#venti theory

[iamcassian]

WHO WANTS TO HEAR ME YAP ABOUT VENTI BEING THE ARCHON OF DEATH SOMEONE PEALSEPELAPLEAPSELPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

[mulworn]

i have this hc/theory abt the ad oblivione, time loops, istaroth and venti (ad oblivione is mentioned in the aranara quest) where istaroth created the ad oblivione by giving birth to the thousand winds - she is time itself while they are erosion, like the sun and its rays! - and let them experience everything in the original timeline, then afterwards she formed the thousand winds into the ad oblivione, creating the time loop, then repeating the cycle with new winds until the loops are complete (yk that note in fontaine that goes through all the calamities/loops? hyperborea, etc? yeah) and mond is the end which is why its so important

venti was a part of the original thousand winds and escaped when istaroth formed the ad oblivione, which is why that note in the thousand winds temple/nameless island is a thing (ill get the actual sources later, just getting thoughts out 😭) and also why he’s considered the prodigal son

reason i wrote this all is bc i was doing ‘research’ (doing my once in a blue moon scroll on twitter and looking at theories) and later saw this poem abt the brain organoids on tiktok and and ☹️

[anilyan]

Venti theory before i go to sleep

Edited 30/7/2024: I wrote a proper theory post here

Not so crack theory: Venti is Phanes and is the androgynous being born of the alchemical marriage between the Primordial One and Istaroth, before she was betrayed by the Sinners

(I should really go to sleep)

Also yes, I also think Istaroth has the ability to create alt looms of fate through those seeds she gives away, those basically grow into trees that are databases not controlled by Celestia

And I am using this lore in my old mondstadt fic, Nameless (actually soon to turn into trilogy, since vol 2 is about venti rewinding time and vol 3 is present time story and I took so long to plan all the lore with all the canon crumbs and theories we had...)

Here is extra stuff I claimed in my fic and repeat in the notes of chapter 14, that basically got confirmed in some of the next videos:

Teyvat is theoretically 2 worlds, the version we know and the mirror world. Not sure if the mirror world is the abyss but I chose to go with that for the fic. But it’s likely, and we can even see similar world structures in Honkai Star Rail, especially in Penacony, where the world there is literally mirrored and a dream too.

Cycle: People die » are absorbed by the roots » are supposed to travel to the top of the world tree (inverted, so top is in abyss) to become Irminsul fruit / stars » said stars form constellations that determine people's fate, or more accurately, since they are all in a dream, are data that allows the tree to predict their fates » it’s because people exist as stars that their fates and presence can be summoned in the form of shooting stars

Dainsleif confirmed that the leylines can be woven to determine Fate / have their records changed. The Loom used to weave them is a Symphony, or in other words, Remus’ Symphony of Fate is very similar or the same thing as the Loom of Fate. Add to that some Penacony’s parallels, and you can infer that the Symphony is controlled in the floating palace , that is actually a Grande Theater, by the Sun(day) (potentially Phanes), and it’s reflected by the moons (Aria, Sonnet and Canon, so the musical associations are fitting). Considering that the 3 moon sisters are also probably the mythological Moirai who weave Fate, yeah, that tracks.

I made up the part about the seeds given by Istaroth being used to create an alternate database that can contradict the information on Irminsul, but who knows, maybe I got it right. I mean, just recently I saw people associate her with Khaenri’ahs soldiers because they used the 8 pointed Ishtar star in their uniforms, so with her, anything is possible. Venti got a badass mom.

Some videos I suggest that basically confirmed some of the ideas I am going for (and that explain several of the reasons I say what I say):, from most recent and relevant to oldest and not so relevant

[cirkkaa]

Oh merciless god of time, when will you have enough?

[conqueenror]

I love Mondstadt sm, and it's not because it is the "home region", but because it is a mysterious and sometimes even creepy region when you dig a little bit further

[cloudsnroses]

The theory that Teyvat is enclosed in a false sky/prison is so devastating to venti specifically because it means that Nameless bard (and the rest of old Mondstadt’s people) never truly saw the sky, they left their old prison only to enter a larger one. They died for nothing in a sense

I think that makes good reason for Venti to turn against celestia

[cincincinnanom]

Okay but to add to this it's heavily implied venti is (part of/a fragment of/or) istaroth and we all lore deep dwellers know that Istaroth is part of Pahnes (ruler of teyvat/ king of celestial/ the first decender) so that means through basically osmois of God like entities Venti would know how to get out of teyvat right? Also if you look at the seals made from (what is likely) venti's power the end depictions look at lot of skyfall nails right? We already know of two of them (at least) one in Mondstadt the other the deepest part of the chasam. While (from what I remeber) we don't have the exact details on why the skyfrost nail was put down we do know that the chasm nail was put down to seal the abyss. (From what I remeber at least)

So what I'm getting to is that for venti we know that he's depicted with three larger points to the rings and six rings inside. While other depictions (from likely the abyss) have four points on the inside and four on the outside.

Venti is depicted with both the eight pronged rings and the nine pronged ones. Now seven is a very important thing in genshin lore, seven nations seven elements you know. Not including kan'riegah (I didn't spell that right oh well) we basically know of nine independent nations (in past and current) Mondstadt, dragonspines nation, liyue, inazuma, enkanomiya (watatsumi and the nation that turned into enkanomiya), sumeru, natland, and Snezhnaya, makes nine nations.

Mondstadt has long sense implied to be one of the purest nations, mostly untouched by war, the cataclysm didn't impact much, being pretty peaceful with dragons. We know that anemo has purity powers much like that of dendro that is untouched by withering. But you can't really wither the wind can you? In fact wind is a very strong erosdent have you seen what wind can do to store or growing trees it's amazing.

So it's pretty clear that Mondstadt will be where the final abyss battle will take place. Hell we've seen venti purify dvalin in front of us! It's pretty clear that the abyss take down will be in Mondstadt. That is were we can guess the game will end and then we will accend to Celestia which we've also only seen in Mondstadt. The game starts there the game will end there. Venti is the key. He practically says it himself.

Changes for the better tiny seeds of hope? Huh where'd we get the idea to look for our twin where has most of the betterment of everything happened? It makes sense we know venti can teloport and do other wacky things the other archons can't. It also seems he's preserving information from iurminsul through poetics as we know it doesn't change fiction stories or songs. It wouldn't make sense for that unless venti is the gateway to the end

Also

These look at whole lot like ceclilas while in the beginning of the trailer they don't. We have multiple references if a dandelion and cecilia court and/or sea. Also with how Dain says everything it sounds like there will be nine chapters in total however if Mondstadt being the prolog chapter that means for there to be seven chapters in full there has to be an epilog the second Mondstadt chapter.

Personally from everything in the lore venti is the insighting incident and will likely be the catalyst to the end of this story.

So anywas to put in words what this means venti is the beginning and ending of this story through the fa t he can purify our blood ridden souls after we defeat the abyss and dain and is how we leave because he's been weaving threads of time and hope to ensure we get our happy future. And we leave by venti seals that are placed along with the abyss ones too. Also I thing we'll see more skynails in the future to see them make the teloport rings around teyvat.

Anyways yeah I just spent thirty minutes writing this have a good night

Has this random event in Mondstadt ever been followed up on?

The screenshot doesn't show it well, but it produces the same feather particles Venti does except in abyss purple. We already know he has some history with the abyss but this is extra sus.

[akko-kagori]

One thing that I find absolutely fascinating about Genshin and it's story is it's theme of questioning godhood and absolute authority. This doesn't sound all that interesting, until you remember that Genshin is a chinese game, meaning that the people who created Genshin were under the "control" (or at least eye) of the ccp, a government with absolute authority. Remember the strict regulations and the censorship that China rolled out for their media, Genshin Impact breaks and blatently ignores SO many of these rules that there's an 18 minute video listing out every regulation they break and rule they ignore.

Like the sumeru story quest literally is all about overthrowing the authoritarion leadership and in the Inazuma quest you literally go to war with it's god in a civil war with the vision hunt decree

It's 6pm and I was making a honey I'm home AMV when this struck me, I could go full matpat on this but honestly I want to get back to my editing, I'm only posting this so that I don't lose the thought, so just know that this is the funniest fucking picture I've ever seen in my entire life

And what's even funnier about it is the way hoyo COMPLETELY disregarded it, because recently (and by recently I mean like 6 months ago) Lyney came out, he's wearing a corset, when his trailer came out the Korean fanbase got pissed because he was to Twinkie, his main colors are black and pink (or at least a pinky red).

I mean, LOOK AT HIM, Lyney's design is the biggest fuck you to censorship I've ever seen

(also if you're confused on how they're getting away with breaking all of these rules, hoyo is a top tax payer so they let it slide <3)

[kaeyachi]

Kaeya keeps talking about fate. He keeps mentioning it somehow.

On some occasions, he talks about wanting to change or reject fate - to take a step back or exit the stage. Most of the time, he actually ponders on its inevitability.

It's as if his life is under fate's grip to the point that this "fate" is the reason for everything to him.

To name just a few voicelines off the top of my head:

"-destined to be doomed together" (GAA), " Alas, is this fate's grand design?" (Kaeya story quest)," It's up to the whims of fate." (imaginarium theater)

We, however, have been hearing things about fate for quite some time now...namely the most notable one being the Loom of Fate that was carried by Caribert, an Alberich, for several centuries. It's a specific item(?) that could allegedly alter the leylines and change the story. (change fate, as Kaeya wishes to do)

Finally, Mavuika said, " There are those with the power to see the future. They simply call it by a different name - fate." (5.0 AQ) (fate is inevitable, as Kaeya warns us)

This is making me anxious for him...

[vampirellax]

the seelies are actually angels, but i always believed they are somehow related to venti... tho, i noticed something

i know it sounds stupid to point the wing thing bc he's the god that teached the art of flying but... idk, it just looks like there's more besides that

[nekosoda]

Umm soo I was minding my bussines,farming some artifacts when something caught my eye on the domain reward tree (I forgot its name :'c )

This is the tree im talking about:

The carvings behind the tree explain some stuff but something Ie noticed is that-

-These crowns or rings or whatever youd like to call it-you see,people find these crowns similliar to paimons little halo thingy-But-

Its hidden in plain sight-litteraly

[yaeggravate]

[vitaetmorsfilo]

you know how genshin has character stories, yes? the have chapters, the part about vision, and i suppose something, like, noteworthy or special to them? so i was looking through them, y'know, to freshen up my knowledge of them hehe

so here i am looking thru yoimiya's

owwww, how cute!! she measures happiness by how mush candy is left, my sunshine 🥰🥰🥰

love the usefulness, you go queen, don't listen to people who call it ugly

a gift 🥺🥺🥺 from her teachers 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 to keep her safe 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 my dear

...

what

so by that logic, the most important thing that we can learn, besides his backstory, is that he is very adept at forgery

and you know what is theorised to be forged by him?

that little trinket😃😃

and now we know that gnosis hold the power of dragon sovereigns

and right before that we see that

a) venti blesses dvalin with power of the anemo archon

b) venti can make temporary (but tangible) illusions

and i mean, story doesn't tell you useless information, it's either lore important or foreshadowing 👀👀👀

all that i'm saying is that the theory that venti returned the dragon powers to dvalin is very, very plausible

[anilyan]

Venti is Phanes + on Istaroth and the Primordial One

Not so crack theory: Venti is Phanes and is the androgynous being born from the Chymical Marriage between the Primordial One and Istaroth, before she was betrayed by the Sinners

(I posted this before but now it's properly explained)

I am using this lore in my old mondstadt fic, Nameless (actually soon to turn into trilogy, since vol 2 is about venti rewinding time and vol 3 is present time story and I took so long to plan all the lore with all the canon crumbs and theories we had...)

Yes, a lot of the info about gods is pulled from wikipedia, I’m not being paid to research more, okay? I just want to feed the brainrot. My main sources besides those are the videos listed at the end.

I would love if this theory made its way to some big lore content creator for them to analyse and criticize, because I have been rotating this in my head but I don’t have their capacity or knowledge to tear this apart.

NOTES:

This post contain minimal mentions of 2 leaks, about the rest of the collection of The Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies, and a sus minimal old leak about Venti

This post contains some references to the Penacony arc from Honkai star rail, but no knowledge about the game is required and in fact, I don't even play it myself and those are just sus parallels

0. Summary / main points

Istaroth and the Primordial One parallel Chronos (personification of time) and Ananke (most powerful dictator of Fate and mother of The Fates/Moirai), respectively.

Chronos and Ananke laid down the cosmic / orphic world that created/reshaped the world. In a way, that was an Alchemical Marriage, that also gave birth to the androgynous winged being Phanes/Venti, and to the Abyss,

Venti has many ties to fate, including extensive apple symbology visible even in wisp form. The apples, besides being a symbol of fate, also represent a dream bubble in accordance to the structure of Teyvat. Quoting his most sus birthday art, “It is written that there is a whole tiny world hidden inside an apple core”

Venti has at least some control over 1 half of Teyvat while the other half is ruled by The Night Mother/Nyx. He also offers us half of the apple in the mentioned birthday art.

Ananke was a serpent-like being, and we see a Black Serpent 1) coiled around Phanes 2) coiled around the pearl/cosmic egg in the Gnostic Chorus 3) in the Black Serpent Knights, who also had Ishtar/Istaroth’s star as a symbol 4) In Nibelung, if we consider serpents and dragons the same

Istaroth supported Khaenri’ah (thus why the Nation had her symbol) and both opposed the Heavenly Principles/Celestia, until she was betrayed by the Sinners/6 Pygmies and forgotten

The Primordial One was opposed by Celestia. We also know that Nibelung fought Celestia. They were either allies or even the same being (a black serpent), and their perceived opposition is not too different from how Remus went down misinterpreted by history

1. About the Primordial One

In case it’s not yet clear, this assumes that Phanes =/= Primordial One. After all, the book Before the Sun and Moon simply says that “The Primordial One may have been Phanes*”,* and the fandom just started equating the two.

I am of the opinion that the Primordial One and Celestia are in opposition, while Istaroth is on the side of the Primordial One, or at least opposed to Celestia too. Maybe the Alchemical Marriage was part of a plan of theirs. Read more about it in section 3.

And if the truth about Remuria taught us anything, is that some rivalries depicted in history are false. In the same way Remus went down as a Tyrant when in reality he never wanted to employ force and was even allied with Sybilla (a vishap), I would say that the Primordial One and Nibelung/dragons/vishaps probably found ways to coexist. We do know that Nibelung went to war against the Heavenly Principles/Celestia, but if Celestia and Primordial One opposed each other, that just makes an alliance between PO and the Dragon King more likely.

We don’t know if Primordial One = 1st Descender and Celestia = 2nd Descender, so I will avoid using those terms throughout the post. But if the 2nd who came = 2nd Descender = Celestia, then that would lend further credibility to the idea that Celestia and the PO are on opposing sides, since the 2nd who came basically stole PO’s ruling of Teyvat.

2. About Istaroth AND Khaenri’ah

Like I said above, I believe that Istaroth sides with the Primordial One and that both are in opposition to Celestia

Istaroth has the ability to create alt Looms of Fate through those seeds she gives away - those basically grow into trees that are databases of history outside the control of Celestia. I had already affirmed this for my fic before we got the 2nd Caribert quest, but at this point is practically confirmed.

Istaroth is based on Astaroth and Ishtar, and Ishtar’s morning star is an 8-pointed star just like the symbol of Khaenri’ah. And so the Black Serpent Nights probably served Istaroth in some way.

Khaenri’ah supposedly didn’t have a god, but let’s keep in mind Istaroth was forgotten by time. It’s also possible that, even if Khaenri’ah had a god, they still considered themselves the pride of humankind since Istaroth likely wasn’t associated with Celestia, as I mentioned

Speaking of Black Serpents, other prevalent Black serpents are the one in the Gnostic Chorus, and Nibelung, in a way (not sure if they are or not the same entity). So I would say that Nibelung is/was also allied with Khaenri’ah/Istaroth/Primordial One. Please refer to the section above for an explanation.

The 6 Pygmies and the Pale Princess is a book that is an allegory for the 5 Sinners of Khaenri’ah + Dainsleif and Istaroth. I include, at the end, a video that explains that properly and is very much worth the watch. From there (or at least, from the leaked volumes), we know that the Sinners basically betrayed Istaroth, which might explain why she ended up being forgotten and why Dainsleif is the only Pygmie that didn’t go fully down the Sinner’s path.

3. The relationship between the Primordial One and Istaroth

Like I say above, many things point to them being allied. At the very least, we can quite safely infer they both opposed Celestia/The Heavenly Principles and in turn allied with Khaenri’ah.

The cosmic/ orphic/world egg was created by Chronos (personification of time) and Ananke (most powerful dictator of Fate and mother of The Fates/Moirai). “Ananke and Chronos are mates, mingling together in serpent form as a tie around the universe. Together, they have crushed the primal egg of creation of which constituent parts became earth, heaven and sea to form the ordered universe.”

Ananke and Chronos have to be the PO and Istaroth - which one is which is a bit debatable, with their genders being a counterargument on its own. But I would say Chronos is Istaroth (due to her associations with time, although she is more a god of moments than of time) while Ananke is the Primordial One (who had the 3 moon sisters/moirai as shades + is probably the Dreamer/HSR’s SUNday parallel who plays the symphony that creates the fates reflected by the moons (read more in next section)).

The cosmic egg that birthed the world, together with the Abyss AND Venti, probably resulted from their Alchemical Marriage. I wouldn’t be too surprised if it was also the Gnostic Pearl depicted in the Gnostic Chorus cutscene, or even if the Black Serpent there was Ananke/Primordial One. In fact, that would only solidify the connections with the Black Serpent Knights and them wearing Istaroth’s symbol. And it would be extra funny if somehow the Primordial One and Nibelung were the same entity (since I already explained why I think they were are least on the same side)… and therefore were a black serpent/dragon.

Okay, but what is an Alchemical/Chymical Marriage? It’s a marriage between a Red King and a White Queen, the Sun and the Moon, gold and silver, sulphur and mercury. It’s sometimes pointed as the source of the Philosophers' Stone, and from that union of opposites is birthed an androgynous being. Btw, that marriage is facilitated by a dove, but this is off-topic and you can see why that is interesting in the last video linked. It’s also a process that sometimes involves ‘fermentation”, which is also off-topic but ties well with the wine-making process and other things mentioned in the last video too.

According to Jakob: "The Seal of Chymical Marriage was an ancient Fontainian ritual meant to seal off the source of life. Now it has been reversed, and all has been set free once more!" So, it can be used to separate the Primordial Sea from the world, which sounds similar to creating a world/pearl/philosopher’s stone/egg/dream bubble that floats in the sea of quanta or wtv is the logic used across Hoyoverse’s worlds. We confirm again this was necessary to create Teyvat's egg, and that the Primordial One couldn’t do it alone because two people are required for a marriage.

And do you know what Marriages also require? A ring. Who was escaping with a golden ring, that is an important figure of Khaenri’ah and the only Pygmy who didn’t act like the others/didn’t become a Sinner? Dainsleif, whose constellation is even a Serpent ring. May I point to the Das Rheinegold music drama, that is part of the series The Ring of Nibelung, and maybe use that as extra merit to associate the Primordial One with Nibelung?

4. About the world of Teyvat

Dragons = Vishaps = Sea slugs = Bees = Seelies. Yes. We already know that the the dragons and seelies in Genshin are based on irl sea slugs, I won’t elaborate on that. As for Bees, that is because we have seelie-like bees in Remuria, connected to the prophet Golden-Bee Sybilla (don’t mistake Sybilla with Sylla, who is a Dragon King, although I guess this is all the same family)

Teyvat is theoretically 2 worlds/halves, the version we know and the mirror world, that is probably the Abyss. Or maybe all of it is a mirror world, idk. We can even see similar world structures in Honkai Star Rail, especially in Penacony, where the world there is literally mirrored and a dream too. Some people say Teyvat is divided in 3 parts: the Light Realm, Void Realm, and the Human Realm. But I think the Pimordial One just transformed the Light Realm into the Human Realm, so there are still 2 parts only, and we know they can overlap anyway.

Cycle: People die » are absorbed by the roots » are supposed to travel to the top of the world tree (inverted, so top is in abyss) to become Irminsul fruit / stars » said stars form constellations that determine people's fate, or more accurately, since they are all in a dream, are data that allows the tree to predict their fates » it’s because people exist as stars that their fates and presence can be summoned in the form of shooting stars

Dainsleif confirmed that the leylines can be woven to determine Fate / have their records changed. The Loom used to weave them is a Symphony, or in other words, Remus’ Symphony of Fate is very similar or the same thing as a Loom of Fate, although maybe not at the same scale. It’s possible that other God-Kings also attempted to create their own Looms of Fate.

Add to that some Penacony’s parallels, and you can infer that the Symphony is controlled in a floating palace, that is actually a Grande Theater, by the Sun(day) (potentially Phanes or the Primordial One, basically the one who Dreams), and it’s reflected by the moons (Aria, Sonnet and Canon, so the musical associations are fitting). Considering that the 3 moon sisters are also probably the mythological Moirai who weave Fate, yeah, that tracks.

5. Finally, about Venti

Addressing the Venti is/isn’t the weakest Archon debate: Idk and I don’t quite care, because regardless of how much power he holds now, this theory is about his origins and role more than anything.

Venti is the one narrating the Gnostic Chorus cutscene, so clearly he knows about the origins of Teyvat and other important stuff. Yes, it can just be because of his ties to Istaroth who had the winds of time and bla bla, but I would say he has a bigger involvement.

In the Gnostic Chorus, there is a Black serpent, and I already mentioned how it ties with Khaenri’ah and Istaroth in the second section. Well, Phanes is a figure that has a serpent coiled around him too, Ananke, to be more precise.

Phanes was believed to have hatched from the egg of Chronos and Ananke (Istaroth and PO, section 3), OR Nyx in the form of a black bird and wind, OR from the cosmic /orphic egg placed in and hatched from Aether, who was the personification of the bright upper sky and another son of Chronos. Regardless, it seems like the egg birthed both Phanes AND the world?

Phanes is described sometimes as male, sometimes as androgynous. I don’t need to explain how that fits Venti. The androgynous part also fits with how a being born from an Alchemical Marriage should be androgynous due to being an union of opposites.

Phanes is also described has having wings and a crown. We are yet to see a crown, but at least the angel wings are there.

Some myths say that Phanes was Dionysus (god of wine… amongst other things), or Eros (god of love, yes I’m simplifying), and oh boy isn’t Venti the god of all of that too? Although this is complicated since it has to do with gods being iterations of past gods and such, you can read more about it here

In a certain play, after Phanes mates with Chaos, he creates flying creatures. It would also fit Venti well, especially given that tale from Amber’s Quest where he taught birds how to fly.

Okay, this gets less obvious now. Phanes is a first-born deity who emerged from the abyss and gave birth to the universe, and is a god of creation, light and goodness. The Abyss part is extra intriguing because the world has an abyss half, and some in-game books even compare wine with the Abyss, and also with the idea that drinking the abyss/wine is a way to acquire Forbidden Knowledge. Please, check the last video I link.

Phanes counterpart is Nyx (Night). In some tales she is Phane’s wife, sometimes his daughter, and in others she creates an egg from which Phanes is born, so wtv. I don’t know who Nyx is (besides being clearly The Night Mother from the book of the Six Pygmies), but it’s pretty clear that the Abyss half is under her responsibility in some way.

Oh, right, this was a sus leak that broke my mind months ago and seemed completely nonsensical, but since I started cooking this theory, I can’t help but look back at it. It claimed that Venti was the guide of the Primordial One. Humm… yeah, if Venti was part of a plan between Istaroth and PO, I can see that, although I don’t know what the goal could be. Maybe he is assuming Istaroth’s role now that she is gone in supporting the PO?

This is a very wild guess, but I really thing Venti has something to do with the Gnostic Pearl. Idk if that pearl is the same one that hatched the world, or something that holds the world together (think Mikha from HSR), but I can imagine him having some responsibility over taking care of it.

And if you think Venti holding Fate in his hands is a stretch… let’s talk about Apples. Especially in anime, Apples are often depicted as the fruit of Fate (look no further than Mawaru Penguindrum), and in Inazuma, the girl giving Fortune Slips is called Gendou Ringo, with Ringo meaning ‘apple’ in Japanese. Well… Mondstadt is a land full of apple trees, Venti loves apple cider and is often asking for apples to pay for his performances, is being given an apple in archon form in one of his birthday arts, created the Golden-Apple Archipelago, and even the top of his head in wisp form resembles an apple stem. Seriously, I go crazy with how many people never noticed that. This is too much in our face to not be relevant.

This sounds like a stretch, but apples are round and so the shape is not too different from a dream bubble. And do you know what the birthday art I mentioned had in the caption? “It is written that there is a whole tiny world hidden inside an apple core. Here, this half is for you. Let's take a stroll in the tiny little world. But remember to keep it a secret because... you're the only one I want to bring there.” If he isn’t holding Fate or a world in some way, then I don’t know what this is supposed to mean.

You know how I said that Teyvat is divided into 2 halves? That also connects well with his quote (when he gives us half of the apple/world), and with the idea that Phanes is the day while Nyx is the night. So maybe Venti is responsible for the half of Teyvat that we know/he gave us while Nyx is responsible for the Abyss side.

So… is there any proof that Venti is Phanes? No. Are there many many sus elements about him and connections with the things I listed? Yes. I could see the Traveler being Phanes and being entrusted the Light/Human half of Teyvat by Venti as a scenario just as likely, especially if The Abyss sibling ends up being/becoming Nyx, but I like this version more xD

But even if the main theory ends up being wrong, I hope people you got some things to think about.

Some videos for extra lore, more a less in order of relevance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZIR-tfzfd4 » Reinterpretation of all volumes of the Six Pygmies and the Pale Princess in light of finding out about the 5 Sinners of Khaenri’ah + Dain + connections of Istaroth with Khaenri’ah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK3xYKtUniQ » More about the connections between Istaroth and Khaenri’ah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePjY4c0Rj0k » Elaborates on how a Loom of Fate is basically another database, as opposed to the Irminsul, and mentios how Istaroth can could create several Looms of Fate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAm9uElsKd4 » Parallels with the Penacony arc from Honkai Start Rail and list of evidences that Teyvat is a Dream bubble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhST-fz6Yps » Video is from before we learned about the 5 Sinners, and I’m not fully sold on the chronology, but I still think it does a good job at elaborating n the serpent thing from the gnostic chorus and other things we can infer about genshin thanks to parallels to Penacony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHCv8KFdL6M&t=1045s » Ties sacramental bread and blood with wine and the way wisdom/abilities can be passed down thrown ingesting parts of gods, and the concept of fairy rings and The Ring of Nibelung, with the concept of a Chemical Marriage.

[carmendeiact2whenplz]

Things we don’t know about Old Mondstadt (that Hoyoverse refuses to tell us)

Aka things that haunt me (and probably many other old mondstadt fans)

(keep in mind- not all of these may be entirely unanswerable as of now, some have partial/vague canon answers, while some may have completely canon yet relatively obscure answers)

(for the sake of making things easier to write, i will refer to venti’s dead friend/the nameless bard as “nb” and the red haired warrior as “rhw”, and specifically wisp venti as “wispti”, and i will be referring to the group of wispti, nb, rhw, gunnhildr, and amos (and maybe decarabian too if he’s relevant in that context) as the “old mond gang”)

Note- lots of paragraphs ahead

1- why is nb nameless? does he just… not have a name? does he have a name that he either intentionally or unintentionally kept secret? did he have a name that he used openly and oftenly, but it was forgotten by history as time went on? if anything, did he at least have some sort of nickname people used for him (so we can stop calling him “some nameless guy or smth idk”)?

2- While nb being, well, nameless, may be a bit more justified, what about rhw? did he also have some sort of name? would calling him “ragnvindr” (or similar) be entirely un-canon? did he at the very least have some sort of code name/nickname?

3- what is the timescale of the rebellion? did it take weeks, months, years? decades? how long ago did thoughts of revolution start in old mondstadt? were the people always unhappy, or did old mond use to be a better place?

4- what is nb’s role in the rebellion? did he start it? is he just a leader in general? or is he just there for the moral support? was he on the front lines or in the distance, playing his lyre to rally the troops? is he a strategist? has he ever directly fought anyone on the opposing side?

5- actually, how old is nb anyway? pretty sure most people agree that the rest of the old mond gang are adults (not wispti but like. i’ll touch more on that later), but i’ve seen stories/theories/headcanons about how old nb was (at the time of death) ranging from around 14 to 23 years old- that is not a small range by any means. (according to a poll i made a while ago, 16 was the most common answer on what people thought their age was (my headcanon too), but there was definitely a lot of range in the answers)

6- If Amos and Decarabian’s romantic relationship is so toxic (for lack of a better word), how any why did they get together in the first place? Did amos enter the relationship aware decarabian was against some of the things she wanted most in life? did she enter the relationship purely to try to “fix” him? was he abusive towards her, or was it just a lack of attention/affection/caring about other things more than her? or was it that he never loved her/was attracted to her romantically at all? were they still in a relationship even until the very end, or did they eventually split up when they both knew they would have to fight eachother and that things wouldn’t work out between them?

7- according to the “biography of gunnhildr” book (i think that’s the name), it says they worshipped the wind spirit barbatos and treated it like a deity, while other sources say wispti was nameless and was like. just kinda there. is one of them the truth, or both, or neither?

8- does wispti have arms and/or legs of any kind? can he talk/communicate with people? if so, how does he go about doing so?

9- it’s implied in “a drunkard’s tale” (an ingame book) that the wind spirit that transformed into a fox and helped create wine is the same wind spirit as well. wispti. if that means wispti can shapeshift, to what extent can he do it? can he even become a human/humanoid (not to the same detail and/or time extent that modern venti/barbatos can do so but still)? if so, how does that impact his relationship with nb and/or the rest of the old mond gang?

10- how long did the members of the old mond gang know eachother? did most of them meet in relation to the rebellion, or did some of them know eachother before they got to that point?

11- what is the order of events between amos dying, nb dying, decarabian dying, barbatos getting the gnosis, barbatos taking nb’s form, the end of the fighting, and rhw leaving/abandoning (for lack of better words) everyone? how much time took place between all those happening?

12- what exactly are the purposes of the tower? is it just a living space/government building for decarabian and amos, or is there more to it? did other people live in the tower too? if the circular ruins/symbols seen in the tower present-day were also there back then, why and how are they there? are the light actuators in the tower related to anything involving decarabian’s power/immortality and/or the storm wall?

13- how impenetrable is the storm wall, really? is everything restricted from going in or out, or are some people able to move freely? what is the immigration/emigration rate of the city? how often are things imported and exported? does the wall have any intended purpose other than for keeping the blizzard out?

14- how did amos get her bow? why is it so (hypothetically) powerful? where did she get it and how did it “retain its power” to this day?

15- how “old” is wispti? he could theoretically be any “age” between “manifesting into existence shortly before his first interaction with nb” and 14 billion years old/as old as time itself(and you thought nb’s theoretical age range was large.) how much did wispti truly know before getting involved with the rebellion? was he technically a toddler (in terms of knowledge/mentality), or does he actually have thousands of years of knowledge?

16- to what extent did the imunlaukr (i probably spelled that wrong) and lawrence clans participate in the old mondstadt rebellion? were they involved at all? should the old mond gang be eventually expanded to include more people? (lawrence, venerare, etc)

17- HOW DID DECARABIAN LOOK LIKE? HOYOVERSE PLEASE. IF YOU WONT GIVE US HIS FULLBODY DESIGN WITH MULTIPLE POSES AND FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AT LEAST GIVE US SOME CRUMBS ABOUT HIS APPEARANCE (how tall he was, hair color, outfit style, special accessories he wore, weapons he used, etc)

18- what is the relationship of the old mond game to eachother? were they friends? found family? or were things far more complicated than that? (and what was their reaction to knowing amos, one of their biggest allies, was also the lover/partner of their (the old mond gang’s) enemy?

19- did some of the genshin weapons with lore relations to old mondstadt actually get used during old mondstadt? (aka did nb get to use freedom-sworn as an actual combat weapon)

I probably left out a lot of things so i may go back later to edit, but there are just. SO many things hoyoverse keeps behind the lore basement. If anyone would like to add onto this list, or provide personal headcanons and/or canon answers to the things mentioned here, i highly reccomend doing so.

@honorary-fool @amarisrosalette @gierosajie @lanternlightss @arson-n-quwubilder @littleblueberryartist @lilyandthegenshinbrainrot @elysianheresy

@goyayato @lordofthetower @nellfe-the-feral-creature @thatonenerdinyourclassroom

@yume-shirokuro

(if anyone tagged would not like to be tagged, please let me know)

[mielwriting]

Venti's Disney Princess Traits are Lore-Relevant

Credit to Ashikai, specifically in their YouTube livestream discussing the Genshin 3.7 preview stream

So, in the stream today, Ashikai mentioned the idea that Mondstadt is a city of fairytales - with Klee being Little Red Riding Hood, Razor being the Big "Bad" Wolf, and Lisa being a storybook witch.

Finally, my interest in the old versions of fairy tales is relevant!

I believe Venti is Snow White.

Plenty have joked about Venti having a "Disney Princess Moment" when he talked to animals (as witnessed by NPC Sage). I wanna focus on his preference for Apples.

(Venti liking eating the Christian symbol for Original Sin is a whole separate essay, that I believe others have written before)

I believe Venti represents Snow White, the 7 dwarfs the people of Mond, and the Traveler the prince. Who's the Evil Queen? Uncertain.

What Happens in Snow White Again??

Snow, a princess so-named because of her pale skin and black hair, is sentenced to death by her stepmother, the evil queen. The queen wants the hunstman to kill Snow in the woods, and bring back Snow's heart, either as proof that she's dead or so that the queen can eat it to achieve immortality. Snow begs for her life, and escapes to live with the 7 dwarfs. The queen finds out, disguises herself, and, in the original tale, makes 3 attempts to kill her:

1st, with a corset she laces so tight, Snow can't breathe. 2nd, with a poisoned comb she runs through Snow's hair. And finally, with a poisoned apple.

In the first 2 attempts, the dwarfs return, unlace the corset/remove the apple, and Snow wakes up quickly. In the 3rd, the dwarfs cannot figure out what's wrong, and believe she's dead. She is asleep until the prince happens to come by, and wakes her up (how he does this varies by version).

How Does This Relate to Venti?

To my knowledge, Venti has fallen asleep 3 times after achieving archonhood: once after the fall of Decarabian, once after the fall of the aristocracy, and once after the fight with Durin.

After the first 2 sleep periods, the people of Mond were able to wake him up with their prayers. After the 3rd sleep period, he was badly poisoned, and was only healed after the Traveler came along and purified him.

Exactly how/why Venti sleeps so long is unknown to us, but now I'm inclined to say it's involuntary, and in fact caused by Celestia, in order to keep him complacent.

The Evil Queen, Seeking Snow White's Heart

Mayhaps the Evil Queen wanting Snow's heart, and getting a false one, is representing the Tsaritsa sending La Signora to take Venti's gnosis, and (in this case) getting a fake gnosis. This supports the theory that Venti did indeed keep his real gnosis.

Or, to keep with the timeline and happen way before he goes to sleep:

Mayhaps it represents the Anemo Authority.

Maybe it represents the time powers he has thanks to Istaroth, and even Celestia doesn't know the true extent of Venti's power.