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Paither is the friendship between Aether and Paimon from the Genshin Impact fandom.
Canon[]
The game begins with Aether, who in one of his attempts to catch fish with his rod, caught a floating creature, who is actually Paimon. There, Paimon asks Aether to tell her about how he suddenly came to Teyvat and he tells her this story...
Aether lost his twin sister, Lumine, to an Unknown God, who also stranded him on Teyvat. Five hundred years later, Aether wakes up. Paimon joins Aether on his journey across Teyvat as a kind-hearted travel companion and guide, as a way to repay him. They travel to each nation of Teyvat together, looking for The Seven to see if they have any information regarding Lumine's whereabouts, but after learning that Lumine became the Princess of the Abyss, he decides to end his journey across Teyvat in order to meet her again. Paimon and Aether become good friends on their adventures with each other.
Paimon is included in every one of Aether's voicelines. In Aether's voiceline about Being Sisters, she states Lisa and Amber act like sisters. From his perspective, Lisa is like an older sister asking Amber to run errands for her, making Amber the younger sister. Paimon jokes that would mean Aether is her younger brother, because since the former floats Aether is the only one who can "run" errands. In general, Aether is seen to tease Paimon a lot from quests to voicelines, with the most known joke of Paimon being his "emergency food".
Archon Quests[]
In all of the Archon Quests, Paimon is always there with Aether. Paimon guides Aether to a Statue of the Seven in the prologue, When the both of them first went to Mondstadt, guided by Amber. When Amber asks about Paimon, Aether was able to tell that she was emergency food which will make Paimon mad, though Amber then guided the two to Mondstadt. Paimon and Aether ate at Good Hunter.
In Inazuma's Chapter, in Act 2. When Aether was defeated by the Raiden Shogun, Aether was unconscious, Paimon fled towards him and tried to perform a CPR. Paimon also tried to tell her to wake up but then gotten scared by the Shogun as if she was about to execute Aether. Aether was quickly then saved by Thoma, and flee away from the Shogun.
In the Sumeru Archon Quest, after Aether passes out, Paimon kept yelling “Why, oh why?! Is he going to die!?”.
In Natlan Archon Quest, when Aether is about to go with Mavuika to the Depths of the Abyss, Paimon is worried when she cannot accompany Aether this time. But when Aether and Mavuika emerge victorious, Paimon is too excited that she hugs Aether in a commotion.
Act IV - Prelude: Bough Keeper: Dainsleif[]
In Act 1 of the Bough Keeper: Dainsleif Quest, When Aether introduced himself to Dainsleif, Aether had another chance to call Paimon emergency food or my best chum, when Aether tells that Paimon is her emergency food, it made Paimon again mad and tells that's not true and she knows it. Dainsleif tells Aether that it's great to have someone to accompany him on his travels since the two, Aether and Paimon always go to any places together. When talking about the Abyss Order, Aether tells that he can defeat those monsters and Paimon then agreed with Aether saying that they're super duper strong.
In Act 2 of the Bough Keeper: Dainsleif Quest, Aether and Paimon then went together to the ruins that both, Ganyu and Lan are talking about. When going inside the ruin, they then went into a certain place and sees a treasure hoarder, it turned out that the treasure hoarder was dead. The place then started shaking so Aether had to flee before anything worst happens, Aether then encountered an Abyss Herald so Aether then defeated the Abyss Herald. The Abyss Herald then disappeared, Paimon asked Aether if she was okay as the Abyss Herald was strong.
Aether and Paimon then swiftly left the ruins and sees Dainsleif, they then went back to the ruins again, when inside the ruin, the Abyss Herald then appeared again making Aether having to defeat him, though when trying to defeat the Abyss Herald. The Abyss Herald tried to flee but Dainsleif stopped him, yet got interupted by Lumine, Aether's twin sister. While talking about Khaenri'ah, Lumine then left while Aether was trying to get to her. Leaving Aether sad, though Paimon confronted Aether saying that they gotten some really useful information's, Paimon then tells Aether that their journey is not over yet and telling that if his sister wants him to "reach at the end of his journey", then show him what he's made off. Paimon then lend her hand to Aether, Paimon now calls Aether as the Traveler being this the only time Paimon was ever to call his Traveler.
Quotes[]
- Aether – “Lisa and Amber feel a bit like sisters.”
- Paimon – “Huh? Why's that?”
- Aether – “Amber often runs errands for Lisa. Older siblings asking their younger siblings to do things for them so that they can slack off is a rather common practice... But my sister and I are the same age, so we had to decide these things via rock-paper-scissors.”
- Paimon – “Whoa. So, doesn't that make you my younger brother?”
- Aether – “What do you mean?”
- Paimon – “Well, since Paimon floats, you're the only one who can "run" any errands!”
- Aether – “...Seriously?”
- — Aether's Voiceline about Sisters
- Aether – “Speaking of Fischl, she also claims to be a "visitor from another world"... We're similar in that way. We even bring a pet along with us.”
- Paimon – “Pet? Now, wait just a minute, here...”
- Aether – “But her raven, Oz... He looks cool, and is polite to boot. More importantly, he can both scout and fight — very useful indeed. Maybe I should make arrangements with Fischl to trade companions once in a while for, say, a week or two at a time. It should be quite interesting.”
- Paimon – “Hey! Doesn't Paimon get a say in this!?”
- — Aether's Voiceline about Pets
- Paimon – “It's hard to talk about the recent events in Inazuma and not mention the Vision Hunt Decree. But you don't have a Vision, so you don't have to worry about losing one. On the flip side, if you are caught by the Tenryou Commission, Lumine, you also can't surrender your Vision in exchange for your life...”
- Aether – “I can tell them that you are my Vision.”
- Paimon – “Another reason to have Paimon around... Wait, WHAT!?”
- Aether – “Don't worry, I wouldn't let them take you, Paimon.”
- Paimon – “That's more like it.”
- Aether – “We'd just go to jail and suffer punishment together...”
- Paimon – “Uh... W—Well, if that's how it would go down, then maybe you should hand me over to them... Wait a minute! How about we just don't get caught in the first place?”
- — Aether's Voiceine about the Vision Hunt Decree
- Paimon – “Only the ones who have the will to fight back are allowed into the Resistance! Huh. In that case, Paimon also qualifies as a member.”
- Aether – “And what exactly are you trying to resist, Paimon?”
- Paimon – “Paimon has been resolutely fighting against the fate of being squished all this time!”
- Aether – “Then you probably won't get in.”
- Paimon – “Why? Is it because Paimon isn't fighting for the same cause as the Resistance?”
- Aether – “It's because you're fighting for a lost cause, I'm afraid...”
- Paimon – “*sob* Y—You meanie!”
- — Aether's Voiceline about the Resistance
- Paimon – “Tanuki are really mysterious creatures.”
- Aether – “I think they are really cute.”
- Paimon – “Yeah, they're cute... until they start talking.”
- Aether – “Hmm, I wonder... If you couldn't talk, would you appear to be more mysterious and noble?”
- Paimon – “Are you trying to mock me?”
- Aether – “*randomly humming innocently*”
- — Aether's Voiceline about Tanuki
Fanon[]
This ship is currently one of the most popular Aether ships as a friend ship, alongside Aether's slash ships and Viatwins.
Paither developed lots throughout the Archon Quests, going from a Traveler and his guide to immensely close best friends. Initially, their relationship was mostly loved for comedy, with the running joke of Paimon being emergency food for Aether. As the story progressed, many cutscenes showing how much they care for each other made fans realize the bond between them. Following the release Archon Quest Chapter II, it became clear how much Aether needs Paimon, with the latter being all she has since her separation from Aether. Paimon cheering up Aether to continue with their journey plays a role in their popularity as well.
Not to mention Aether's het ships' unability to become more popular than Aether's slash and friend ships, their relationship is much more preferred as a friendship over a romantic het ship, due to Paimon's appearance seeming like a small floating child, therefore causing controversy if Paither is treated romantically. This also includes Lumimon as well since Aether and Lumine are both siblings, there are lots of fanarts depicting the two. Their relationship is also sometimes seen in a familial way as secondary siblings. This also applies to Aether's child friends such as Klee, Kachina, Nahida, Iansan, Sayu, Yaoyao, Sigewinne and Diona and their respective ships with Aether, all of them as friend ships.
Paither fans sometimes focus on the tragic side of their relationship as well. It is speculated one of the two will die throughout their journey, most likely being Aether for the dangerous situations he constantly gets himself into, and him not being natively from Teyvat. As for Paimon, she could die due to the Abyss Order trying to demotivate Aether to continue fighting against them. Another reason for their seperation could be Aether once again traveling from world-to-world with Lumine after regaining his powers, leaving Paimon alone, or Aether joining Lumine's Abyss Order to destroy Teyvat and restore Khaenri'ah in its stead.
A popular theory is that Paimon is the Unknown God who trapped the twins in Teyvat, mainly due to the fact that Paimon's appearance is a bit similar, most notably her hair. With that, fans have created scenarios where Paimon willingly betrays Aether at the end of his journey, leaving the latter in sadness and betrayal.
In fan fictions, Paimon is mostly portrayed as a wingman or a third wheel to Aether and his respective ship. There are currently over 900+ gen fan fictions that includes the two on Archive of Our Own.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Aether & Paimon tag on AO3
- Aether and Paimon posts on Twitter
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
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References[]
- ↑ Vanarana (Subarea) - The Messily-Written Note can be found in Arama's house immediately after completing The World of Aranara and is updated throughout Aranyaka. In Messily-Written Note, Paimon is described as a silver little moon while her bestfriend Aether is described as the big sun.
- ↑ Festival Utsava - In this quest, an Aranara named "Arayasa" described the friendship between the Aether and Paimon as "sun and moon"