EiMiko

"Tell me this - Why is the sky here that was once so dark glowing again? Why now? …This is your Plane of Euthymia, it's your inner world. So, it can only mean… that you are happy to see me, again. You have found the loneliness here unbearable for a long time now, haven't you?"

- Yae Miko to Ei, "The Omnipresent God"

EiMiko is the femslash ship between Raiden Ei and Yae Miko from the Genshin Impact fandom.

Canon
Yae Miko is stated to be an “old friend” of Baal and is one of her most trusted allies. Despite this, she does not support the Archon’s actions. Thus, Miko agrees to help the traveler defeat Baal in order to save her from an eternity of solitude. After the traveler's altercation with the Archon, it is shown that Miko and the latter are quite fond of each other and tease each other frequently.

Archon Quest
Yae Miko requests the traveler’s help in her plan to stop the Vision Hunt Decree. She asks them if they met the real Baal, whose name is Raiden Ei. Miko was formerly one of Ei’s followers, similar to what Dvalin is to Venti. She still cares deeply for her friend and wants to not only rid Inazuma of the Fatui, but save Ei in the process. Miko believes the reason Ei has not spoken to her is that the latter wants to eternally preserve their friendship as it was.

Miko enters the Plane of Euthymia and tells Ei that she shouldn’t forget who taught her how to create this space. Together, Miko and the traveler convince Ei to acknowledge the people of Inazuma’s ambitions. After the fight, Miko voices her concerns about Ei’s wellbeing. She tells Ei that the people of Inazuma don’t want the eternity that she is pursuing, and that she should give them her attention instead. Miko says that the loneliness Ei felt over the past five hundred years must have been unbearable. She comments that the environment becoming lighter around them is proof that Ei is happy to see her again. Miko teases Ei that she will have to spend the next several centuries updating her on everything that has happened. Ei laughs and says she never thought they’d meet again like this. She admits that seeing Miko again has been a very nice surprise. Miko asks if that means they are still friends, and Ei lightheartedly calls her childish.

Miko reveals that she traded the Electro gnosis to Scaramouche in exchange for the traveler’s life being spared. When asked why she had the gnosis, Miko replies that Ei entrusted it to her after cutting ties with Celestia. Miko then explains Ei’s past in detail to the traveler.

Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter
Miko gives Ei time to think about what eternity means to her, and in the meantime assists the traveler in inviting Ei to see the outside world.

Irodori Festival
As part of the celebration for this festival in Inazuma, Miko personally oversees the distribution of a new novel titled "Pretty Please, Kitsune Guuji!" published by the Yae Publishing House. The light novel focuses on the relationship between a shrine maiden named "Yae Masako" and "the Raiden Shogun".

Fanon
The EiMiko ship originated from the fandom’s theories about them. It became fairly popular among fan artists when Inazuma was released. The ship has grown even more after the 2.1 update revealed the truth about their relationship and had significant interactions between them. Currently there are 500+ works of the ship on AO3.

EiMiko is by far the most popular ship for Yae Miko. It is also one of Ei’s two most popular ships, the other being EiSara. Both characters are often read as having one-sided (Sara) or mutual (Miko) crush on Ei. Fans of both pairings interact quite peacefully, in fact, there is also a poly ship with the three of them together EiSaraMiko which in its own has a devoted fanbase.

Due to Miko's rather playful personality and her status as Ei's only friend, this ship is often being read as semi-canon "best friends with a mutual attraction" or even "ex-lovers". This interpretation became especially popular after their final face-to-face conversation at the end of the main Raiden Shogun quest, when many even joked that the Traveler looked like a third wheel in their background. According to the fanfics written based on this headcanon, both girls often go through a difficult path to get back together after a long breakup, or Yae often acts as the person who helps Ei get out of the shell and become more sociable.

Additionally, they both have Honkai Impact counterparts, which has made them popular among Honkai fans.

The release of the light novel "Pretty Please, Kitsune Guuji!" in Version 2.6 has led to a number of theories for this ship:


 * Much of the fandom views the light novel as a "self-insert fanfiction" due to the similarities of the characters to Yae Miko and Raiden Ei, since they are described as being a shrine maiden and the Raiden Shogun, respectively.


 * The shrine maiden in the light novel is named "Yae Masako". In other language versions of the light novel, the shrine maiden's name is kept as "Yae Miko".


 * Because Miko is the Chief Editor of the Yae Publishing House, it is likely that she would have to personally approve the production of this light novel. It is a popular fandom theory that this was deliberately in order to tease Ei, because of the content poking fun at the "Raiden Shogun".


 * The drink "Rainbow Aster" depicted in the novel is able to be purchased in-game for 7,125 Mora. Chinese Internet slang is often used to shorten phrases to a series of numbers due to similarities in pronunciation of words. Some users have pointed out that the number "7125" can be used as slang for the phrase "Please love me" in Chinese . Another user pointed out that Hoyoverse/Mihoyo has deliberately used Chinese Internet slang in Honkai Impact, also through in-game currency, for a White Day event depicting Raiden Mei and Kiana Kaslana.


 * In the novel, the character "Yae Masako" feeds "Raiden Shogun" a drink called "Rainbow Aster", implied to have been delivered through mouth-to-mouth contact. Another user has pointed out that the Japanese text for "Rainbow Aster" can be interpreted as meaning "I will patiently wait for your love, like the rainbow behind the clouds, waiting endless without minding time".


 * "Yae Masako" feeding the "Raiden Shogun" may be a reference to a scene in Honkai Impact, where the character Yae Sakura feeds Kallen Kaslana medicine through mouth-to-mouth contact.

Trivia

 * During the 2.5 Version stream, Ei's VA gleefully commented how she can't wait for Yae Miko to appear in the game, causing Aether and Miko's VA wonder if this was Raiden Shogun's words.
 * In the official Chinese version of the same stream, Raiden's VA said "Yae is my girlfriend." ("八重是我的女朋友.").
 * Both Ei and Yae favor the Ancient Branch Shrine furnishing set in the Serenitea Pot.

Quotes
"Ah, that girl... She used to be the kind of person who could easily be swayed with some Fried Tofu. It's a relief to see how shrewd and resourceful she's now become. Still, I have to admit that I was a little upset to become the target of her scheming myself. I know it was for my own good, but I'm afraid she will mock me next time we meet... Perhaps I should take the initiative and strike her first? Hmm, she'll dodge it anyway."

- Ei's voiceline, "About: Yae Miko"

"Tell me this - Why is the sky here that was once so dark glowing again? Why now? …This is your Plane of Euthymia, it's your inner world. So, it can only mean… that you are happy to see me, again. You have found the loneliness here unbearable for a long time now, haven't you?"

- Yae Miko to Ei, "The Omnipresent God"

"Seeing you again is a change to eternity…and a very nice surprise."

- Ei to Miko, "The Omnipresent God"

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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