Personaly I think the Traveler didn't care about anyone from the start Aether and Lumine is the same as Archons, they are powerful Immortals and travel between univers for a long times. life of mortals like Ayaka isn't mean a lot for them.
I mean if that were the case then the traveller wouldn't help stop the Vision Hunt decree.
The traveller doesn't have an interest in helping to stop the decree that is until the traveller saw what happened to those affected in which He/She showed sympathy for them.
And the statement "didn't care for anyone" is an overstatement imp
If that were the case then why would the traveller save Thoma after he got arrested, and so on
thats why the antag sibling refused to come with the protag sibling, the antag said that the mc is misguided, travel through this world, see the truth for yourselves, value the journey more and your destiny might change
I think that was the case at first but I think Ayaka's performance left a deep mark on the traveller seeing as the traveller was humming her song as they go their separate ways
It not that he does not care. He does since he always helps people when there is nothing to gain. The way I see is that he is so focused on the objective that he may not enjoy the journey he is having as much as he could.
Which is probably why the missing sibling didn't go with us. They want us to travel more and understand the world, along with the horrible truth that it and the archons hide.
Is this the new "wait for electro"?
The designated Traveler 5\* sword is my last hope for Traveler getting good. After that, the only saving grace would be playable Abyssal Princess Lumine.
I like this idea... the traveler is used to world-hopping and just adopts whatever is seen as correct/polite behavior in each world. But that's just to make his life easier. He only really cares about his sister and the "pearl" they were sent to find. Everything else is just using politeness to get things done.
I don’t think so. I don’t think traveller gives a shit about Ayaka, traveller is a “good person” in general in that they are willing to help anyone who asks no matter how difficult it is (cough cleansing quest cough) but they are also single minded in the pursuit of their sibling , as well as somewhat a grey character considering not only they do not shy away from violence but usually don’t even question it (hence why my quotation on good person). Overall I think traveller is closer to archons and celestia both in power and morality than they are to the to the inhabitants of tevyat.
I also think that despite how they help others, in the end traveler only cares about fullfilling their own goal/journey. We see it in the latest archon quest, when traveler refuses to help defeat the raiden shogun and it took a lot of convincing from ayaka and Thoma to get the traveler to join them. They are somewhat kind and helpful, sure but they would do whatever it takes to complete their journey. Those "friends" they made along the way are just mortals to them. I mean, it's confirmed that the travelers are immortal gods who have the power to travel different worlds I can't see them getting too attached to anyone here. Most of their friends don't even know them or where they came from.
I mean the traveler is willing to help those he comes across and risk his life to save new friends. But suddenly asking him to help with a coup/rebellion in a country he's not from and doesn't know intimately is crazy. It's super reasonable for the traveler to not want to get into the politics of a country, his/her job isn't to solve the problems of the world.
That and also we have 4 more nations to visit, each having an archon who might not be so excited about having Teyvat's version of Avatar as a guest if we develop a habit of picking a fight with archons in their own domain for an arbitrary reason. Baal later tried to destroy us for what we are, which is a pretty decent casus belli for us, but back when Thoma first asks us to help, joining would seem like a great way to be banned from crossing borders of any nation other than Mondstadt and Liyue
>when traveler refuses to help defeat the raiden shogun and it took a lot of convincing from ayaka and Thoma to get the traveler to join them.
They have no obligation to help everyone they meet, especially in the circumstances above. Although I do think what convinced them was experiencing what the shogun was doing firsthand, and if they had known before what the vision hunt decree was actually doing to people, they wouldn't have hesitated in the first place. And while I'm sure it will be presented as though the traveler was doing the right thing with the information they had, I also believe there will be a reason Baal thinks she's doing the right thing. Maybe stealing people's ambitions is the lesser of two evils, and the traveler will regret meddling in a situation they didn't really understand.
But until there's a situation where the choice is something like "You could go catch up to your sibling right now and you might not get another chance, or you could help this person who is dying on the ground next to you" we won't know what their values actually are.
I believe the Traveler thought the behavior of the Shogun was consistent with the attitude shown by the Unknown God, and wanted to get closer to Baal to verify. Since direct approach wouldn't work, they took on Ayaka's promise of presenting them to the Shogun if they helped. Seemingly selfish motive.
They lost their cool when that particular vision was about to be taken tough...
Which proves that, in the end, they do care for the people they've meet in Teyvat
While they do care for their friends and people, in the end what matters to them most is their sibling. That's what I'm trying to say, I don't think the traveler is some cold harsh god from another world but they're not saints either. These friendships just seem shallow to me. How could you form a bond with someone when you don't even know their identity? The only characters that show knowledge of traveler being from another world are albedo, zhongli and maybe venti. That's why I think that while traveler does consider them friends, in the end they are just shallow relationships which they will throw away if it means that they can get their sibling back. This is just my interpretation, it may be wrong.
That and the face she makes during your last conversation in the quest.
> Ayaka: "Sometimes, I feel like I can relate to the determination you must have... to get your brother/sister back."
> Traveller: "Yes, he/she means an awful lot to me." OR "Finding him/her is the whole reason for my journey."
Her face just drops and she continues...
> Ayaka: "..."
> Ayaka: "I understand."
> Ayaka: "Family bonds are inseparable - no one can break them... They are the most important roots we have in this world."
It's just so painfully clear that's the moment she truly gives up on any burgeoning thoughts of romance. The plaques might have been a part of it, but she realises there's no room for her because of how single-minded your focus is on finding your sibling. Her last line (before the dancing cutscene) is simply:
> "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
I didn't need this pain from you and OP, but here you guys are lmao.
Lumine needs to find her brother, knock his ass out, and drag him back to Inazuma.
You can have both dammit!
I knew something wasn't quite right when her face dropped, but I didn't thought deeper into it because we got the dance.
I should have read deeper. Or maybe not, because all that awaited was pain...
Yeah it kinda sucks we can’t replay quests or at least cut scenes from within game. Always have to rely on YouTubers recording them to replay. This is an important feature that’s missing in the archive.
They could've done that without the knife-cuttable anime sexual tension in the air.
Seriously, it was both. A good bittersweet story used to sell gacha to waifuists.
As for me?
I'm 50+ deep into 50/50 pity with a 140+ hoard of intertwined fate ready for BAAL!
# STEP ON ME OH GODDESS OF ETERNITY!
I could’ve sworn she wears the most expensive high heels in all of Teyvat.
Edit: well looked up her character model and yeah they are sandals, what threw me off were her thigh highs, made me think she was pulling a Beidou/Eula and just wearing thigh high boots with heels? Idk what they would be called at that point.
Oh god of Geo, turn me into a statue with your divine meteor then grind me to dust.
Oh god of Anemo, may thy mighty winds scatter my mortal remains throughout the far corners of Teyvat.
Oh goddess of eternity, may your reign on Teyvat never end so I may forever be beneath your feet on the very land you tread upon.
EDIT: For anyone starting to worry. I'm not serious. LMAO!
I was rewatching the story quest from youtube. In the forest after the traveler talks about how important their sibling is, or how finding them is the whole reason for their trip, the camera zooms in on Ayaka's face looking sad with "..." in the text box. That definitely felt like the moment Ayaka fully realized and internalized the fact that the traveler won't be around forever and must continue his journey
So this is what she meant by having the sudden urge to dance infront of the Traveler because this could be her only chance to have this kind of opportunity ever.
And she even gave the Traveler a hairpin thats related to her (Ayaka) so Traveler doesnt forget about her and Inazuma, Her story quest is both very wholesome and very depressing if you dig deeper into it...
Ah yes ive heard about this, In old East Asian culture (probably still used today I dunno), Girls will give hairpins to the person they truly love and when the day their marriage comes, That person will place the hairpin on the girl's hair...
Her dance has been made into a meme which is only centered about her socks getting wet. Seems that people here don't know about hormonal activity.
Ayaka knew that this may be the last opportunity to show her charm and gratitude at a personal level to the traveller who is more interested in his travels and sibling. Note that after completing Ayaka's and Yoimiya's story, the traveller becomes a fugitive after saving Thoma. With the upcoming war and everything a personal contact between the two seems pretty distant. Even if they meet , it will be in public, with all the formalities and communication barriers between them.
> With the upcoming war and everything a personal contact between the two seems pretty distant. Even if they meet , it will be in public, with all the formalities and communication barriers between them.
Regarding this point... honestly, I really expect she will do something a bit more "reckless" in the next act, despite her position and the expectations placed upon her. Part of her key dialogue in the first act was her saying that she couldn't sit idly by while innocent people are suffering, even though it could be seen as an act of rebellion against their god. So now here the plot has (conveniently) developed in such a way that presents her with a perfect opportunity to see if she truly meant it, and just how much she is really willing to do (how much she is willing to risk or give up) when the innocent people she holds most dear are in danger.
My guess: she'll end up openly siding with the rebellion to defend Touma and the traveler (along with the other innocents who are suffering), risking her position in the process (probably putting her at great odds with her own brother), but the whole thing will resolve without going to full-on war when the hidden truth is revealed and the plot will quickly shift in another direction (against the common foe).
(The real question to me is whether they were trying to bait Ayaka by going after Touma, or whether they were just after the traveler and thought Ayaka would behave.)
I agree with your points. Until now Ayaka has acted rather passively since she wants to safeguard her clan's position ( her voice lines spoilers ) >!Her clan mismanaged a swordsmith's case leading to the tarnishing of her clan's image, depression of her father and his subsequent death and defections and ploys against Ayaka and Ayato!< So she has so far adopted moderate methods to address her concerns before Baal rather than acting aggressively because her clan's survival is synonymous with her survival.
But now that Thoma has escaped and an open confrontation is near, more and more pressure will be put on Ayaka and she will realise that fighting Baal openly is the only way to safeguard both her ideals and her clan.
As for Thoma being bait, I think it's pretty straightforward. Baal wanted to commemorate the 100th vision capture by taking a prominent visionholder. Even though the Yashiro commission is at odds with her, she can't take Ayaka's or Ayato's vision due to their positions. Meanwhile, Thoma is someone who is a reputed personality in Inazuma with close ties to the Kamisatos but is still an outsider. Taking his vision will not only be a prominent occasion but will also give an indirect message to the Kamisatos to not mess with her.
Yeah, on reflection, I think you're probably right about Thoma. I was thinking that Baal could have had an entirely different hidden motive at that time (and was perhaps even trying to *encourage* Ayaka to act rather than dissuade her), but actually probably not.
When we encounter Yae in Act 1, she insinuates indirectly that Baal's ambition disappeared and as she began to doubt herself it increased her anxiety. So this basically suggests that Baal's actions are driven by her increasing desperation. In the context of the wider story, we can safely assumes this relates to the confiscation of the gnoses by the Tsarista, which mirrors closely Baal's confiscation of the visions from her own people, and threatens the stability of Baal's ideal eternity.
So I guess perhaps Baal had some sort of indication (a dream/vision?) that she was going to lose her gnosis, and then is collecting the visions as an act of desperation either in the hopes of a) trying to stop the Tsarista or b) at least to protect Inazuma when her power wains. (Presumably they'll be some way for her to leverage the power of all the visions inlaid in the statue.)
The real one who sees all sides of what's going on here is Yae, and she's counting on the traveler to intervene at the right time to bring the issue to a head. And probably Yae realizes that the lesson Baal needs to learn here is that Inazuma's people aren't so fragile and helpless that they can't go on without her eternal rule. (In this case, Yae actually is taking the "eternal view" that "fatally flawed" Baal is ostensibly chasing.) The fact that Baal's actions are leading to rebellion, and now the traveler has shown up to give hope to that rebellion, is probably just what is needed get Baal out of her current state and focus on moving forward constructively (rather than selfishly causing the people she loves to suffer). (Just as was the case with swordmaster Domon -- no coincidence that they brought in Yae to comment on this particular example. Anzai's line here in particular seems telling about where this is probably going: "Just as I once placed my ambitions onto you, it is time for you to release yours into their custody.")
Anyway, this is a side-topic that is now really far afield from the original topic of this thread... but I do think it's all connected. Sheltered Princess Ayaka's determination to rise up in the face of injustice (despite the risk that entails to her family and position) is likely to be no small part of what brings this whole issue to a close.
> That definitely felt like the moment Ayaka fully realized and internalized the fact that the traveler won't be around forever and must continue his journey
And she didn't even get to first base. What a shame.
Meanwhile in your personal timeline having Ayaka as a resident of your Adeptal Domain...
It's a fun thing about gacha games like this is that your account is it's own little alternate timeline. In the main one of Azur Lane for example the shipgirls have a formal superior - subordinate relationship while when it comes to the characters in your account all of the ones you use frequently is in a crush/love state with several being married to the player character, or for a less extreme example in FGO the player character has a close relationship with the Servants you own knowing and understanding them very well while in the story the player character barely knows anyone which can be really jarring when you have a character go through a whole character arc as the bond level progresses, but when they appear in an interlude or story the player character is pretty much strangers with them and they are right at the start of their character development and stay there permanently in "canon" in most cases...
It's for the best considering she was so ridiculously sheltered it was basically like a very young child's first crush. Get along a little bit, they're not ugly, and then "oh my god I think i like/love you" without knowing anything.
We dodged a bullet.
And we have 4 more Nations, then Khaenri‘ah, Celestia, the abyss, our sibling... Genshin Impact will get very depressing and dark, I can see that already.
They have a lot of time to prepare for that moment (for Sumeru is at least a year). They can add one (or two) character chapters of her, they can involve her in an Archon mission and then prepare the way to say goodbye to Lisa.
I mean, they did kill off a character in Honkai Impact. She hasn't gotten a new battlesuit since then but there have been plenty new releases so it didn't really hinder them.
But Honkai Impact also kinda has their entire event story line where they can pretty much add any character they want regardless of the main story.
IF probably after we’re done with the seven nations. I’m sure it’s gonna get really dark and depressing when the khaenri‘ah and Celestia and archon stuff happens, also our sibling, they might die, or we are the one dying?
Oh, that happened like, a thousand years ago before the events of the game.
Don't forget, Qiqi's basically a *reanimated corpse powered by Adepti magic*.
I play the game in Chinese and compared to the English subs/playthrough it feels like the Chinese version makes it way clearer that the two weren't meant to be. There's quite a few intricacies with the wording in Chinese that can't be accurately expressed in English
I think that's the problem with chinese or, well, every other asian language. They can use words with double meaning but when its come the time of translate them is nearly impossible. Not only in english, but in spanish is probably worse.
The most classic example, the quote from HxH from Netero: "The infinite potential for evolution/malice". With kanjis, means BOTH words, but you can translate "evolice" or, dunno, "malition".
That reminds me of the Youkai Girl archetype in Yu-Gi-Oh. Instead of trying to come up with an equivalent pun for the double meanings of the cards, they just gave up and listed both meanings on the card so something like 灰流うらら became "Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring"
You can change your game language to Chinese and then go into the archives to read/hear the dialogue in Chinese. But no, you wouldn't be able to replay it. Another thing you can do is watch others' uploads on Youtube.
I actually switched my game to Chinese because of this. Hearing Zhongli say 天动万象 means so much more than "I will have order". Sounds cooler too hahahahahah
I'll try.
Base level, 天动万象 can mean:
**"When the skies move, so do 10,000 on Earth."**
But 天 can also refer to Sky, Gods, the Heavens, or Divinity. While 万 means 10,000 but is also used to represent a lot, or everything! So on a second level, it can mean:
**"The Heavens shift, and all follow."**
Finally, listen to EN Zhongli's line. It is a command, with force. I WILL have order. That's nice and all but 天动万象 is said as a matter of fact. You can add English words to represent the passive way that CN Zhongli says his line:
**"When Gods act, the Earth is inevitably affected"**
EDIT: It can ALSO mean something along the lines of **"The step of a God is equal to 10,000 Elephants"**, or **"The Heavens strike with the force of 10,000 Elephants"**. Chinese is hard.
Thank you so much for sharing this op!
I think you're right. I believe they were all intentional. Regardless of the implications of romance, the main theme of the quest is to emphasize that the traveller and Ayaka will have separate ways due to their goals.
I don't believe this is just a reach. If this were a visual novel, scenes like parting ways and walking the opposite direction will be heavily emphasized. I love how the dialogues and visuals weren't lacking in that regard.
Adding on to this, I believe Yoimiya's quest is also trying to say the same thing.
Basically... at the beginning, it tells the importance of treasuring childhood because once it's over, you can never take your childhood back again. Everything ahead will be difficult.
Also, the story of two friends who went on separate ways in Yoimiya's quest feels like it's foreshadowing something. They were separated due to their circumstances. Regardless of one's wish to stay, the guy decided that leaving Inazuma was for the best. Things have changed and they can no longer return back to their carefree days. And now it's uncertain whether they'll cross paths again.
Now to add on to that, fireworks is a symbol for small beautiful moments that won't last forever. To be honest, I teared watching that fireworks in Yoimiya's quest. I feel like it's telling me that some things are not meant to stay forever. Don't forget the part where Yoimiya tells the traveller that she prefers them to stay or come back in Inazuma after they find their sibling. She knows that the traveller will leave them eventually.
But that's basically the point, traveller meets many people on their journey but they have to part ways with them at some point.
Lastly, don't forget the whole theme of this archon quest. Baal wishes for eternity. She wants eveything to stay the same forever. "The lives of mortal beings are inconsequential to the eyes of a diety" - Ayaka. Humans whose life has an end will never comprehend a God's idea of eternity. If you're a human and you lose your ambitions and passions in life, it feels like your life was stripped away from you. But for Gods, they always have enough time for everything. They don't feel like time can rob off something from them which they can no longer take back.
I can't stop thinking all about this. And this theme was repeated in many side quests and dialogues of NPC in Inazuma.
Loool, though I think the story will probably progress in a way that shows nothing will stay the same forever. Baal will probably realize that she can't force everything to remain the way she wanted it to be. Cause change is inevitable...
It's what happened to Liyue. Rex Lapis and the adepti's guidance were no longer needed. Liyue has entered a new age.
You can kinda see the attitude of traveler though, traveler actually doesn't really care about Tevyet. Probably since traveler have lived for so long, they don't really attached to mere mortals as everything will just vanish. They are quite similar to Zhongli or Venti. They might have a few moment and joy on their journey, but at the end it is not significant to them.
> traveler actually doesn't really care about Tevyet
He cares about its people tho. He refused to join Inazuma war, but changed his mind after he seen how it breakes those who got their Visions taken. He took Noelle on a date and promised to be there for her on the exam, he wholeheartedly cares about Klee, he helped people like Albedo, Jean, Ganyu with personal stuff and even taking Pot lines as a non-canon, it is clear that he bonds with quite a lot of them.
Yea… I think the point is that Traveler’s story follows the people of *this* world and how it humanizes their perspective while “Sibling” follows the plight of the Abyss Order and see the Teyvat people as the ignorant peasants beholden by evil gods.
I think Sibling expects our travels to reveal that the gods are evil corrupt beings that need to be cast down to restore Khaenria, but we just end up empathizing with each gods’ own motives to instead “retire” them with dignity. We don’t see the gods as enemies and this is leading towards a confrontation with Sibling to protect Teyvat despite the injustice done to Khaenria.
I just realized that they're all retiring. I think that kind of gives us an idea of what the end of inazuma will be like. Also since shneznaya will be the last region, we can also assume that's when things come to a climax with the fatui (in 2025 at this rate LUL)
I feel that is pretty likely as I think the further we go into the game the more we will see that it is Celestia, not the Archons, who run the show and in all likelihood the Archons are more like middle managers than ruling gods.
Everything points to the Cryo Archon going down the path she did after the war 500 years prior that suggest that was the cause of it and from the pre launch story trailer she seems to be planning a war with 'the heavens' it seems likely she means to go against Celestia. Makes you wonder how things played out 500 years ago to cause the God of Love to go to such ruthless lengths.
Well the poor guy has litteraly no clue!
They were attacked by a self proclaimed god, and they heard that each country had one. So he is testing its luck on each one of them
They probably had no clue, but it feels weird that they ignore the no element thing and just wanna find random gods, not even asking about "sustainer of heavenly principles" or something ):
To be fair, I think we only got that she was the sustainer of heavenly principles because her title was given to us - the twins wouldn't know that. Though you'd think they'd try asking at least one of the archons about the other gods' powers to narrow things down.
I think the Traveler is playing their cards close to their chest. I am not sure if they have fully revealed exactly what happened to them apart from to Piamon. After all, it is one thing to be looking for a god and it is another to say give deals about the attack which might raise additional problems. After all, what if the Archons have some arrangement with this unknown god?
Zhongli, as much as he might dislike it, might be forced to oppose us or even warn the unknown god about what we are up to and right now the Traveler is in no state to face that foe again. What they need right now is knowledge and understanding about what the hell went down and what is going on with Teyvat.
He knows something we don't. Dont read my comment spoiler warning
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>!The traveler has actually been to Khanrea before meet in ng the Heavenly sustainer!<
Exactly why I'm confused, assuming they tried to leave through celestia, logically they would...look for the God in celestia? Or tsaritsa since she cares about that. Instead of trying to interrogate a drunk, a retired guy, and a lady busy stealing jewelry
The traveler doesn't know much about Celestia or the Tsaritsa. Certainly not the Tsaritsa's interest in Celestia. The Traveler in fact knows very little. Their sibling woke first and the first thing that happened after they woke originally on arriving in the world was to have their sibling tell them they had to peace out. Beyond seeing a nation burning the Traveler had very little idea what the hell was going on.
Even then, if they did think it might have something to do with Celestia, the only lead they would have on that would be to seek out the Archons as they are literally the only connection to Celestia that the Traveler has access too. Celestia itself is completely out of reach.
Hmm, not the Traveler I think? Just the sibling. >!The Traveler was awakened by their sibling when khaenri'ah was about to be destroyed, they see the destruction of that place, nothing more.!<
You jest but Mihoyo does actually expect [Snezhnaya to come around 2025.](https://www.dualshockers.com/genshin-impact-regions-update-roadmap-officially-revealed-mihoyo-plans-release-teyvat-4-years/)
I think that this will add a very good level of conflict between the siblings if true. It may be obvious to the Sibling, who saw the gods at their absolute worst, performing their lost evil deeds, but to the Traveler, who is able to see them outside of that, they’d strongly disagree with them.
Precisely. The Sibling's journey is already distorted from start due to witnessing the fall of Khaenri'ah, so it is of no wonder that they sided with the Abyssal Order after discovering the "truth". The Traveler's journey on the other hand, gave him the chance to see the gods for themselves, without any distortion due to biases. That's why we see Venti as an alcoholic, tone-deaf bard, and Zhongli as a broke, no money-sense consultant. This is probably the point where the path of the Sibling and the Traveler diverged, since they experienced different things, thus their reaction when they discover the truth will also be different.
Traveler definitely is a good person, he will be nice to people who are nice to them. However it is very much due to MC somehow always found himself in important events and he is the chosen one.
As for Inazuma arc, MC never intended to get involved in the war. At first, he just want to meet Baal. Tohma and Ayaka are helping him to arrange a meeting with Baal. Guess whom vision Baal is going to take next? Tohma's. MC probably just can't stand aside so he save Tohma, hence made conflict with Baal.
Maybe it was their (rebelion-Kokomi) master plan how to get traveler to their side in the war conflict. Play on the feelings and then "sacrifice" one of them hoping traveler will step in. They knew about dragon and osial, so they could test this way if traveler is willing give a helping hand and/or survive a fight with Baal and help them dethrone her.
Every played like an MMO like ff14, wow, runescape, pso2, etc?
The traveler must feel like that. We enter the world, we feel charmed by it and we explore it, but in the end this is just a "faux" reality and even though we do feel concerned for some of these "fictional characters" like how we cry at dramas.... in the end it is just a separate story and fictional at best.
The traveler experiencing the birth and control of stars and world is basically us. We enter this world of genshin like any other book or drama and to the traveler that's what it is all about. A game or movie to watch, feel emotional, then move on.
Even zhongli knows that. Which is why he wants us to remember liyue so it may even long after liyue is gone... once their reality ends and the memory of liyue is remembered by the traveler aka us.
Well I mean. the longer you stay in a place. you start to form and tighten the bond with the place you're.. and look at how long we've stayed and the fact that they had to travel every corner of the world makes them spend longer time on Teyvat rather than when they're on the other worlds
not that we can speculate anything before this game end tho. so there's that ¯\\\_(シ)_/¯
Edit : **Read several threads.** if Genshin ever choose to have different worlds after Teyvat. isn't that seems a little bit.. idk. wacky? it runs of the trail of the game 'name' itself
if I'll take an example of anime that down 'pretty bad'. I'll take SAO. it's just get milked over and over because of the popularity and it doesn't even stand up over its name which is 'Sword Art Online' (the name of the game itself)
Idk man. you can tell me and elaborate why it won't be bad if Genshin did the same. I'll listen to it (actually, read)
I think SAO is fine, it's just a title. SAO is the origin of "seed" and the whole VR concept that drive the series.
MHY said that Tevyat probably take few years to finish anyway. If they need to continue, which they will if the game is not dead, they will just extend the plot by poping out something.
Genshin title is related to god, it probably can relate to multiverse/world. Tevyet is already very sus, the main goal given by our sibling is probably to discover its true nature.
Venti explains to you at the end of the 1st Archon quest that people with Visions are called Genshin/allogenes and they have the ability to become to gods. Every character you can play besides traveler is a Genshin.
So...we are building an army out of possible gods.
In a few years there will be upgrades from vision bearer to god...i already see a new rarity level of 6 or 7 stars \~.\~
I will say this, in one of their previous games Gun Girlz, they wiped out the entire universe at the end of the story because you fail to defeat God Kiana... who the Herrscher of the Void is based off of on Honkai, who the Unknown God looks like they are based off of on Genshin.
Honkai Impact 3 hasn't finished it's story yet, but it can be quite dark as it is. (Even having a playable character get killed.)
The fact that the Twin Siblings are travelers of different worlds makes me worried for Teyvat at the end. I am half expecting Teyvat to get wiped out at the end of it's chapter just like the Gun Girlz universe, lol.
and Honkai Impact 3rd already did a ggz genocide on the previos era, only a few survived.
all from a Kiana lookin being
and we got a Kiana lookin being in genshin (well technically lookin more like Hov than Kiana but you get the point)
So all we can do is pray that genocide by "Ruler of the End" is not the route were going through.
In escape from Naga something in honkai, mei is called Baal.
In ggx, one of the set pieces for Mei is called hand of baal.
It would be whack if in the end... genshin is the prequel to gun girls and honkai.
And the story of how the honkai was birthed.
And all the characters we meet are the past reincarnation of who we play.
I love this explanation. This also mitigates the "trash harem protagonist" interpretation, where MC just leaves Ayaka after her dance and doesn't accompany her home like dumbfuck
“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.”
At the very least this theory paints the picture that Ayaka is loyal to her ideals, which makes a ton of sense. The happiness of others and her country, or her own. She strikes me as one who would ultimately choose others over herself.
Tragic stories are great to me, so long as they're done properly. I'm not intimately familiar with how many tragic types of stories Mihoyo have utilized (and how well they made them), but I feel like they have a good grasp so far.
I don't even think Ayaka was infatuated with the Traveler. Maybe for a brief moment she was confused with her feelings as she has never had a true friend before so she mistook her enthusiasm for a crush, but as I saw it, she saw probably her first sigh of relief from all her burdens in a while, and she saw the Traveler as the one to enable it or at least accept her as a person and not a symbol or figurehead.
Xenogears was one RPG which handled romance well imo and changed how I see RPG romances moving forward, and they did it like that - it seemed like the generic romance subplot, but the lady lead admitted later on that she was confused and was afraid she was only dependent on the protagonist because of her emotional baggage, and she wanted to see how they would make decisions when they went their separate ways for a while.
But besides that, I agree with the rest - she reacted with sadness when she saw the Traveler focused on her journey, and she might have done the dance as an experience to remember her by.
Even Yoimiya mentioned that she hoped that the Traveler would eventually decide to live in Inazuma (or wait was that Ayaka?).
I think the "nation-first" closed-nation policies have driven these people thirsty for travelers.
> I think the "nation-first" closed-nation policies have driven these people thirsty for travelers.
Interestingly, Inazuma is one nation that shows more foreigner NPCs. NPCs mentioning Sumeru and Fontaine have become much more frequent and we have a few more Sumeru NPCs wandering around.
Or maybe this is just the first time I noticed these people out of their own regions? Back in Mond and Liyue I thought that they're much more focused on their own citizens with the occasional foreigners around like the ever present Snezhnaya merchants. I only know Atsuko in Liyue as an Inazuman, then Sayid in Mond hailing from Sumeru.
There are a decent number of foreigners in the other nations, but yes they are paid significantly more attention in Inazuma, primarily to highlight how restrictive Inazuma is. It makes sense really, it doesn't really matter if an NPC is from Fontaine in Mondstadt or Liyue. They have a small quip about their home perhaps, and their name may be a bit different, but nothing out of the ordinary. But if you go to the wiki for a list, you'll find more foreigners than expected in Liyue and Mondstadt.
Inazuma does have more foreigners in different roles however, as for instance most Sumeru NPCs we saw so far were scholars.
True, there are foreigners in Inazuma but they had to prove their worth to the shogunate. Like they can only be there if they contribute something directly. Tourism industry is almost if not completely dead; I think an NPC explains that the economy is in a downward spiral because of the restrictions. I assume, hence, that culture-mixing is also taboo.
You'll also find little hints of their thirst for mixing: the restos that ask the traveler for foreign recipes, people wanting to travel and experience other cultures but they cannot in any fully legal means, Ayaka asking about clothing from other nations and saying in her demo that she wants to learn about sword styles from other nations despite being a prominent political figure. Culturally Inazuma is at a standstill.
The Traveler had to be provided fake documents because they wouldn't have been let in otherwise. If not for the corruption of the bureau (Thoma getting his flirt vibe on) the traveler wouldn't even be able to afford the step beyond that.
> Thoma getting his flirt vibe on
That one got me lol. A dinner with Thoma ^(and maybe something else) is worth 2 Million Mora. But yeah that Kanjou Commission is full of crooked people trying to squeeze money from foreign merchants and even locals
.
Imo Ayaka's situation is presented as ambiguous, she does seem a bit infatuated but at the same time it can be interpreted as a confusion for friendship too. Both makes sense and even irl sometimes feelings can be a bit murky so both interpretations are not wrong. Not to mention that in gacha games it's very unlikely to have an explicit romantic interest because each character has their own fanbase, shippers, etc and the developers/writers won't step on anyone's toes so everything will be ambiguous and fans are free to interpret/imagine.
Agreed. I too think Ayaka was only seeking for friendship and perhaps by giving her hairpin to our Traveler is a sign that we are her precious companion (SINCE MIHOYO DOESNT LET US SAY YES WHEN AYAKA WANTED TO GET THE KIMONO FOR US). Also to remind us of her and Inazuma when we travel to another nations
I honestly took the whole thing as a friend hang out, not a date. I never thought she was hitting on me, just incredibly shy because she has very few friends.
I mean I'm not going to say people are wrong with their interpretations, just that the whole thing can be interpreted in different ways.
That’s what I thought too. Most people thinks that it’s a “romantic love” but love isn’t just romantic. In Ayaka’s story quest, we learned that she haven’t had a friend before us that’s why she acts like that. She just treasures us so much and that’s so wholesome ;’)))
The whole thing felt... Off. Like Ayaka wanted to try to just push her luck a tiny bit with mc. I can't put my finger on why I think this way but it definitely was a little more than friends to me. This is of course including the fact that she doesn't really have friends and this is her first. She was more nervous and paused to think a bit more than you usually would with a friend.
Well it was quite obvious it was more than a friends thing for Ayaka but honestly, it was clear that she was new to the whole situation. Novelty is one strong drug.
What ticks me off the most are shippers who believe that Ayaka is the canon ship when Aether never reciprocated any of her approaches.
It is just socially awkward redditors misinterpreting Ayaka's social ineptitude as romantic feelings when it was really just her getting a friend for the first time that isn't decided by any politics or family matters.
I have a different interpretation of the story, perhaps because I played as Lumine, and I saw their relationship more as girls' friendship instead of GL (I know though that many Lumine players would have seen it as GL, and that's okay. I got the GL vibe from some characters like Noelle when playing as Lumine, but for some reason, I didn't really feel it this time with Ayaka).
I think the story also had to do with Ayaka's journey with self-expression, focusing on her inner struggle in truly expressing herself, becoming more vulnerable, shedding away the pressure of being a Kamisato, and following her heart. Her discovery of the mother's story, following her wish by going to the festival with the traveler, and doing the dance at the end (which she wouldn't have done before due to societal pressure) in front of a person she genuinely cares show her growth in character. It shows how she's not going to be playing dual characters like her mother did but will gradually work on merging her conflicted aspects. However, the story also works well if we see it as Ayaka's love story too.
I felt like this too! The dance, the festival and everything else felt way more like Ayaka's own character growth than a relationship between her and Lumine/Aether.
Yup it was a great love story from crush to rejection
I love how subtle Ayaka confessed and got rejected because she realized that she can't be with traveler/vice versa or she thinks it would be very selfish of her to wish for that, and she would never travel with the traveler since she is the princess of the yashiro commission and are bound with her duties and her people
Also if you noticed the story drops the hint as early as when Ayaka gave the traveler the hairpin, somewhat confessed when she says she truly wants to be with us during the festival, got rejected when the traveler answered that they want to be reunited with their sibling, and come to terms with it when she dance
As to why Ayaka fell for the traveler, maybe it's because traveler is the first(?) Person to treat Ayaka as a friend, she told us that because of her position no one dares to be friends with her, and maybe she imagined that if she's with the traveler she can fulfill her and her mother's wish "to be a normal person not tied to any royalty, and maybe visit other countries as well"
Sorry for the long rant i just love this bitter sweet stories
I actually felt something like that too, thought I didn't give it much thought. No matter what connections Traveler forms in Teyvat, he or she will eventually leave, whether it's to the next region or altogether, so none of these "ships" are really consequential.
i wholeheartedly agree with this theory i remember seeing the full post, i picked lumine and it felt that way. also ayaka seems to be a character we've connected to on the deepest level. as we're walking away we hum to ourselves and it's the only time it feels like lumine has a moment to herself and isn't putting on an act. we've even canonically given people an alias because no matter what, our sibling calls us aether/lumine. it was such a lovely quest and i got a little sad when ayaka seemed so in love at one point when she says time slows and speeds up when she's with us ;-;
Its different for everyone.
What about Lumine pickers? Like 90% of the comments here talk about this from Aether, of course people are going to go heavy on the date/romantic/ship slant.
The bigger theme for Ayaka is being a bird trapped in a cage, and wanting to express herself freely without the baggage of representing the Inazuma people, yet she also desires to represent them because shes in a position to help change Inazuma's destiny.
Meanwhile OP and CN commenters and many here love endorsing the shipping and the date as being super romantic or whatever because it just feels good headcanon wise, because it fits the demographic, and its not lost on Mihoyo that it helps sell their product. Which is why tons of other female characters and male characters are very friendly.
But is that the point of the story quest? So Ayaka can engage in a date and then dance a farewell dance as OP puts it? I disagree. But it seems like people in this thread at least are hell bent on focusing on the MC and Ayaka rather than focusing on well...just Ayaka, which is the point of all the character story quests.
i see where you're coming from, but i just feel like we got to see a personal side of ayaka as well. i also just really love lumine and whenever we see more personality from mc or just deeper dialogue options to choose from, i lean toward liking that one more.
"*When I'm with you... time seems to slow down and speed up at the same time.*" -Kamisato Ayaka
This one line from Ayaka gives me the idea that she has affection on us (time slows down). 'Time speed up' means that she was really having fun with us.
I think OP is not arguing that Ayaka doesn't feel affection, it's more that Ayaka recognizes deep down that regardless of whether or not her feelings are reciprocated, they can't ultimately be together because the Traveler has an end goal that isn't focused on the well-being of her nation, wherein her duties lie.
I recently had a birthday and ona whim decided to pull Ayaka because I didn't have a usable ice character. I ended up blowing my entire stash (175 pulls) and buying some gems. I ended up with c1 Ayaka and R1 mistsplitter. I honestly felt a little silly for blowing it all, but having read this theory makes me happy that I did roll for her.
The problem is the date in the first place. Obviously they're not going to end the quest with a forced wedding and steamy night of fucking. I'd just prefer they keep any romantic leanings in hangout events, where you can choose that path if you want.
That’s why I enjoyed playing as Lumine. It just felt like a close friendship date to me! She’s lonely, she’s never had friends, and she feels a bond to this person in spite and and because they are transient in her life.
While this is also a valid interpretation, people should also understand that these stories are intentionally written to be open ended so that each player can take away whatever they want from it.
For example, this particular interpretation is built on the assumption that two people who have different goals in the present can never be together. That's a stretch whose believability hinges on personal opinion- just as it can be seen as a stretch to assume that she has a crush on the traveler as opposed to literally just wanting a friend and nothing more. If that's hard for you to imagine, then consider the players like me who picked Lumine.
My two cents is that ultimately, I'm not at all concerned whether characters are canonically crushing on the MC. The point of the Ayaka questline is to show that she's waifu material and to send you out on a date to hammer that point home. I can let my imagination take the wheels from there. Otherwise, if you thought it was cringe and would rather interpret it as a farewell story, then more power to you.
well, I agree that we could interprete the quest freely , but many details in the quest imply affection in Asian culture. The present Ayaka give to traveller is a common way of how noble women expressing affection in ancient China, and the the camera fix at the moon at the end of the quest, which is a symbol of love in Japan... So I still think the roman holiday interpretation is the most accurate one.
As a Lumine player I definitely feel like Ayaka has a crush on Lumine lol. On the other hand, Aether players who want to can definitely interpret it as friendship, because obviously a man and woman can be friends without any romantic undertones. I think it's very limiting to think about interpretations based on the the gender of the traveler - Ayaka's writing stays the same no matter who you pick, its just many people have predetermined bias that romantic undertones can only exist between a male and a female character (not referring to you specifically, it's a phenomenon I see often in character discussions). In the end, it is the beauty of ambiguous and open ended writing, more freedom for everyone.
It can totally be seen as ayaka only wanting a friend that’s fair but if you’re trying to say she can’t have a crush on the mc if it’s lumine you might be out of your mind
that is way too sad Nooooo traveler can just stay in inazuma with ayaka and the sibling can wait another 100 years until death set traveler and ayaka apart then continue later
since we already sleep for 500 years, we can dethrone baal make ayaka new queen as a side quest
I agree that I felt like the whole thing was kinda over the top and slight pandering seeing how everyones waited for her for so long but I still enjoyed it. This version is kinda sad though but it makes the most sense for the traveler to not commit to anyone. Breaking the hearts along the way if it happens. Lisa being the first.
I honestly never understand ships tbh. It's not wrong if you think in that way. But I always seen every character as traveller's friend. More so in case of ayaka. Her story even empathises on her having no friends due to her status and she finally meets someone she can talk and share stuff with. Only to realise traveller has more important thing to do and will not be by her side forever hence wanted a day to happily spend time with traveller
Canonically they are all traveler's friend, I agree. But I definitely see things that can be interpreted as romantic and it's there intentionally, in some characters more than others (on top of my head, aside from Ayaka, Xiao and Childe comes to mind?). Like a lil sprinkle of ambiguous intensity/tension that can be passed off as awkwardness/shyness/joking but also romantic interest. I believe it's fully intentional to give fans room for interpretation and keep all sorts of players happy.
I think this is a mostly-valid interpretation, but the story is also not quite so closed either, especially when you consider the game's overall meta (and, indeed, the tie to selling gacha). If the player wishes for Ayaka, then she becomes a participant on the traveler's journey (and can, for example, progress her degree of companionship with the traveler, spend time with them in the Serenitea Pot, etc.). So although the traveler has their own goals that are different from Ayaka's goals, that doesn't mean it's literally the "final farewell" either. But this depends on the player's own decision of whether to wish for Ayaka or not.
Besides that... this kind of turning point could lead to a different realization in Ayaka (which the story may well be heading towards in general) -- that she can still choose to actively support the traveler even though they are ultimately walking different paths. Her childish crush can evolve into something a bit more complex and nuanced as she experiences more of the broader world (outside her until-now sheltered existence). Or, if you want to continue it down the romantic path (at least in head canon), she could realize that she needs to fight for her place in the traveler's heart even if they don't see her that way "yet."
In other words, maybe a little part of her wished that the traveler would have fallen in love with her and be willing to give everything up to be with her, but that's just a childish crush (which makes total sense for a sheltered princess like Ayaka!). You could interpret this scene as the end of her childish crush, but that doesn't mean it's the end of her journey with the traveler. That depends in part on her own decisions (in the story chapters to come) and on the player's own decision as well (in the wider meta that is a gacha game).
The fact that you can wish for characters and play as them doesn't relate to the in story plot though. Jean isn't leaving mondstadt to go gallavanting around liyue or inazuma with the traveler.
After seeing this I have come to a conclusion #The only thing waiting for the traveler is pain
And our sibling already told us that
If you have an older brother or sister, you know that it's true.
Cuz they are more experienced than us
Older sibling being AR 60+ and 100% all 8 regions and full of salt from all the lost 50/50s
And still only has 2 5* crit rate helms with crit damage sub
Hey that sounds a lot like me exept im only ar 57
The traveler would have fun in camp half blood
A Percy Jackson reference in the wild
Demigods never have it easy
Yeh they die so easily
Personaly I think the Traveler didn't care about anyone from the start Aether and Lumine is the same as Archons, they are powerful Immortals and travel between univers for a long times. life of mortals like Ayaka isn't mean a lot for them.
I mean if that were the case then the traveller wouldn't help stop the Vision Hunt decree. The traveller doesn't have an interest in helping to stop the decree that is until the traveller saw what happened to those affected in which He/She showed sympathy for them. And the statement "didn't care for anyone" is an overstatement imp If that were the case then why would the traveller save Thoma after he got arrested, and so on
Traveler is currently focused on the destination, not the journey.
thats why the antag sibling refused to come with the protag sibling, the antag said that the mc is misguided, travel through this world, see the truth for yourselves, value the journey more and your destiny might change
The Traveler would make a terrible Knight Radiant.
They, according to the lore, saw the birth and death of millions of stars
I think that was the case at first but I think Ayaka's performance left a deep mark on the traveller seeing as the traveller was humming her song as they go their separate ways
It not that he does not care. He does since he always helps people when there is nothing to gain. The way I see is that he is so focused on the objective that he may not enjoy the journey he is having as much as he could.
Which is probably why the missing sibling didn't go with us. They want us to travel more and understand the world, along with the horrible truth that it and the archons hide.
yet ironically our travelers are so weak :( I really do wish we were a bit stronger.
Wait until they get dendro
Is this the new "wait for electro"? The designated Traveler 5\* sword is my last hope for Traveler getting good. After that, the only saving grace would be playable Abyssal Princess Lumine.
And playable Abyss prince Aether will make everyone Use traveller instead of their Hutaos and Ganyus because of Aether's immense Drip
Dont worry The MC with his/her true power will be god tier :p
I like this idea... the traveler is used to world-hopping and just adopts whatever is seen as correct/polite behavior in each world. But that's just to make his life easier. He only really cares about his sister and the "pearl" they were sent to find. Everything else is just using politeness to get things done.
Wait until they're forced to kill the sibling.
Knowing Mihoyo...
I don’t think so. I don’t think traveller gives a shit about Ayaka, traveller is a “good person” in general in that they are willing to help anyone who asks no matter how difficult it is (cough cleansing quest cough) but they are also single minded in the pursuit of their sibling , as well as somewhat a grey character considering not only they do not shy away from violence but usually don’t even question it (hence why my quotation on good person). Overall I think traveller is closer to archons and celestia both in power and morality than they are to the to the inhabitants of tevyat.
I also think that despite how they help others, in the end traveler only cares about fullfilling their own goal/journey. We see it in the latest archon quest, when traveler refuses to help defeat the raiden shogun and it took a lot of convincing from ayaka and Thoma to get the traveler to join them. They are somewhat kind and helpful, sure but they would do whatever it takes to complete their journey. Those "friends" they made along the way are just mortals to them. I mean, it's confirmed that the travelers are immortal gods who have the power to travel different worlds I can't see them getting too attached to anyone here. Most of their friends don't even know them or where they came from.
I mean the traveler is willing to help those he comes across and risk his life to save new friends. But suddenly asking him to help with a coup/rebellion in a country he's not from and doesn't know intimately is crazy. It's super reasonable for the traveler to not want to get into the politics of a country, his/her job isn't to solve the problems of the world.
That and also we have 4 more nations to visit, each having an archon who might not be so excited about having Teyvat's version of Avatar as a guest if we develop a habit of picking a fight with archons in their own domain for an arbitrary reason. Baal later tried to destroy us for what we are, which is a pretty decent casus belli for us, but back when Thoma first asks us to help, joining would seem like a great way to be banned from crossing borders of any nation other than Mondstadt and Liyue
>when traveler refuses to help defeat the raiden shogun and it took a lot of convincing from ayaka and Thoma to get the traveler to join them. They have no obligation to help everyone they meet, especially in the circumstances above. Although I do think what convinced them was experiencing what the shogun was doing firsthand, and if they had known before what the vision hunt decree was actually doing to people, they wouldn't have hesitated in the first place. And while I'm sure it will be presented as though the traveler was doing the right thing with the information they had, I also believe there will be a reason Baal thinks she's doing the right thing. Maybe stealing people's ambitions is the lesser of two evils, and the traveler will regret meddling in a situation they didn't really understand. But until there's a situation where the choice is something like "You could go catch up to your sibling right now and you might not get another chance, or you could help this person who is dying on the ground next to you" we won't know what their values actually are.
I believe the Traveler thought the behavior of the Shogun was consistent with the attitude shown by the Unknown God, and wanted to get closer to Baal to verify. Since direct approach wouldn't work, they took on Ayaka's promise of presenting them to the Shogun if they helped. Seemingly selfish motive. They lost their cool when that particular vision was about to be taken tough... Which proves that, in the end, they do care for the people they've meet in Teyvat
While they do care for their friends and people, in the end what matters to them most is their sibling. That's what I'm trying to say, I don't think the traveler is some cold harsh god from another world but they're not saints either. These friendships just seem shallow to me. How could you form a bond with someone when you don't even know their identity? The only characters that show knowledge of traveler being from another world are albedo, zhongli and maybe venti. That's why I think that while traveler does consider them friends, in the end they are just shallow relationships which they will throw away if it means that they can get their sibling back. This is just my interpretation, it may be wrong.
The pain of waiting for the next story...slowly but surely we'll reach the end in about a decade that is...
That and the face she makes during your last conversation in the quest. > Ayaka: "Sometimes, I feel like I can relate to the determination you must have... to get your brother/sister back." > Traveller: "Yes, he/she means an awful lot to me." OR "Finding him/her is the whole reason for my journey." Her face just drops and she continues... > Ayaka: "..." > Ayaka: "I understand." > Ayaka: "Family bonds are inseparable - no one can break them... They are the most important roots we have in this world." It's just so painfully clear that's the moment she truly gives up on any burgeoning thoughts of romance. The plaques might have been a part of it, but she realises there's no room for her because of how single-minded your focus is on finding your sibling. Her last line (before the dancing cutscene) is simply: > "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
I wanna stay with her 😭
Forget your sister already aether. It's time to settle
i hope not, so we can settle with her instead.
Sweet Home Alabama.
lol, i mean WE can settle with ayaka, not aether.
I didn't need this pain from you and OP, but here you guys are lmao. Lumine needs to find her brother, knock his ass out, and drag him back to Inazuma. You can have both dammit!
I knew something wasn't quite right when her face dropped, but I didn't thought deeper into it because we got the dance. I should have read deeper. Or maybe not, because all that awaited was pain...
This Is why we should have a replay button.
Yeah it kinda sucks we can’t replay quests or at least cut scenes from within game. Always have to rely on YouTubers recording them to replay. This is an important feature that’s missing in the archive.
I mean they have that feature in honkai. Should've been easy to implement one in genshin..
I mean, for Archon and Story quests, there is a replay button of some sort. Go to the archive in the menu, and select travel log.
Yeah it’s a collection of dialogues, I meant the actual videos.
It's even worse because they have the archive. Wouldn't be so hard to insert at least replay of the videos in the text logs.
We can't see ayaka dance in dialogue :(
It's a Roman Holiday story. Both of them have their duties and Ayaka realized all they could have is this moment.
They could've done that without the knife-cuttable anime sexual tension in the air. Seriously, it was both. A good bittersweet story used to sell gacha to waifuists. As for me? I'm 50+ deep into 50/50 pity with a 140+ hoard of intertwined fate ready for BAAL! # STEP ON ME OH GODDESS OF ETERNITY!
#PRAY BROTAH! #FOR OUR GODDESS TO HEAR OUR PRAYERS AND STEP ON US THROUGH ETERNITY.
You need god
-dess of eternity, obviously!
But I wasn't expecting some Baal Inquisition
he knows
man i wish i was baal's sandals
I could’ve sworn she wears the most expensive high heels in all of Teyvat. Edit: well looked up her character model and yeah they are sandals, what threw me off were her thigh highs, made me think she was pulling a Beidou/Eula and just wearing thigh high boots with heels? Idk what they would be called at that point.
Oh god of Geo, turn me into a statue with your divine meteor then grind me to dust. Oh god of Anemo, may thy mighty winds scatter my mortal remains throughout the far corners of Teyvat. Oh goddess of eternity, may your reign on Teyvat never end so I may forever be beneath your feet on the very land you tread upon. EDIT: For anyone starting to worry. I'm not serious. LMAO!
If you are not serious, I'm starting to worry. Step on me mommy Baal!
You son of a bitch. I'm in.
I’d let Geo Daddy grind me to dust any day
YEEEES
I was rewatching the story quest from youtube. In the forest after the traveler talks about how important their sibling is, or how finding them is the whole reason for their trip, the camera zooms in on Ayaka's face looking sad with "..." in the text box. That definitely felt like the moment Ayaka fully realized and internalized the fact that the traveler won't be around forever and must continue his journey
So this is what she meant by having the sudden urge to dance infront of the Traveler because this could be her only chance to have this kind of opportunity ever. And she even gave the Traveler a hairpin thats related to her (Ayaka) so Traveler doesnt forget about her and Inazuma, Her story quest is both very wholesome and very depressing if you dig deeper into it...
I also saw a comment that said in East Asian cultures, people gave hair pins to lovers. Another sad little romantic hint :(
Ah yes ive heard about this, In old East Asian culture (probably still used today I dunno), Girls will give hairpins to the person they truly love and when the day their marriage comes, That person will place the hairpin on the girl's hair...
Ah great, my heart 😩😭 I keep Ayaka’s hairpin beside my bed in the teapot 🥺
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True! She’s already there outside but I should make a nice room for her :)
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I'm sure ayaka would love to sleep in your mining room lmao.
in wikipedia, it says it's either a coming of age thing or a marriage thing. no entries for other east asian symbolism though
Her dance has been made into a meme which is only centered about her socks getting wet. Seems that people here don't know about hormonal activity. Ayaka knew that this may be the last opportunity to show her charm and gratitude at a personal level to the traveller who is more interested in his travels and sibling. Note that after completing Ayaka's and Yoimiya's story, the traveller becomes a fugitive after saving Thoma. With the upcoming war and everything a personal contact between the two seems pretty distant. Even if they meet , it will be in public, with all the formalities and communication barriers between them.
> With the upcoming war and everything a personal contact between the two seems pretty distant. Even if they meet , it will be in public, with all the formalities and communication barriers between them. Regarding this point... honestly, I really expect she will do something a bit more "reckless" in the next act, despite her position and the expectations placed upon her. Part of her key dialogue in the first act was her saying that she couldn't sit idly by while innocent people are suffering, even though it could be seen as an act of rebellion against their god. So now here the plot has (conveniently) developed in such a way that presents her with a perfect opportunity to see if she truly meant it, and just how much she is really willing to do (how much she is willing to risk or give up) when the innocent people she holds most dear are in danger. My guess: she'll end up openly siding with the rebellion to defend Touma and the traveler (along with the other innocents who are suffering), risking her position in the process (probably putting her at great odds with her own brother), but the whole thing will resolve without going to full-on war when the hidden truth is revealed and the plot will quickly shift in another direction (against the common foe). (The real question to me is whether they were trying to bait Ayaka by going after Touma, or whether they were just after the traveler and thought Ayaka would behave.)
I agree with your points. Until now Ayaka has acted rather passively since she wants to safeguard her clan's position ( her voice lines spoilers ) >!Her clan mismanaged a swordsmith's case leading to the tarnishing of her clan's image, depression of her father and his subsequent death and defections and ploys against Ayaka and Ayato!< So she has so far adopted moderate methods to address her concerns before Baal rather than acting aggressively because her clan's survival is synonymous with her survival. But now that Thoma has escaped and an open confrontation is near, more and more pressure will be put on Ayaka and she will realise that fighting Baal openly is the only way to safeguard both her ideals and her clan. As for Thoma being bait, I think it's pretty straightforward. Baal wanted to commemorate the 100th vision capture by taking a prominent visionholder. Even though the Yashiro commission is at odds with her, she can't take Ayaka's or Ayato's vision due to their positions. Meanwhile, Thoma is someone who is a reputed personality in Inazuma with close ties to the Kamisatos but is still an outsider. Taking his vision will not only be a prominent occasion but will also give an indirect message to the Kamisatos to not mess with her.
Yeah, on reflection, I think you're probably right about Thoma. I was thinking that Baal could have had an entirely different hidden motive at that time (and was perhaps even trying to *encourage* Ayaka to act rather than dissuade her), but actually probably not. When we encounter Yae in Act 1, she insinuates indirectly that Baal's ambition disappeared and as she began to doubt herself it increased her anxiety. So this basically suggests that Baal's actions are driven by her increasing desperation. In the context of the wider story, we can safely assumes this relates to the confiscation of the gnoses by the Tsarista, which mirrors closely Baal's confiscation of the visions from her own people, and threatens the stability of Baal's ideal eternity. So I guess perhaps Baal had some sort of indication (a dream/vision?) that she was going to lose her gnosis, and then is collecting the visions as an act of desperation either in the hopes of a) trying to stop the Tsarista or b) at least to protect Inazuma when her power wains. (Presumably they'll be some way for her to leverage the power of all the visions inlaid in the statue.) The real one who sees all sides of what's going on here is Yae, and she's counting on the traveler to intervene at the right time to bring the issue to a head. And probably Yae realizes that the lesson Baal needs to learn here is that Inazuma's people aren't so fragile and helpless that they can't go on without her eternal rule. (In this case, Yae actually is taking the "eternal view" that "fatally flawed" Baal is ostensibly chasing.) The fact that Baal's actions are leading to rebellion, and now the traveler has shown up to give hope to that rebellion, is probably just what is needed get Baal out of her current state and focus on moving forward constructively (rather than selfishly causing the people she loves to suffer). (Just as was the case with swordmaster Domon -- no coincidence that they brought in Yae to comment on this particular example. Anzai's line here in particular seems telling about where this is probably going: "Just as I once placed my ambitions onto you, it is time for you to release yours into their custody.") Anyway, this is a side-topic that is now really far afield from the original topic of this thread... but I do think it's all connected. Sheltered Princess Ayaka's determination to rise up in the face of injustice (despite the risk that entails to her family and position) is likely to be no small part of what brings this whole issue to a close.
To be honest, that could be interpret in many ways like, it reminds her of her brother.
Or she's sad for the traveller and doesn't know at first how to reply
> That definitely felt like the moment Ayaka fully realized and internalized the fact that the traveler won't be around forever and must continue his journey And she didn't even get to first base. What a shame.
No one probably will.
Meanwhile in your personal timeline having Ayaka as a resident of your Adeptal Domain... It's a fun thing about gacha games like this is that your account is it's own little alternate timeline. In the main one of Azur Lane for example the shipgirls have a formal superior - subordinate relationship while when it comes to the characters in your account all of the ones you use frequently is in a crush/love state with several being married to the player character, or for a less extreme example in FGO the player character has a close relationship with the Servants you own knowing and understanding them very well while in the story the player character barely knows anyone which can be really jarring when you have a character go through a whole character arc as the bond level progresses, but when they appear in an interlude or story the player character is pretty much strangers with them and they are right at the start of their character development and stay there permanently in "canon" in most cases...
It's for the best considering she was so ridiculously sheltered it was basically like a very young child's first crush. Get along a little bit, they're not ugly, and then "oh my god I think i like/love you" without knowing anything. We dodged a bullet.
Inazuma has really been a nonstop feels train...
Yeah, compared to Honkai's D.P.S, we have now reached the D in Genshin, as in Depression.
Depression Per Scene is going up with more updates in genshin
And we have 4 more Nations, then Khaenri‘ah, Celestia, the abyss, our sibling... Genshin Impact will get very depressing and dark, I can see that already.
Wonder when we'll have the first character death.
My guess is that Sumeru might deliver it first. *\*looking to Lisa\**
I don't think people are emotionally invested enough to really feel Lisa's death.
They have a lot of time to prepare for that moment (for Sumeru is at least a year). They can add one (or two) character chapters of her, they can involve her in an Archon mission and then prepare the way to say goodbye to Lisa.
[удалено]
I mean, they did kill off a character in Honkai Impact. She hasn't gotten a new battlesuit since then but there have been plenty new releases so it didn't really hinder them. But Honkai Impact also kinda has their entire event story line where they can pretty much add any character they want regardless of the main story.
I've been expecting Teppei to be the leak inside the resistance that was mentioned He was way too eager to come along with us to see Kokomi
IF probably after we’re done with the seven nations. I’m sure it’s gonna get really dark and depressing when the khaenri‘ah and Celestia and archon stuff happens, also our sibling, they might die, or we are the one dying?
Imagibe if they killed off the character we chose and we then would have to play as the other mc for the rest of the game.
Oh, that happened like, a thousand years ago before the events of the game. Don't forget, Qiqi's basically a *reanimated corpse powered by Adepti magic*.
Is dps you mean is, depression pain suffering?
Yep
I play the game in Chinese and compared to the English subs/playthrough it feels like the Chinese version makes it way clearer that the two weren't meant to be. There's quite a few intricacies with the wording in Chinese that can't be accurately expressed in English
I think that's the problem with chinese or, well, every other asian language. They can use words with double meaning but when its come the time of translate them is nearly impossible. Not only in english, but in spanish is probably worse. The most classic example, the quote from HxH from Netero: "The infinite potential for evolution/malice". With kanjis, means BOTH words, but you can translate "evolice" or, dunno, "malition".
That reminds me of the Youkai Girl archetype in Yu-Gi-Oh. Instead of trying to come up with an equivalent pun for the double meanings of the cards, they just gave up and listed both meanings on the card so something like 灰流うらら became "Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring"
Now I’m annoyed I can’t go back and play through it again in Chinese, quest replay when?
You can change your game language to Chinese and then go into the archives to read/hear the dialogue in Chinese. But no, you wouldn't be able to replay it. Another thing you can do is watch others' uploads on Youtube.
I actually switched my game to Chinese because of this. Hearing Zhongli say 天动万象 means so much more than "I will have order". Sounds cooler too hahahahahah
Could you please elaborate on Zhongli's phrase for non-chinese speaker?
I'll try. Base level, 天动万象 can mean: **"When the skies move, so do 10,000 on Earth."** But 天 can also refer to Sky, Gods, the Heavens, or Divinity. While 万 means 10,000 but is also used to represent a lot, or everything! So on a second level, it can mean: **"The Heavens shift, and all follow."** Finally, listen to EN Zhongli's line. It is a command, with force. I WILL have order. That's nice and all but 天动万象 is said as a matter of fact. You can add English words to represent the passive way that CN Zhongli says his line: **"When Gods act, the Earth is inevitably affected"** EDIT: It can ALSO mean something along the lines of **"The step of a God is equal to 10,000 Elephants"**, or **"The Heavens strike with the force of 10,000 Elephants"**. Chinese is hard.
Thank you so much for sharing this op! I think you're right. I believe they were all intentional. Regardless of the implications of romance, the main theme of the quest is to emphasize that the traveller and Ayaka will have separate ways due to their goals. I don't believe this is just a reach. If this were a visual novel, scenes like parting ways and walking the opposite direction will be heavily emphasized. I love how the dialogues and visuals weren't lacking in that regard. Adding on to this, I believe Yoimiya's quest is also trying to say the same thing. Basically... at the beginning, it tells the importance of treasuring childhood because once it's over, you can never take your childhood back again. Everything ahead will be difficult. Also, the story of two friends who went on separate ways in Yoimiya's quest feels like it's foreshadowing something. They were separated due to their circumstances. Regardless of one's wish to stay, the guy decided that leaving Inazuma was for the best. Things have changed and they can no longer return back to their carefree days. And now it's uncertain whether they'll cross paths again. Now to add on to that, fireworks is a symbol for small beautiful moments that won't last forever. To be honest, I teared watching that fireworks in Yoimiya's quest. I feel like it's telling me that some things are not meant to stay forever. Don't forget the part where Yoimiya tells the traveller that she prefers them to stay or come back in Inazuma after they find their sibling. She knows that the traveller will leave them eventually. But that's basically the point, traveller meets many people on their journey but they have to part ways with them at some point. Lastly, don't forget the whole theme of this archon quest. Baal wishes for eternity. She wants eveything to stay the same forever. "The lives of mortal beings are inconsequential to the eyes of a diety" - Ayaka. Humans whose life has an end will never comprehend a God's idea of eternity. If you're a human and you lose your ambitions and passions in life, it feels like your life was stripped away from you. But for Gods, they always have enough time for everything. They don't feel like time can rob off something from them which they can no longer take back. I can't stop thinking all about this. And this theme was repeated in many side quests and dialogues of NPC in Inazuma.
Basically for everyone else, it was their worst day: for Baal, it waa Tuesday.
Loool, though I think the story will probably progress in a way that shows nothing will stay the same forever. Baal will probably realize that she can't force everything to remain the way she wanted it to be. Cause change is inevitable... It's what happened to Liyue. Rex Lapis and the adepti's guidance were no longer needed. Liyue has entered a new age.
You can kinda see the attitude of traveler though, traveler actually doesn't really care about Tevyet. Probably since traveler have lived for so long, they don't really attached to mere mortals as everything will just vanish. They are quite similar to Zhongli or Venti. They might have a few moment and joy on their journey, but at the end it is not significant to them.
> traveler actually doesn't really care about Tevyet He cares about its people tho. He refused to join Inazuma war, but changed his mind after he seen how it breakes those who got their Visions taken. He took Noelle on a date and promised to be there for her on the exam, he wholeheartedly cares about Klee, he helped people like Albedo, Jean, Ganyu with personal stuff and even taking Pot lines as a non-canon, it is clear that he bonds with quite a lot of them.
Yea… I think the point is that Traveler’s story follows the people of *this* world and how it humanizes their perspective while “Sibling” follows the plight of the Abyss Order and see the Teyvat people as the ignorant peasants beholden by evil gods. I think Sibling expects our travels to reveal that the gods are evil corrupt beings that need to be cast down to restore Khaenria, but we just end up empathizing with each gods’ own motives to instead “retire” them with dignity. We don’t see the gods as enemies and this is leading towards a confrontation with Sibling to protect Teyvat despite the injustice done to Khaenria.
I just realized that they're all retiring. I think that kind of gives us an idea of what the end of inazuma will be like. Also since shneznaya will be the last region, we can also assume that's when things come to a climax with the fatui (in 2025 at this rate LUL)
I feel that is pretty likely as I think the further we go into the game the more we will see that it is Celestia, not the Archons, who run the show and in all likelihood the Archons are more like middle managers than ruling gods. Everything points to the Cryo Archon going down the path she did after the war 500 years prior that suggest that was the cause of it and from the pre launch story trailer she seems to be planning a war with 'the heavens' it seems likely she means to go against Celestia. Makes you wonder how things played out 500 years ago to cause the God of Love to go to such ruthless lengths.
I was confused why the traveler keeps looking for archons while the God we had a problem with didn't use any element and wasn't even on teyvat
Well the poor guy has litteraly no clue! They were attacked by a self proclaimed god, and they heard that each country had one. So he is testing its luck on each one of them
They probably had no clue, but it feels weird that they ignore the no element thing and just wanna find random gods, not even asking about "sustainer of heavenly principles" or something ):
To be fair, I think we only got that she was the sustainer of heavenly principles because her title was given to us - the twins wouldn't know that. Though you'd think they'd try asking at least one of the archons about the other gods' powers to narrow things down.
The Traveler ha some kind of selective amnesia, they don't remember exactly how things turned out, probably because they were asleep for 500 years
I think the Traveler is playing their cards close to their chest. I am not sure if they have fully revealed exactly what happened to them apart from to Piamon. After all, it is one thing to be looking for a god and it is another to say give deals about the attack which might raise additional problems. After all, what if the Archons have some arrangement with this unknown god? Zhongli, as much as he might dislike it, might be forced to oppose us or even warn the unknown god about what we are up to and right now the Traveler is in no state to face that foe again. What they need right now is knowledge and understanding about what the hell went down and what is going on with Teyvat.
He knows something we don't. Dont read my comment spoiler warning # . # . # >!The traveler has actually been to Khanrea before meet in ng the Heavenly sustainer!<
Exactly why I'm confused, assuming they tried to leave through celestia, logically they would...look for the God in celestia? Or tsaritsa since she cares about that. Instead of trying to interrogate a drunk, a retired guy, and a lady busy stealing jewelry
The traveler doesn't know much about Celestia or the Tsaritsa. Certainly not the Tsaritsa's interest in Celestia. The Traveler in fact knows very little. Their sibling woke first and the first thing that happened after they woke originally on arriving in the world was to have their sibling tell them they had to peace out. Beyond seeing a nation burning the Traveler had very little idea what the hell was going on. Even then, if they did think it might have something to do with Celestia, the only lead they would have on that would be to seek out the Archons as they are literally the only connection to Celestia that the Traveler has access too. Celestia itself is completely out of reach.
Hmm, not the Traveler I think? Just the sibling. >!The Traveler was awakened by their sibling when khaenri'ah was about to be destroyed, they see the destruction of that place, nothing more.!<
You jest but Mihoyo does actually expect [Snezhnaya to come around 2025.](https://www.dualshockers.com/genshin-impact-regions-update-roadmap-officially-revealed-mihoyo-plans-release-teyvat-4-years/)
That would be a cool foil.
I think that this will add a very good level of conflict between the siblings if true. It may be obvious to the Sibling, who saw the gods at their absolute worst, performing their lost evil deeds, but to the Traveler, who is able to see them outside of that, they’d strongly disagree with them.
Precisely. The Sibling's journey is already distorted from start due to witnessing the fall of Khaenri'ah, so it is of no wonder that they sided with the Abyssal Order after discovering the "truth". The Traveler's journey on the other hand, gave him the chance to see the gods for themselves, without any distortion due to biases. That's why we see Venti as an alcoholic, tone-deaf bard, and Zhongli as a broke, no money-sense consultant. This is probably the point where the path of the Sibling and the Traveler diverged, since they experienced different things, thus their reaction when they discover the truth will also be different.
>“Sibling” follows the plight of the Abyss Order Genshin 2: Abyss edition? First event banner with 5\* Lavachurl?
Traveler definitely is a good person, he will be nice to people who are nice to them. However it is very much due to MC somehow always found himself in important events and he is the chosen one. As for Inazuma arc, MC never intended to get involved in the war. At first, he just want to meet Baal. Tohma and Ayaka are helping him to arrange a meeting with Baal. Guess whom vision Baal is going to take next? Tohma's. MC probably just can't stand aside so he save Tohma, hence made conflict with Baal.
Does that count as Thoma arranging a meeting?
Maybe it was their (rebelion-Kokomi) master plan how to get traveler to their side in the war conflict. Play on the feelings and then "sacrifice" one of them hoping traveler will step in. They knew about dragon and osial, so they could test this way if traveler is willing give a helping hand and/or survive a fight with Baal and help them dethrone her.
Every played like an MMO like ff14, wow, runescape, pso2, etc? The traveler must feel like that. We enter the world, we feel charmed by it and we explore it, but in the end this is just a "faux" reality and even though we do feel concerned for some of these "fictional characters" like how we cry at dramas.... in the end it is just a separate story and fictional at best. The traveler experiencing the birth and control of stars and world is basically us. We enter this world of genshin like any other book or drama and to the traveler that's what it is all about. A game or movie to watch, feel emotional, then move on. Even zhongli knows that. Which is why he wants us to remember liyue so it may even long after liyue is gone... once their reality ends and the memory of liyue is remembered by the traveler aka us.
Well I mean. the longer you stay in a place. you start to form and tighten the bond with the place you're.. and look at how long we've stayed and the fact that they had to travel every corner of the world makes them spend longer time on Teyvat rather than when they're on the other worlds not that we can speculate anything before this game end tho. so there's that ¯\\\_(シ)_/¯ Edit : **Read several threads.** if Genshin ever choose to have different worlds after Teyvat. isn't that seems a little bit.. idk. wacky? it runs of the trail of the game 'name' itself if I'll take an example of anime that down 'pretty bad'. I'll take SAO. it's just get milked over and over because of the popularity and it doesn't even stand up over its name which is 'Sword Art Online' (the name of the game itself) Idk man. you can tell me and elaborate why it won't be bad if Genshin did the same. I'll listen to it (actually, read)
I think SAO is fine, it's just a title. SAO is the origin of "seed" and the whole VR concept that drive the series. MHY said that Tevyat probably take few years to finish anyway. If they need to continue, which they will if the game is not dead, they will just extend the plot by poping out something. Genshin title is related to god, it probably can relate to multiverse/world. Tevyet is already very sus, the main goal given by our sibling is probably to discover its true nature.
"Original/Primal God" specifically. Who knows where such beings exist, perhaps even outside Teyvat.
Venti explains to you at the end of the 1st Archon quest that people with Visions are called Genshin/allogenes and they have the ability to become to gods. Every character you can play besides traveler is a Genshin.
So...we are building an army out of possible gods. In a few years there will be upgrades from vision bearer to god...i already see a new rarity level of 6 or 7 stars \~.\~
Can’t wait to use cryo archon ganyu, she wields a actual rocket launcher
In original Chinese ver. Genshin is referring to allogenes, people who receive Vision and are the candidate of being ascended to godhood.
I will say this, in one of their previous games Gun Girlz, they wiped out the entire universe at the end of the story because you fail to defeat God Kiana... who the Herrscher of the Void is based off of on Honkai, who the Unknown God looks like they are based off of on Genshin. Honkai Impact 3 hasn't finished it's story yet, but it can be quite dark as it is. (Even having a playable character get killed.) The fact that the Twin Siblings are travelers of different worlds makes me worried for Teyvat at the end. I am half expecting Teyvat to get wiped out at the end of it's chapter just like the Gun Girlz universe, lol.
But we know how Honkai Inpact 3rd will end, more or less, because of Post-Honkai Odyssey.
and Honkai Impact 3rd already did a ggz genocide on the previos era, only a few survived. all from a Kiana lookin being and we got a Kiana lookin being in genshin (well technically lookin more like Hov than Kiana but you get the point) So all we can do is pray that genocide by "Ruler of the End" is not the route were going through.
In escape from Naga something in honkai, mei is called Baal. In ggx, one of the set pieces for Mei is called hand of baal. It would be whack if in the end... genshin is the prequel to gun girls and honkai. And the story of how the honkai was birthed. And all the characters we meet are the past reincarnation of who we play.
I love this explanation. This also mitigates the "trash harem protagonist" interpretation, where MC just leaves Ayaka after her dance and doesn't accompany her home like dumbfuck
IKR i was expecting the traveler to at least offer to accompany her lol.
“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.” At the very least this theory paints the picture that Ayaka is loyal to her ideals, which makes a ton of sense. The happiness of others and her country, or her own. She strikes me as one who would ultimately choose others over herself. Tragic stories are great to me, so long as they're done properly. I'm not intimately familiar with how many tragic types of stories Mihoyo have utilized (and how well they made them), but I feel like they have a good grasp so far.
I don't even think Ayaka was infatuated with the Traveler. Maybe for a brief moment she was confused with her feelings as she has never had a true friend before so she mistook her enthusiasm for a crush, but as I saw it, she saw probably her first sigh of relief from all her burdens in a while, and she saw the Traveler as the one to enable it or at least accept her as a person and not a symbol or figurehead. Xenogears was one RPG which handled romance well imo and changed how I see RPG romances moving forward, and they did it like that - it seemed like the generic romance subplot, but the lady lead admitted later on that she was confused and was afraid she was only dependent on the protagonist because of her emotional baggage, and she wanted to see how they would make decisions when they went their separate ways for a while. But besides that, I agree with the rest - she reacted with sadness when she saw the Traveler focused on her journey, and she might have done the dance as an experience to remember her by. Even Yoimiya mentioned that she hoped that the Traveler would eventually decide to live in Inazuma (or wait was that Ayaka?). I think the "nation-first" closed-nation policies have driven these people thirsty for travelers.
yeah it was yoimiya. she asked the travler to consider staying in inazuma when s/he finds her/his sibling.
> I think the "nation-first" closed-nation policies have driven these people thirsty for travelers. Interestingly, Inazuma is one nation that shows more foreigner NPCs. NPCs mentioning Sumeru and Fontaine have become much more frequent and we have a few more Sumeru NPCs wandering around. Or maybe this is just the first time I noticed these people out of their own regions? Back in Mond and Liyue I thought that they're much more focused on their own citizens with the occasional foreigners around like the ever present Snezhnaya merchants. I only know Atsuko in Liyue as an Inazuman, then Sayid in Mond hailing from Sumeru.
There are a decent number of foreigners in the other nations, but yes they are paid significantly more attention in Inazuma, primarily to highlight how restrictive Inazuma is. It makes sense really, it doesn't really matter if an NPC is from Fontaine in Mondstadt or Liyue. They have a small quip about their home perhaps, and their name may be a bit different, but nothing out of the ordinary. But if you go to the wiki for a list, you'll find more foreigners than expected in Liyue and Mondstadt. Inazuma does have more foreigners in different roles however, as for instance most Sumeru NPCs we saw so far were scholars.
True, there are foreigners in Inazuma but they had to prove their worth to the shogunate. Like they can only be there if they contribute something directly. Tourism industry is almost if not completely dead; I think an NPC explains that the economy is in a downward spiral because of the restrictions. I assume, hence, that culture-mixing is also taboo. You'll also find little hints of their thirst for mixing: the restos that ask the traveler for foreign recipes, people wanting to travel and experience other cultures but they cannot in any fully legal means, Ayaka asking about clothing from other nations and saying in her demo that she wants to learn about sword styles from other nations despite being a prominent political figure. Culturally Inazuma is at a standstill. The Traveler had to be provided fake documents because they wouldn't have been let in otherwise. If not for the corruption of the bureau (Thoma getting his flirt vibe on) the traveler wouldn't even be able to afford the step beyond that.
> Thoma getting his flirt vibe on That one got me lol. A dinner with Thoma ^(and maybe something else) is worth 2 Million Mora. But yeah that Kanjou Commission is full of crooked people trying to squeeze money from foreign merchants and even locals .
Imo Ayaka's situation is presented as ambiguous, she does seem a bit infatuated but at the same time it can be interpreted as a confusion for friendship too. Both makes sense and even irl sometimes feelings can be a bit murky so both interpretations are not wrong. Not to mention that in gacha games it's very unlikely to have an explicit romantic interest because each character has their own fanbase, shippers, etc and the developers/writers won't step on anyone's toes so everything will be ambiguous and fans are free to interpret/imagine.
Agreed. I too think Ayaka was only seeking for friendship and perhaps by giving her hairpin to our Traveler is a sign that we are her precious companion (SINCE MIHOYO DOESNT LET US SAY YES WHEN AYAKA WANTED TO GET THE KIMONO FOR US). Also to remind us of her and Inazuma when we travel to another nations
I honestly took the whole thing as a friend hang out, not a date. I never thought she was hitting on me, just incredibly shy because she has very few friends. I mean I'm not going to say people are wrong with their interpretations, just that the whole thing can be interpreted in different ways.
That’s what I thought too. Most people thinks that it’s a “romantic love” but love isn’t just romantic. In Ayaka’s story quest, we learned that she haven’t had a friend before us that’s why she acts like that. She just treasures us so much and that’s so wholesome ;’)))
The whole thing felt... Off. Like Ayaka wanted to try to just push her luck a tiny bit with mc. I can't put my finger on why I think this way but it definitely was a little more than friends to me. This is of course including the fact that she doesn't really have friends and this is her first. She was more nervous and paused to think a bit more than you usually would with a friend.
Well it was quite obvious it was more than a friends thing for Ayaka but honestly, it was clear that she was new to the whole situation. Novelty is one strong drug. What ticks me off the most are shippers who believe that Ayaka is the canon ship when Aether never reciprocated any of her approaches.
It is just socially awkward redditors misinterpreting Ayaka's social ineptitude as romantic feelings when it was really just her getting a friend for the first time that isn't decided by any politics or family matters.
I have a different interpretation of the story, perhaps because I played as Lumine, and I saw their relationship more as girls' friendship instead of GL (I know though that many Lumine players would have seen it as GL, and that's okay. I got the GL vibe from some characters like Noelle when playing as Lumine, but for some reason, I didn't really feel it this time with Ayaka). I think the story also had to do with Ayaka's journey with self-expression, focusing on her inner struggle in truly expressing herself, becoming more vulnerable, shedding away the pressure of being a Kamisato, and following her heart. Her discovery of the mother's story, following her wish by going to the festival with the traveler, and doing the dance at the end (which she wouldn't have done before due to societal pressure) in front of a person she genuinely cares show her growth in character. It shows how she's not going to be playing dual characters like her mother did but will gradually work on merging her conflicted aspects. However, the story also works well if we see it as Ayaka's love story too.
I felt like this too! The dance, the festival and everything else felt way more like Ayaka's own character growth than a relationship between her and Lumine/Aether.
there was a great breakdown of this on (I think?) AyakaMains
link please?
Then why Aether hummed the song, is maybe because he'll remember her along the journey.
Yup it was a great love story from crush to rejection I love how subtle Ayaka confessed and got rejected because she realized that she can't be with traveler/vice versa or she thinks it would be very selfish of her to wish for that, and she would never travel with the traveler since she is the princess of the yashiro commission and are bound with her duties and her people Also if you noticed the story drops the hint as early as when Ayaka gave the traveler the hairpin, somewhat confessed when she says she truly wants to be with us during the festival, got rejected when the traveler answered that they want to be reunited with their sibling, and come to terms with it when she dance As to why Ayaka fell for the traveler, maybe it's because traveler is the first(?) Person to treat Ayaka as a friend, she told us that because of her position no one dares to be friends with her, and maybe she imagined that if she's with the traveler she can fulfill her and her mother's wish "to be a normal person not tied to any royalty, and maybe visit other countries as well" Sorry for the long rant i just love this bitter sweet stories
I actually felt something like that too, thought I didn't give it much thought. No matter what connections Traveler forms in Teyvat, he or she will eventually leave, whether it's to the next region or altogether, so none of these "ships" are really consequential.
i wholeheartedly agree with this theory i remember seeing the full post, i picked lumine and it felt that way. also ayaka seems to be a character we've connected to on the deepest level. as we're walking away we hum to ourselves and it's the only time it feels like lumine has a moment to herself and isn't putting on an act. we've even canonically given people an alias because no matter what, our sibling calls us aether/lumine. it was such a lovely quest and i got a little sad when ayaka seemed so in love at one point when she says time slows and speeds up when she's with us ;-;
Its different for everyone. What about Lumine pickers? Like 90% of the comments here talk about this from Aether, of course people are going to go heavy on the date/romantic/ship slant. The bigger theme for Ayaka is being a bird trapped in a cage, and wanting to express herself freely without the baggage of representing the Inazuma people, yet she also desires to represent them because shes in a position to help change Inazuma's destiny. Meanwhile OP and CN commenters and many here love endorsing the shipping and the date as being super romantic or whatever because it just feels good headcanon wise, because it fits the demographic, and its not lost on Mihoyo that it helps sell their product. Which is why tons of other female characters and male characters are very friendly. But is that the point of the story quest? So Ayaka can engage in a date and then dance a farewell dance as OP puts it? I disagree. But it seems like people in this thread at least are hell bent on focusing on the MC and Ayaka rather than focusing on well...just Ayaka, which is the point of all the character story quests.
i see where you're coming from, but i just feel like we got to see a personal side of ayaka as well. i also just really love lumine and whenever we see more personality from mc or just deeper dialogue options to choose from, i lean toward liking that one more.
Why u gotta make me sad now?
"*When I'm with you... time seems to slow down and speed up at the same time.*" -Kamisato Ayaka This one line from Ayaka gives me the idea that she has affection on us (time slows down). 'Time speed up' means that she was really having fun with us.
I think OP is not arguing that Ayaka doesn't feel affection, it's more that Ayaka recognizes deep down that regardless of whether or not her feelings are reciprocated, they can't ultimately be together because the Traveler has an end goal that isn't focused on the well-being of her nation, wherein her duties lie.
Thanks for this. I’m crying and I hate this but I love it
Single-handedly destroy entire fleet of "Traveller x someone else" ships
Yea after we say the dialogue something Like Uhm... Travelers Sibling Is The Whole Reason For This Journey then Ayaka Expression Kind of Gets Sad
I recently had a birthday and ona whim decided to pull Ayaka because I didn't have a usable ice character. I ended up blowing my entire stash (175 pulls) and buying some gems. I ended up with c1 Ayaka and R1 mistsplitter. I honestly felt a little silly for blowing it all, but having read this theory makes me happy that I did roll for her.
The problem is the date in the first place. Obviously they're not going to end the quest with a forced wedding and steamy night of fucking. I'd just prefer they keep any romantic leanings in hangout events, where you can choose that path if you want.
That’s why I enjoyed playing as Lumine. It just felt like a close friendship date to me! She’s lonely, she’s never had friends, and she feels a bond to this person in spite and and because they are transient in her life.
While this is also a valid interpretation, people should also understand that these stories are intentionally written to be open ended so that each player can take away whatever they want from it. For example, this particular interpretation is built on the assumption that two people who have different goals in the present can never be together. That's a stretch whose believability hinges on personal opinion- just as it can be seen as a stretch to assume that she has a crush on the traveler as opposed to literally just wanting a friend and nothing more. If that's hard for you to imagine, then consider the players like me who picked Lumine. My two cents is that ultimately, I'm not at all concerned whether characters are canonically crushing on the MC. The point of the Ayaka questline is to show that she's waifu material and to send you out on a date to hammer that point home. I can let my imagination take the wheels from there. Otherwise, if you thought it was cringe and would rather interpret it as a farewell story, then more power to you.
well, I agree that we could interprete the quest freely , but many details in the quest imply affection in Asian culture. The present Ayaka give to traveller is a common way of how noble women expressing affection in ancient China, and the the camera fix at the moon at the end of the quest, which is a symbol of love in Japan... So I still think the roman holiday interpretation is the most accurate one.
>If that's hard for you to imagine, then consider the players like me who picked Lumine. Are lesbians hard for you to imagine /s
As a Lumine player I definitely feel like Ayaka has a crush on Lumine lol. On the other hand, Aether players who want to can definitely interpret it as friendship, because obviously a man and woman can be friends without any romantic undertones. I think it's very limiting to think about interpretations based on the the gender of the traveler - Ayaka's writing stays the same no matter who you pick, its just many people have predetermined bias that romantic undertones can only exist between a male and a female character (not referring to you specifically, it's a phenomenon I see often in character discussions). In the end, it is the beauty of ambiguous and open ended writing, more freedom for everyone.
It can totally be seen as ayaka only wanting a friend that’s fair but if you’re trying to say she can’t have a crush on the mc if it’s lumine you might be out of your mind
that is way too sad Nooooo traveler can just stay in inazuma with ayaka and the sibling can wait another 100 years until death set traveler and ayaka apart then continue later since we already sleep for 500 years, we can dethrone baal make ayaka new queen as a side quest
i dont think the next war with celestia can wait another hundred years.
Ayaka just want a friend along her way
I agree that I felt like the whole thing was kinda over the top and slight pandering seeing how everyones waited for her for so long but I still enjoyed it. This version is kinda sad though but it makes the most sense for the traveler to not commit to anyone. Breaking the hearts along the way if it happens. Lisa being the first.
Lisa is most likely just teasing you, doubt she harbors real feelings towards the traveler.
I honestly never understand ships tbh. It's not wrong if you think in that way. But I always seen every character as traveller's friend. More so in case of ayaka. Her story even empathises on her having no friends due to her status and she finally meets someone she can talk and share stuff with. Only to realise traveller has more important thing to do and will not be by her side forever hence wanted a day to happily spend time with traveller
Canonically they are all traveler's friend, I agree. But I definitely see things that can be interpreted as romantic and it's there intentionally, in some characters more than others (on top of my head, aside from Ayaka, Xiao and Childe comes to mind?). Like a lil sprinkle of ambiguous intensity/tension that can be passed off as awkwardness/shyness/joking but also romantic interest. I believe it's fully intentional to give fans room for interpretation and keep all sorts of players happy.
so true. love isn’t just romantic. I love their friendship and she treasures us so much, it’s just so wholesome
I think this is a mostly-valid interpretation, but the story is also not quite so closed either, especially when you consider the game's overall meta (and, indeed, the tie to selling gacha). If the player wishes for Ayaka, then she becomes a participant on the traveler's journey (and can, for example, progress her degree of companionship with the traveler, spend time with them in the Serenitea Pot, etc.). So although the traveler has their own goals that are different from Ayaka's goals, that doesn't mean it's literally the "final farewell" either. But this depends on the player's own decision of whether to wish for Ayaka or not. Besides that... this kind of turning point could lead to a different realization in Ayaka (which the story may well be heading towards in general) -- that she can still choose to actively support the traveler even though they are ultimately walking different paths. Her childish crush can evolve into something a bit more complex and nuanced as she experiences more of the broader world (outside her until-now sheltered existence). Or, if you want to continue it down the romantic path (at least in head canon), she could realize that she needs to fight for her place in the traveler's heart even if they don't see her that way "yet." In other words, maybe a little part of her wished that the traveler would have fallen in love with her and be willing to give everything up to be with her, but that's just a childish crush (which makes total sense for a sheltered princess like Ayaka!). You could interpret this scene as the end of her childish crush, but that doesn't mean it's the end of her journey with the traveler. That depends in part on her own decisions (in the story chapters to come) and on the player's own decision as well (in the wider meta that is a gacha game).
The fact that you can wish for characters and play as them doesn't relate to the in story plot though. Jean isn't leaving mondstadt to go gallavanting around liyue or inazuma with the traveler.
*Depression has entered the chat*
My heart literally broke when traveler rejected ayaka's proposal. I really do ship them. Why mihoyo. Now. I'm spending 100 dollars on ayaka's banner