ThomaTo

"The game of politics is fraught with peril. Saying too little is not good, but saying too much is also bad. But don't get me wrong, my Lord does not take any joy in these 'battles.' For him, it's just... a matter of duty."

- Thoma about Ayato

ThomaTo is the slash ship between Thoma and Kamisato Ayato from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Canon
Both characters do not yet have actual interaction in the game, as Ayato is yet to be introduced into the game as a playable character. At the same time, he is already mentioned quite actively in the latter's voicelines, so fans can make some data about their working and friendly relations. Ayato can also be mischievous, as shown when Hiratsuka mentioned that Thoma gets nervous whenever seeing Ayato because the latter always manages to rope him into eating strange foods.

It is strongly implied that Ayato was the one who inspired Thoma to the point where he received a vision. After the death of the Kamisato siblings' parents, he tells Thoma due to their passing, the trouble in the Kamisato clan would only grow worse. He asks Thoma that because he was someone that could see what was at stake, whether or not he would take this chance to leave. Thoma, after deliberation, replied that he would be staying because he would lose his loyalty and righteousness if he had decided to abandon them in the trying times. He predicts that in the future, the siblings would most certainly need Thoma as a helper.

Thoma mentions Ayato in both his story and voicelines. He refers to Ayato as "My Lord" or "Young Lord", while he himself is sometimes known as "The Kamisato Clan's Housekeeper". They have opposing element visions, as Thoma is Pyro and Ayato is Hydro like his sister. They both have a short ponytail at the base of their heads and both include some element of gold in their outfits. Ayato is affiliated with the Yashiro Commission, as well is Thoma.

Fanon
This ship gained some popularity even before fans could even see what Ayato would look like, as they already quite liked how loyal and intimate his mention in Thoma's voicelines was. Even though headcanon generally gives this ship the same servant x master dynamic as Ayaka x Thoma, the ship's fanfiction has some significant differences, as Ayato's personality seems to be completely opposite to his sister's. It is commonly compared to Thomaya because of the similarities that Ayato shares with his sister.

For example, while in other ships Thoma was often portrayed as the active side due to his charismatic and playful personality, fans of the ship often see him subservient to the more dominant and intelligent Ayato. Although the latter's identity has not yet been fully revealed, Thanks to the already available to fans' canon information, Ayato is often headcannoned as a confident, intelligent, cunning, and sarcastic young aristocrat. So, in fan art and illustrations, Thoma often tends to be depicted as a loyal but naive and pure servant being seduced by the former.

They have nearly 450 works on AO3, despite Ayato not even being a released character.

Trivia

 * Since Ayato and his ship with Thoma gained some popularity even before his appearance was revealed, quite a few illustrations portray him as a kind of genderbent version of his sister, Ayaka.
 * The ship name "Ayathoma" could also be used for the ship, but it could also be confused with the ship that Thoma has with Ayaka. "ThomaTo" was a mutually agreed-upon name in the fandom, with the slight humor in it sounding like "Tomato".
 * Ayato's title is "Pillar of Fortitude"; Thoma's is "Protector From Afar".
 * Arataki Itto's character teaser has a cameo of both Thoma and Ayato. They appeared together while watching Itto's stage.

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FAN FICTION

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