XiaoVen

XiaoVen is the slash ship between Xiao and Venti from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Xiao's Character Story 5
Xiao's 5th Character Story tells about a time when he was fighting evil from dusk till dawn, and just barely emerged victorious. Exhausted, he began to feel the hatred that tainted his body; it flooded his senses, and he fell to the ground. There's no telling what would have happened if not for the sound of a flute that got carried to Xiao by the wind, which brought him back to his senses and gave him a moment of peace.

Xiao suspected the sound to come from Venti, being one of The Seven, and it was later confirmed in the story teaser "Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti".

The Teaser
In the teaser, it is shown that three of the original Yakshas had died while the fourth succumbed to darkness and disappeared without a trace. Nearing the end of the video, Xiao is depicted looking over what is presumably Guyun Stone Forest, where Venti is playing the flute under the moon, a direct reference to what is recalled in Xiao's Character Story 5.

It is safe to assume that if not for the Dihua flute, Venti's intervention, Xiao too would've gone down the same path as the other four Yakshas. In a way, Venti saved Xiao.

The Book
The book "Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti", obtainable in-game during Xiao's Story quest "Butterfly's Dream", shows the teaser as an in-game cutscene and it also gives a similar and more detailed retelling of the events described.

It is recalled how every spring, during Lantern Rite and at night, the people of Liyue see "the glow at Guyun" and attribute it to Xiao fighting demons, or they hear the sound of a flute amongst the marsh reeds but find no one who plays it, and think it must be Xiao calling for his old friends. While this books is called "literati fan fiction" by Xiao himself, it seems that the story it tells isn't too far off from the truth shown in the teaser, and it implies that Venti plays for Xiao often.

Endless Suffering' Short Trailer
In the trailer "'Endless Suffering' Short Trailer", the two have their first canon interaction. Xiao heads to Wangshu Inn's balcony, where Venti, sitting on the roof, sees him and invites him for a drink, to which Xiao declines as he wants to rest for the night. Venti ends the trailer by making a nod to Xiao and the karmic toll he had brought upon himself by saying, "It's good to take the mask off once in a while, even for just one night."

Lantern Rite (2023)
In the Event Quest 'Between Facades and Familiar Faces' during the 'The Exquisite Night Chimes' event, Hu Tao hosts a dinner at Xinyue Kiosk.

There, Xiao recounts how an old friend of his visited shortly before Lantern Rite. With a smile, he describes how things have been a lot more stable than before, which then prompts the Traveler to ask who this friend may be. However, just as Xiao is claiming Traveler should know said friend too, he gets interrupted by a gust of wind that blows open the doors, revealing Venti himself. Hu Tao invites Venti to the table, where he takes a seat next to Xiao. Xiao is startled by Venti’s appearance, not expecting him to be there. During the conversation, if the player chooses to say that they also know Venti, he proceeds to ask Xiao if he remembers him too, as they had a chat not much time prior.

Xiao then begins to recount how he ran into Venti while he was patrolling in Dihua Marsh. Xiao stutters over his words, as he is unsure on how to address Venti without giving away his mortal cover, Venti gives Xiao a hand by reiterating he is a bard. Xiao then goes on recalling Venti's performance, describing it as a moving melody that put his mind at ease and explaining how he couldn't help but stay and listen. At that, both Zhongli and the Traveler say they "understand how it was".

When Xiao’s comfort is questioned by the Traveler, if the player chooses to say that it's all Venti's fault, Xiao stutters over his words and becomes almost shy declining that response. Since the Traveler knows of Venti’s true identity, Xiao looks off to the sky and explains how Venti is as carefree as the music he plays on the flute. Xiao seems almost envious as he talks about how easy it is for a god like him to live alongside humans, as that is something he might never be able to do.

Extra

 * In his voiceline "About Venti", he is implied to be familiar with Venti's tunes, but he interrupts himself before finishing the sentence.
 * In his namecard "Xiao: Mask", unlocked at friendship level 10, he describes his desire to wear his mask and dance not to fight, but to the tune of the flute he once heard amid a sea of flowers.
 * The description of Xiao's special dish, "Sweet Dream", reads: " His dream is very simple, and it is merely a lovely dream." Said dream could be the same desire described on his Namecard.

Quotes
"Venti? So that's the name he goes by. His tunes are... Ugh, forget it."

- Xiao's voiceline about Venti

"And only on moonlit nights, in the glow from Guyun and in the sound of the Dihua flute is his memory preserved."

- Zhongli, "Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti" story teaser

"He longs for a day to come when he will wear the mask and dance — not to conquer demons, but to the tune of that flute amidst a sea of flowers."

- Xiao's namecard (Note: Xiao's namecard, in the form of an allegory, says that he wants to be free. This text is a direct reference to Venti playing the Dihua Flute for Xiao in the story teaser - Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti.)

"Hiding? I'm hiding nothing. I just won't speak of desire to others. Do mortals not have a rule about spoken wishes never coming true? Hm? What do you mean that's not the same?"

- Xiao's voiceline about his vision (it is possible that the desire he refers to in this voiceline is the same mentioned in his namecard)

"[...] Long exhausted, Xiao felt the divine hatred that tainted his body take effect. Limitless hate flooded his senses, and he fell to the ground in agony. But it was also at that moment that the pain vanished without warning. This was not by Xiao's own strength, for he had been rescued by the sound of a flute. The clear, lovely sound of the flute came over the mountains and rivers, carried on the wind to where he lay. [...] It protected Xiao, massaging his wild senses, and giving him a moment's peace. Who was playing this music? Xiao was curious but did not pursue the matter. For he already had something approaching an answer. The last person who could help him was one of The Seven themselves. So this person, too, must be—"

- Xiao's Character Story 5

"[...] Tubby explained its presence to you thusly: that Madame Ping had arranged for her to prepare this particular villa after hearing that a certain bard had visited another adeptus's abode recently. Seeing as how you are quite familiar with this fellow, you never know when you might need just such a place."

- Mondstadt Mansion: Windward Manor description (it's confirmed that the "certain bard" is Venti and the adeptus that was mentioned is possibly Xiao or Zhongli)

Fanon
Before update 3.4, the two did not have any interactions in the main story, so the fandom relied on lore, trailers, etc.

XiaoVen started off as a couple of fanarts until the "Yakshas: the Guardian Adepti '' teaser was released and fans were stirred at the sight of Xiao overlooking a sea whist Venti played his flute. Since then, the ship has seen immense growth with over 4600 fanfics on AO3, over 463 posts on Instagram, and over 340 tweets on Twitter in the past hour. XiaoVen has gained large popularity since Xiao is often seen as off-putting and dislikes human affairs while Venti is seen as a social butterfly and likes getting involved and intereacting with humans.

Venti is carefree and the embodiment of freedom, while still overseeing his country and stepping in when danger arises, and is known to take centuries-long naps to rest. Xiao instead has been duty-bound to the protection of Liyue for millennia without knowing rest, but he longs for a day when he won't have to fight anymore. In more ways than one they are complementary to each other.

In fanfiction and fanart, it is mostly showcased Xiao being protected or comforted by Venti.

Some recurring themes are playing the flute, moonlit meetings (especially at Wangshu), and longing for millennia.

While most ships so far have been characters from the same region, Xingyun, JeanLisa, etc. XiaoVen is one of the few ships where the two characters are from different regions. While Xiao is faithful to Morax and Liyue itself, and probably doesn't venture outside of its grounds, Venti is known for his free-spirited/wandering nature and has canonically visited Liyue multiple times.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

FAN ART

TUMBLR

TWITTER

Trivia

 * Venti and Xiao are both over the age of 2000.
 * Venti and Xiao are some of the only characters in game to have a signature flower, respectively the Cecilia and the Qingxin, which show some similarities and parallelism between each other.
 * "Let the Wind Tell You" is a fansong released for Chinese New Year (2021) sung by the official Chinese voice actors for Xiao, Venti, Qiqi and Klee. While it isn't canon by any means and there isn't any type of allusion to the ship itself, it made without a doubt a big impact on the XiaoVen community, as the music video shows Xiao and Venti singing and playing the flute and lyre together. The presence of Klee and Qiqi also created a sort of family/babysitting dynamic and the lyrics of the song itself can be interpreted to represent the connection between Xiao and Venti. Recently, a Korean version sung by the official Korean voice actors has been made as well.


 * Xiao's Birthday' web event (2022) shows the Traveler playing (badly) the flute in Dihua Marsh and Xiao appearing immediately. Xiao: "You're here."  Xiao: "...this tune, it reminds me of some past events."  Referring to Venti playing him the flute to subdue his karmic debt.
 * A Venti emoji picturing him playing the flute was released during version 2.6 as part of the Paimon's Paintings set 14. There wasn't any mention of Venti playing the flute in that patch, and the only times him playing the flute is mentioned in-game at all is by Xiao.
 * In the game's second closed beta the book "The Guardian Adepti" read as such: "And only then might they hear the whistling of the marsh reeds, and think it the sound of the flute", meaning that the sound of the flute is merely the wind blowing through the marsh reeds, or that at least that was the case before the game released. Since the teaser associated with this book clearly shows Venti playing the flute, it is possible that there was a change during the game's development, or that the book simply shows the point of view of the citizens of Liyue, while the teaser shows the truth (as the narrator is Zhongli). These discrepancies between the text and the video may also be why Xiao himself calls it "fan fiction".
 * Xiao is the only person to ever mention Venti playing the flute, as every other playable and non-playable character knows him as a bard who only sings and plays the lyre. This seems to imply that Xiao is the only one Venti ever played the flute for.
 * Although there's no mention of Xiao playing the flute in-game, he can be seen playing it in an ad; it is believed by some to be a scrapped idle animation.
 * Wangshu Inn, situated in Dihua Marsh, is the place where Xiao can usually be found and it's known in-game as "a haven for lovers' moonlit rendezvous". The meeting between Xiao and Venti that took place there, as shown in the Endless Suffering trailer, fits the description quite well. The owners of the inn, Verr Goldet and her husband Huai'an, are also respectively from (allegedly) Mondstadt and Liyue. Huai'an says it's very common for Liyue women to marry men from Mondstadt.
 * The "sea of flowers" mentioned in Xiao's namecard is the english translation of 花洲 (huā zhōu, or flower islet), which is spelled in the same way as 荻花洲 (dí huā zhōu, flower-reeds islet), the original name of Dihua Marsh, meaning the two are probably one and the same. To add to this, prior to the Archon War Dihua Marsh was known to grow an abundance of wild Glaze Lilies, flowers that only bloom at the sound of pure, beautiful music or at night (both recurring themes within their dynamic).
 * The song "Lover's Oath" is played only two times in the game: when we meet Xiao for the first time at Wangshu Inn and during the 2.2 Tuned to the World's Sounds event, where Xiao plays it alongside the player on the Wangshu Inn' balcony. Because of this, the song seems to be linked to either Xiao himself or the Wangshu Inn balcony. Many fans like to link it to ships involving Xiao, XiaoVen included.
 * In the 2.6 event "Spices from the West" the player can make the characters taste-test different dishes. Almond Tofu and Grilled Tiger Fish, the only dishes that Xiao likes, are two of the dishes that Venti also likes (despite his dislike for slimy food).
 * On Day 4 of Lantern Rite 2022, Zhongli could be found at Wangshu Inn to check up on Xiao. There, he says that the strategic position of the inn is one of the primary reasons why Xiao frequents it, implying that there are more. The only other reason we know of is his desire to dance in Dihua Marsh to Venti's music.
 * XiaoVen is the third Genshin Impact pairing with the most fics on Ao3.
 * XiaoVen was ranked in the top-100 ships on AO3 according to 2021 (Jan-Dec) and 2022 (July 31 2021 - August 4 2022) statistics.
 * They both have an affinity for the Anemo element and are depicted to have wings both in canon and in fanon, Venti as a wind Sprite and as an Archon and with Xiao's original form being a bird.

Variations

 * 4NEMO refers to the ship between the two, Aether and Kaedehara Kazuha
 * 5WIRL refers to the ship between the two, Aether, Kaedehara Kazuha and Shikanoin Heizou
 * 6REEZE refers to the ship between the two, Aether, Kazuha, Shikanoin Heizou and Scaramouche
 * KazuXiaoVen refers to the ship between the two and Kaedehara Kazuha