#merluca

Propaganda:

Childe & The Traveler

Genshin gave them the perfect enemies-to-rivals-to-“why are you still so friendly with the man who tried to drown Liyue” setup and then just left us with crumbs. Also, no emphasis on Lumine for me personally - I know Childe/Lumine is more popular, but I’m very much a Childe/Aether person, though most of the canon interactions work for either Traveler.

The whole appeal is that Childe treats the Traveler differently from almost everyone else. He’s dangerous, loyal to the Fatui, and absolutely willing to do awful things for his mission, but the second the Traveler proves they can keep up with him, he’s delighted. The Golden House fight isn’t just a boss fight to him, it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s the kind of challenge he lives for. He literally goes from scheming ally to boss fight to “haha, wow, you’re strong, we should do this again” with no shame whatsoever.

Then his story quest makes the dynamic even better because the Traveler sees him outside the Harbinger role. They meet Teucer, help Childe keep up the “toy seller” lie, and end up protecting this very human, soft part of him that he usually keeps hidden. Teucer even says Childe wrote home about the Traveler and would join them on their adventures if he could. That’s such good ship fuel - this wandering hero who keeps getting pulled into gods and nations and disasters, and this battle-hungry Harbinger who keeps acting like they’re destined to meet again.

And then Fontaine adds even more fuel because Childe trusts the Traveler with his Vision. His literal Vision. The thing tied to his power, ambition, identity, and personal story. He just hands it to them because it’s malfunctioning and he needs someone he trusts to keep it safe while he goes off to fight Champion Duelists like a maniac. Then in the Fortress of Meropide arc, the Traveler having his Vision becomes this weirdly intimate link to him while they’re trying to work out what happened. It’s lowkey fanfiction fuel. “I’m carrying your Vision and somehow that gives me a connection to you while you’re missing in prison” is not normal rival behaviour, sorry.