i will never forget how this fandom treated nabu malikata for not reciprocating king deshret's feelings of affection. she genuinely did not understand the concept behind the emotion of love, how was she ever to reciprocate something she could not understand nor grasp.

but this is just me & my bias more than likely because i am easily suckered in by the unrequited love trope.

Venti's Strength

SO HELLO AGAIN WITH ANOTHER THEORY AND YUP ITS VENTI'S THIS TIME and its a bit of a doozy and I am half alive atm

Spoiler Alert? Genshin Lore and Stuffs, mostly a delulu person blabbering while they can on their phone.

So I can't sleep (its 4AM after an ER visit so hahahaaaaaa nothing major though just a precaution for anyone reading this and wondering) and I was going through TikTok when I saw this little video pop up

I have a theory (a GAME theory lool no jk AHEM). And as some of the comments pointed out (and a bit on the video) here are some facts:

1. Nahida states that an Archon's power derives from "faith" rather than "rule"

2. Venti's Gnosis was the shape of a Queen chesspiece, which is the most powerful piece on the board.

3. Only Venti self proclaimed as the weakest of the Archons

So I will go through each one by one to do a mini "share my thoughts" while I still have em. And a little disclaimer before I go ahead, I not an avid chessplayer and I have yet to finish Sumeru's AQ (still catching up on it, been lazy about tbh but its a WIP) and I don't really remember Nahida saying this on MY game yet so I will just discuss what I have observed. Dang I really do need a refresher on everything

ANYWAY, first is Nahida's comment. There is a LOT going on for this one, much more than the story of "ruling is power". So lets say that being an avid or active ruler of your city is what give you power, then as we know, Venti should definitely be near the end of his life because he DOESN'T rule. He hates the idea of ruling or mainting power over his city, and with his history with rulers I don't blame him. There was a whole war he had participated in after his creation/birth in which he was going against the ruling parties, the nobles and the royal family of that time as an extension. He supported the common folk, in which was his best friend of which he took his appearance after now to live in his memory. Having any rule after that cruel loss is not something I would ever want to take a part of, so he remained as a silent guide and protector of the new Mondstadt. If he did indeed "rule", he would have never had any power. From just his backstory alone, we get the feeling he has not ruled over Mond at all, just guided them and gave the people the tools to be self sufficient, which for old Mond, was sweet freedom. So more support for Nahida's statement, as we all know that the people from his city have VERY strong faith in him still after generations.

Second, his Gnosis. So I am not a chess player and at best, a complete novice. So I goggled what was the most powerful chesspiece.

Clear as day, the Queen chesspiece (which reminder, it is the shape of his Gnosis) IS the most powerful. But what fascinates me more is the wording. "There is something inherently satisfying about giving up the strongest piece on the board in order to checkmate the enemy king"? Hmm, as far as I know, there has been no confirmed King piece Gnosis, and its been theorirzed it may be our Cryo Archon that has it. How convenient that he lost it to one of her people. And since I am leaning towards him being the strongest, I am POSITIVE the statement he said "Without a doubt, I am now the WEAKEST Archon in all of Teyvat" was less for our ears and more for someone else. He has power over wind, which we know he uses to project his voice and other abilities. He's lived among humans for hundreds of years, and no doubt he recognized Signora. Very likely knew their plan, stated that he was the weakest to give the go ahead, and let the gnosis be taken for a bigger chess game in motion.

Now for the last one. As far as my memory goes, NO OTHER ARCHON has claimed or supported that Venti is the weakest of all 7(will double check later once the caffeine hits). We have only heard this from him directly, while others just express their annoyance at his current antics or his habits. Would the Traveller ask them about Venti's strength? Very likely, but knowing Venti and the other (known) Archons, none would speak about current Venti since they haven't A. Seen him in many years or B. Have a possible contract to keep their mouths shut (ahem ZHONGLI) or even C. Met him proper. So heres what I think in total:

Venti spoke that outloud for a fatui operative (likely Signora) to proceed with the plan of taking his Gnosis AND its possible he said that to himself since he could only do so much at helping his dear friend, the Unnamed Bard. Very likely has some sort of survivor guilt (based on how hes moving on with the appearance of his friend), and just can't shake off the fact he wasn't strong enough when his friend needed him. Its also why he's so set in helping people move on from people who have passed on (Stanley's story quest). Its something he can do, so why not do it while he has the chance?

OOOOO this was a long one, but I hope this gives some food for thought. I am a firm believer that Venti is still one of the strongest if not THE strongest of all the Archons in term of raw power. Thank you for coming to my late night/early morning Tedtalk lol now off to sleep with the wolfcat

Genshin Diary Entry #1

I finally started playing through the Sumeru story!

I was originally planing on streaming my playthrough of it how I used to, but sadly I didn't have the energy to set up all the recording stuff and talk the whole time I played. So I've decided to do a written commentary instead! So far I've gotten up to the point where you and Tighnari clear out the the Withering (for the first time? I get the feeling I'll get to do it again at some point).

First of all, I loved getting to walk into the new nation through that tiny tunnel in the Chasm. I accidentally wandered into it literally just a few weeks ago and it caused the Archon Quest widget to pop up so I ran out immediately lol. It felt a little magical to walk through it again and seeing how everything turns green and mushroomy.

So far I find it interesting that there seems to be a reoccurring theme on hallucinations and "perception of reality." I was surprised to see a vision of Irminsul so soon? I only know about it from the Fatui trailer and what Tighnari tells us about it a little later in the quest. Anyways, with the hallucinogens, a tree that consumes memories and a god of wisdom; I think I'm starting to get a clear idea already what this story might entail. I'm specifically speculating that it's going to be a mirror chapter to Inazuma with the way the journeys are going to affect the Traveller; Inazuma was physically traumatising with the violent environment and Archon, while Sumeru will be more mentally damaging. But that's just a speculation ✌️

I really like Collei and Tighnari so far! I was already attached to Collei since I managed to pull her on her debut banner I think and since I've read the webtoon. It's so satisfying and refreshing to see a character that went through horrific events as a child but is now on a path of recovery. I feel so relieved to see her so cheerful and optimistic now, and also to see her surrounded by safe and caring people. I'm surprised that genshin has managed to handle the concepts of PTSD and chronic illness so well (so far at least), because it's adding a lot more depth and feeling to the story and characters already. Speaking of the 'safe and caring people', I like Tighnari so far too! I love smartasses that hand me world lore for free, as well as animal ear characters in general. I'm not crazy about him yet as I literally don't know anything about his backstory or presence in the quest, but so far I'm enjoying the fact that he's actually intelligent and diligent.

I think that's it for now, I'll share my thoughts on the Sumeru world and new abilities once I explore them both a bit more. At the moment I'm just entranced by all the GREEN in the game hah. I'll probably play a bit more tomorrow if I get enough work done in the day.