#paimon is sussy and i have so many thoughts

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

NEW GENSHIN THEORY~ *POTENIAL PAIMON SPOILERS???*

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So, all this time in Genshin and NO ONE knows what Paimon is. We've encountered creatures, beings, and people of various walks of life and various ages, all along our journey as of 4.1's update. None of them seem to know what she is.

Amber called Paimon a 'mascot'.

Xiangling and many NPCs ask of she's 'some kind of food'.

Albedo asked if Paimon is an 'external organ' of the Traveler's.

Overworld NPCs have called her a 'white-haired talking fairy'. Some quest-locked Fatui NPCs have called her a 'seelie'. But we've encountered older beings who have seen real seelies, and even told us about them, and they never made mention of how this is knowledge Paimon should already know, nor did they say Paimon is a seelie. Meaning, she can't be a seelie. And finally, even elemental beings as old as the dragon sovereigns HAVE NO IDEA WHAT PAIMON IS.

What is she then?

She has a 'demon name' like all the gods(and Fischl) tend to have. Barbatos, Morax, Beelzebul, Baal, Buer, Focalor, Astaroth(Istaroth), Orobas(Orobaxi), Naberius, Marchosias, Decarabia, Amy(Fischl, I know)etc... They come from the Ars Goetia, and if we take that into account, then Paimon's namesake could be a hint of sorts. Focalor was known to drown people on ships and Buer dealt with philosophy and logic and loved using plants. It's not too farfetched of an idea at least.

Paimon is a direct servant to Lucifer, the Morningstar. Paimon is knowledgeable and is often depicted sharing vast knowledge and teaching others. Supposedly, he 'knows all the affairs of the world' and must answer truthfully when asked questions. Paimon's role in Genshin is to be a Guide for the Traveler(who travels the cosmos as a Star), and she is the one who taught them Teyvat's common language. In under 2 months. She's taught them much according to their joint character voice lines.

It seems to be a common theory that the Traveler is actually from Teyvat and is just returning after a VERY long time away. Ashikai, the fandom's best lore enthusiast and theorist, suggested them to be an old user logging into their account after a very LONG TIME AWAY. That would explain how they have no Constellation or alignment prior to touching a Statue of the Seven, but the moment they do, it stutters to life with a heartbeat and suddenly gifts them a Constellation.

Statues of the Seven are connected to the Ley Lines, which are connected to Irminsul, which holds all the knowledge and memories of Teyvat. So, the moment the Traveler 'signed in' the knowledge receptacle of Teyvat recognized them to an extent. We know the sibling is considered to be from Teyvat somehow, so it's likely that the Traveler is also from Teyvat, but their account's data has been lost or wiped.

This theory is pretty solid, and I like the idea a lot. So, I build off of it for this.

The Traveler awakens after losing their sibling to the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles and has no idea what is going on. They don't know what's been happening this entire time, and it's when they meet Paimon that they finally get information. That they finally find a way to even get to information.

So, my idea is that Paimon isn't actually a real being by herself. She's not the Primordial One with stripped memories. She's not the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles in disguise. She isn't a seelie who fell from heaven and forgot her origins. She isn't the remaining Moon Sister who forgot her origins.

I think she's just a manifestation of the Traveler's desperation. The Traveler can wield the Elements of this foreign world they've apparently never been to, and even knew exactly how to do so from the very beginning. Even has a line telling Paimon that they know why and how that is possible, but never explains it for the player. And Paimon just accepts that answer and moves on.

This entire time playing, Paimon's being has come up many times, and we always end up saying/hearing, 'Paimon is Paimon'. As if that's a good enough answer, but between the duo it apparently is. No explanation needed. And we know that the Traveler has A LOT of info they keep to themselves and don't bother sharing. Such as their knowledge of Khaenri'ah and actually being around when it got destroyed. This could just be another thing they keep inside.

I think Albedo was the closest out of all who question Paimon's existence. She isn't exactly an external organ of the Traveler's, but I think she's like... a Tulpa. I think the Traveler manifested Paimon through sheer desperation of not knowing what to do and where to go, and the Ley Lines responded by gathering all the necessary memories and knowledge they could as quickly as possible and gave it a form that the Traveler would instinctively trust. The Traveler is great with kids after all.

Paimon has never said anything about where she came from prior to meeting the Traveler. Even during deeply personal moments. At most, we know she was suddenly drowning and then the Traveler fished her out. But how was she drowning right where the Traveler was fishing, and the Traveler never saw her approach?

We do know that The Withering barely affected Paimon at all, much like the Traveler. When the Traveler gained the ability to manipulate Dendro they got additional abilities, and Paimon somehow also gained the heightened sensitivity to the Dendro Element. Enough for the 168-Day Samsara to finally wear off enough for not just the Traveler, but Paimon as well, to awaken from the cycle and break free of it. Nahida personally notes both of them were given the Blessing of Dendro. Finally, when the Traveler gained the ability to manipulate the Hydro Element, Paimon also gained the ability to breathe/speak underwater and swim infinitely in Fontaine despite how she supposedly cannot swim.

Both the Traveler and Paimon were easily knocked out by that odd pulse thing Dottore used. And it supposedly cannot be used on gods like Nahida, so Paimon and the Traveler aren't gods or beings with experience on how to protect themselves from such an attack. (This does not rule out the Traveler being some other kind of immortal being though.)

This makes it clear that Paimon benefits directly when the Traveler's powers improve/increase/strengthen. She gets a 'special sensitive constitution' simply because the Traveler does. The Traveler touched the Dendro Statue of the Seven, but somehow Paimon also received a Blessing? The same with the Hydro Statue of the Seven?

And many times over the course of the story, the Traveler and Paimon have had entirely silent conversations with each other in completely voice quests. Where they step back and simply stare at each other. Thoughts are written in (parenthesis) in Genshin, and many times have they communicated full sentences this way while others around them talk out loud. Maybe it's just a joke to show how well they know each other that they can have silent conversations with ease, but we simply cannot rule out the possibility that they might be mentally linked in some way. When they want to be.

Let's not forget how Paimon is often the voice of everything. And she is rarely in opposition to what the Traveler wants, believes, or thinks. In fact, Lyney at the end of Fontaine's AQ Act 2 might be the first time in the game where Paimon and the Traveler had drastically different opinions. Paimon wanted to stay and talk with Lyney and Lynette and the Traveler just walked off without looking back because they were angry. And even Paimon was shocked by that response.

It's just so weird how they gave the Traveler such an in-depth character but hide it all in their character voice lines(WITH Paimon btw). What would be the point of keeping the Traveler silent most of the time? Unless there is a reason Paimon HAS to be the voice. Cuz the Traveler is no Self Insert. With how this fandom whines about their reactions to things and responses, no one here is putting themselves in the Traveler's shoes.

So, Paimon is very closely connected to the Traveler, and panics when they separate for too long. She's been traumatized several times now by separation. She needs to speak for the Traveler. She exists to be the Guide for the Traveler. She can't imagine her life being any other way. It feels more like the Ley Lines just responded to the Traveler's intense emotions upon waking up and sent something along to answer those emotions. Like an imaginary friend, but more concrete in existence. And that needed their protection to make up for their loneliness.

Mind you, it's JUST A THEORY.

A GAME THEORY!!!

XD

EDIT, added November 3rd 2023, as of the 4.2 Live Stream: TULPAS EXIST IN GENSHIN!

So, this gives my theory a lot more ground to stand on, just saying! :D

#genshin impact #genshin theory #paimon is sussy and i have so many thoughts

[aeviare]

{personal hc about aether's behavior at the end of act one. this really turned into a five page essay adsfasd also, i haven't played act 2 yet so if this is all confirmed anyway then please just ignore me lmaoooooo}

aether seeing lyney and lynette and severely missing lumine like a phantom limb. a pain that's so deep inset into his chest that no matter how many times he physically rubs at the spot, the pain just won't go away. it makes little to no sense to me aether turning his back to the twins when he's literally holding childe's vision in his inventory and renamed the freaking balladeer, okay.

like, baby boy, you have sussier friends other than two actual sweet beans that were adopted by a harbinger. zoom eyeing childe (a fucking harbinger who has tried to kill aether in the past) and wanderer (oh look another harbinger who has tried to kill aether in the past).

it is the only thing i can reasonably think of outside of hyv just saying 'ha ha fuck traveler's actual personality we've given them.' it just makes sense to me. and with lyney telling us that he fought tooth and nail to save lynette and to keep them off the streets. it sincerely is reminiscent of his relationship with lumine before they were parted.

my aether likes the twins. he loves the twins, even. if he didn't like them, then he wouldn't have continued to represent them after furina announced their ties to the fatui. perhaps he was blindsided by that information, but again. he is friends with sussier people.

i think for my muse, just looking at them too long reminds him of what he's missing. and what's he's searching for... and what he's lost. (and his worst fear being that he will never get it back, but this post is already long enough without me being unhinged again)

it isn't that he isn't sympathetic to their story or even that he cares all that much about their fatui ties. and after some thought, he realizes they didn't ask to be taken in by the fatui, and it shouldn't matter anyway.

because the twins have been nothing but kind to him and paimon. and besides omitting some of the truth of their past. he literally just met them! why would they tell him they're part of the sussy snez organization. they're new friends and technically still strangers.

it just makes more sense to me that he walks away because he's missing lumine and dealing with inner turmoil, rather than actually walking away because of their ties with the fatui.

again, please see, we are literally holding childe's vision (and hand probably) in our hands.

#remember when i said when i woke up i would post this #wellp i've been awake for like 12 hours oops #❥ 🇹‌🇭‌🇪‌ 🇰‌🇪‌🇪‌🇵‌🇪‌🇷‌ 🇮‌��‌ 🇫‌🇦‌🇩‌🇮‌🇳‌🇬‌ 🇦‌🇼‌🇦‌🇾‌ {ooc} #❥ 🇫‌🇱‌🇾‌🇮‌🇳‌🇬‌ 🇼‌🇮‌🇹‌🇭‌ 🇾‌🇴‌🇺‌ 🇮‌🇳‌ 🇲‌🇾‌ 🇭‌🇪‌🇦‌🇷‌🇹‌ {hc}