

No archonhood. No hydro usurped power.

The thing about the hydro archons, above all, is that they loved their people. One doomed their people without them knowing, because she wanted them to be happy. Another doomed herself to make sure the people she (both) loved to much would make it. Even if she had to sacrifice herself. Because that was the only rightful move to do.

Because, above all, she is the Archon of Justice who can even judge the Heavenly Principles.

And she declares them guilty.

[ac-liveblogs]

Im no lore nerd, but I think the idea is that Focalors needed to sit inside the oratrice for 500 yrs in order to convert people's faith in justice into power. Then she could use the oratrice to destroy the gnosis. Gnoses are powered by stolen dragon power, so when the gnosis was destroyed, it went back to Neuvillette and he saved Fontaine. The prophecy still needs to be fulfilled, so the hydro archon must weep on her throne,

but focalors can't both be inside the oratrice and outside (ruling fontaine) so Furina needed to play the part of Focalors and weep on her throne in order to fulfill the prophecy. I think.

But the Gnosis wasn't destroyed, because that was given to Arlecchino at the end of the quest...

It seems like what was taken from the Sovereign Dragons were their 'thrones' (metaphorical? Equivalent to 'authority'?), and the Gnoses were created from the third Descender, which helps to channel/control elements etc. So an Archon = Authority/Throne + Ability to Channel Elements/Gnosis, and I think what Focalors destroyed was... herself/the Archon with that 'Authority', and that was then returned to Neuvillette?

But the thing is, it was sold specifically as 'fooling Celestia', and I distinctly remember them trying to 'defy fate' (the Hydro Archon did weep on her throne, but the people weren't dissolved). So like, if the people dissolving was a specific punishment Celestia was inflicting on Fontaine, I'd get trying to 'fool' them, but it wasn't - it was just a prophecy they made about something the Narwhal was going to do. And the Narwhal is from the Abyss.

Neuvillette talked like what was happening to the people of Fontaine was a specific punishment at the end of ch4 (this punishment is too harsh etc), but we know now that's clearly not the case, it's just a side effect of the Narwhal's movements. So was the idea that they just thought Celestia was behind this, but were wrong, because it was the Narwhal....?

Or if the idea was to 'fool' them long enough for Focalors to transfer the dragon power back to Neuvillette, okay - but now she's just done that, Celestia is free to retaliate however they like because there's no fake Archon to fool them anymore. If they like. And if they don't, then why bother fooling them? They're supposedly 'asleep' right now, do they care?

Like, this all seems to be predicated on the fact that they're trying to pull a fast one on Celestia by averting the prophecy, but Celestia isn't the entity responsible for what's happening. So like. What are they doing.

Unless Celestia making a 'prophecy' isn't them forseeing what's going to happen, but dictating it. If the sky is fake and fortunes are written in the stars, can Celestia then decide what the future is going to be? And that's what they needed to avert? ???? Has that been suggested anywhere?! Because if that's what it is, they did not explain it! And also, why would Celestia want the whale to... potentially destroy Teyvat...

;-;

[sniper-childe]

Some notes of a chili role swap au that I will never write

AKA 1.3k+ words worth of headcanons ft. Archon Childe and Harbinger Zhongli :D

Rex Mare / Celestial Vanguard / Flawless Lily

Has served Celestia for six thousand years. And like his devotion to the Tsaritsa, this Childe has a seemingly unbreakable bond with Celestia.

As the Archon of Justice, he is their judge, jury, and executioner. He upholds the Heavenly Principles more than any of the other archons.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own morals and sense of justice. He firmly believes that the most certain thing about our world is we know nothing—that we are all just fools—and that only by continually seeking knowledge and truth are we virtuous. This means he likes learning new stuff and mastering it. Kinda like how og Childe is with weapons but with basically everything.

This is the main value of the Land of Justice and it is the foundation of the many Schools of Thought. This is also why Snezhnaya’s best scholars are called the Fatui :D

However, the god is not as flawless as his people think. He refuses to see what Celestia truly is because of his faith. [insert here the complexities of letting go of your devotion that ultimately boils down to fear. Fear of retaliation to a rebellion, fear of a stripped identity without your faith, fear of the loneliness when you learn your god never existed in the first place and she is merely a collection of ideologies that you hold so closely to exonerate yourself of your blind eyes and bloody hands]

If you read the second story in my Ajax: Champion of Dreams series, you might realize I have some kind of religious trauma HAHAHAHAHDJGKG (living in an Asian country that is widely Catholic and Christian will do that to ya ;)) this is why I need the Fontaine Arc to be Anti-Church. I’ve mentioned this before but damn it. I NEED. Or at least touch the complexities of faith (and losing it) as mentioned above. You know? Of course, I don’t want it to be heavy-handed and Honkai handled this stuff well so I just— aaaaaa

Appearance: kinda like Taishakuten from Onmyoji but replace the lotus for the lily of the valley that actually chimes. They are the Damning Bells you hear before an execution.

Why lily of the valley? It’s the national flower of Serbia :D

Also, I know “cleansing bells” are more of an eastern thing but Catholics have bells too right? Bells are known to purify one’s soul or place of worship. If criminals think the god’s bells are damning, his followers revere them as their salvation. The cleansing of lilies in water—washing them of their impure thoughts and deeds. They are what gives them clarity so that they may hold court without bias.

To subvert the modern dystopia setting trope, Childe likes to come down from the White Palace to the valley and chill with the common people to ensure fairness among his subjects. This has made his country and its people endeared to him and he has become protective of them.

On one of his excursions, he meets a man from Liyue.

Fifth of the Seven Stars / Harbinger of Misery / Last of His Kind

五 (wǔ, the number 5) sounds like 呜 (wū) which is an onomatopoeia for crying. So number 5 in Chinese Numerology is considered unlucky.

Also yes, while the Tsaritsa needs Eleven Harbingers, Ningguang (the Geo Archon in this AU) only needs seven. She calls them the Qixing or the Seven Stars.

He is still a half-dragon, half-qilin but is far younger than og Zhongli.

About three thousand years ago, he slipped into a crack. He stayed in the Abyss for what seemed like 3 months but actually, millennia had passed in Teyvat.

In this world, Guizhong was the first Geo Archon but during the Cataclysm, she passed and Ningguang took the mantle.

Her death was not because of the Cataclysm though but because of her nature as an emphatic god—she didn’t approve of razing civilizations. She defied Celestia and paid the price. This is what sets Liyue’s vendetta against Celestia.

Appearance: He looks like White Asura. He wears a lot of white. A lot happened while he was gone and when he returned, it was tragedy after tragedy. And as a qilin-dragon and adeptus, he has a duty to Liyue and its people, so he’s immediately put to work. He hasn’t had the proper time to breathe and grieve. So he’s in an eternal state of mourning.

I actually have tried writing Zhongli, an immortal god who remembers everything, who is actively grieving (and it’s the hardest thing, let me tell you). I’ve imagined him trying to prolong his grief. I think he’d be the type of person to box it away because he has all the time in the world. Why should he have to face something that’s making him sad now? I think every stage of grief for immortals would take centuries.

So I think he actively supported Ningguang’s cause to not let himself breathe and grieve, not just to uphold the oldest contract. Because does he really deserve it when he wasn’t there to protect his family?

Anyways,,

A younger Morax was brazen and callous was canon, right? So I guess this is also what this Zhongli is. And he fell into the Abyss before the Golden Age of the Guili Assembly. So I think he’s more of an isolationist here like how other adepti are. He probably acts a lot like Xiao but has more bite and bark.

He was sent to Snezhnaya to steal the Hydro Archon’s gnosis. There he meets a man, picking lilies by a stream that leads to the sea. And he makes the first friend he’s ever had in… too long.

PS. Here is a picture of White Asura LOL. Listen His and Taishakuten's story feels like a chili role swap au. Go look them up, you won't regret it.

Some worldbuilding stuff that nobody probably will care about because it doesn’t have anything to do with chili BUT this is here so that you can imagine what would be their first meeting like, what would be their first impressions of each other, how would they act around each other, etc. (I actually have my own imagined scene at the bottom hajasdhh)

Snezhnaya is mountainous that is good for fortress-like cities. From the tallest mountain, water falls from the White Palace (even at such a high altitude, the Hydro Archon keeps the water flowing) down to a river that leads to the sea. This river cuts through the valley that the mountains surround.

The forts and castles in the mountain region are home to the nobles. While the valley is for the farmhands and common folk.

The class system is such that philosophers are considered the nobility. Social mobility is possible through the Imperial Exams. If you’re good enough to bullshit through essay questions that test your ethical, logical, and legal knowledge, then you can have a piece of land and a title :D

Ever since the Cataclysm, and the death of Guizhong, the diplomatic relationship between Liyue and the other nations has been strenuous. Maritime trading has become less ideal but there is a small port in Snezhnaya (Morepesok) that connects the country to the others.

Liyue’s main trade has become highly regulated. Export has become more expensive and has become a symbol of status among the rich and powerful outside the nation. Handwoven silk now sells at a minimum of 10 million mora!

Liyue has the best relationship with Mondstadt. The in-land trade between these two nations is the “only way in” to Liyue so to speak.

Liyue was the Land of Commerce so when it closed off itself from the rest of the world, there was an economic collapse. Self-sustaining cities have survived this but there have been less fortunate ones.

I mostly focused on class and symbols of status and wealth because I imagine that in their first meeting… Childe looks like a fisherman. And from an outsider, that must mean he’s illiterate, right????? Imagine the insult to everything sacred to Snezhnaya when Liyue’s diplomat actually thought that the Archon of Justice and Court Trials doesn’t even know how to read or write. Imagine Zhongli actually having so much money that he’ll splurge it on the poor fisherman he’s somehow befriended. IMAGINE!