Fanfic / Your Place In The Stars

Your Place in the Stars is a Genshin Impact fanfic written by SenseNonsense.

This fic was born out of the author's dissatisfaction with Paimon as a character. Word of God is that rather than being portrayed as the guide she is supposed to be or an actual being of the world of Teyvat, she falls flat as a flying mascot whose main role seems to be to summarize things for the main character and be a source of humour. This fic is the author's attempts to amend that by making Paimon a character of her own with her own history, personality, and aspirations.

Now posted on here on Archive of Our Own.

---

Your Place in the Stars contains examples of:

• Action Girl: Paimon duel wields knives and seems to have no problem acting as bait for a giant, rampaging dragon.
• Actually, I Am Him: When Charles angrily denounces the individual responsible for the destruction of the Anemo Archon's statue at Starfell Lake, all Aether can do is quietly walk away and pretend he has no idea what the bartender is talking about.
• Adaptational Badass: Paimon. Rather than being a small fairy creature who accompanies the Traveler everywhere they go like in the game, the Paimon in this story is a minor Goddess. One of the Archons, but not one of the Seven who rule over the nations.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Aether and Paimon first meet Venti at Starfell Lake, shortly after Aether touches the statue because the Anemo God sensed his presence instead of at the forest on their way to Mondstadt like they originally did in the game.
  • Stormterror/Dvalin flies to Starfell Lake rather than the two of them unwittingly stumbling across him and a certain bard when they enter the forest.
  • Just when Venti is about to get through to Dvalin, the Abyss Mages make their appearance by interfering with the Anemo God's attempts to try and save his friend.
  • Eula appears in the aftermath of Dvalin's rampage near the now destroyed Barbatos statue, stating that she will be escorting both Aether and Paimon to Mondstadt, indicating that they have no choice in the matter.
• Amnesiac Hero: Aether knows he has a twin sister. He eventually remembered her name, giving him a splitting head in the process but he cannot remember what she looks like and his memories essentially show a blank where Lumine used to be.
• Ascended Extra: Schubert Lawrence. The noble plays more of a role in the Mondstadt story compared to his canon counterpart who was just a one-bit side villain in Eula's story quest.
• Association Fallacy:
  • Poor Lawrence the Knight who guards the city entrance seems to deal with this a lot due to the fact that his father, who is from Fontaine, didn't quite grasp just how hated the name Lawrence was in the City of Freedom. As a result, he has to deal with a lot of grief due to his name despite the fact he has no relation to the actual clan itself.
  • When Eula tries to find a place for Aether and Paimon for the night, they are either told to take a hike or charged astronomical prices for a single room likely because they were with one of the most hated people in the city. In the end the two of them are forced to stay at the Knight Barracks.
• Badass Adorable: Paimon indicates that the Dendro Archon is this. The Dendro Archon could easily wipe out Sumeru for the poor way they treat her, but is too nice to do so.

  Paimon: The Dendro Archon passed away like, what, five hundred years ago? And they don't like the poor kid who inherited the Dendro title despite her being strong enough to wipe away the entire desert off the map. The idiots are lucky she's such a sweetie.

• Bad Liar: Aether calls Paimon this when she tries to come up with a cover story for both herself and Aether. The story she comes up with is flimsy that Eula pokes holes in them in the next chapter, however in their defense Eula was eavesdropping on them ever since Dvalin had arrived at Starfell Lake.
• Berserk Button: The story sure seems to like showing off the character's individual berserk buttons.
  • Venti goes completely berserk when one of his personal friends is attacked.
  • For Paimon, it's asking if she was sent or on friendly terms with Barbatos/Venti. She lunges at Jean when the Acting Grand Master asks if she had been sent to help with the Dvalin problem.
  • For Eula, it's anything she perceives as disrespect towards tradition and etiquette. After Aether seems to commit one too many faux pas in her vicinity, she goes on a tangent and has to be held back by Jean before she can do anything.
  • Aether seems to find the very idea of Paimon, a Goddess with power aligned with the stars and his personal saviour, bowing to the prideful Schubert Lawrence so insulting that he would have lunged and tackled the man had Venti not intervened.
  • Charles the bartender has one when it comes to large tabs and people who have yet to pay them off as Venti personally finds out the hard way when the man tries to kick him out.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • When Aether nearly kills Dvalin, to say that Venti is PISSED is a complete understatement. His personality does a one-eighty as he threatens both Aether and then his sister in an off hand manner
  • Noelle being disappointed or displeased with you in anyway is something to be deeply afraid of. Just ask Lawrence and Swan by the entrance. According to Swan, not even the Fatui want to piss her off.
  • Charles literally jumps over the counter to try and drag Venti out of the Angel's Share because of the large tab that the God in disguise had accumulated in the short amount of time in Mondstadt.
• Blackmail: Lawrence the Knight accuses Eula and her family of doing this to Noelle, unable to comprehend why the maid knight would willingly do a favour for the Lawrence Clan, the most hated family in all of Mondstadt.
• Broken Pedestal: Played for Laughs when Jean gets to meet Lord Barbatos — and almost bluescreens because her god is a drunkard who won't pay his tab at the local winery.
• Bullying a Dragon: Schubert Lawrence calls Venti the bard useless and a symbol of everything wrong with Mondstadt's culture. Jean is horror-struck to see the noble insult the Anemo Archon to his face, but Venti refuses to take offense because Schubert has a very good reason to feel bitter about Mondstadt as it stands.
• Character Development: Essentially the whole point of this fic.
  • Paimon in this fic is an actual God (The God of Constellations) who has history that dates back to even before the Archon Wars when Gods, known as Archons, were still walking the earth of Teyvat alongside humans.
  • Word of God says that Eula's uncle, Schubert Lawrence, couldn't have been even more flat as a one note villain whose main goal was to make the black sheep of the family, Eula, look good. The author writes in his notes that he plans to expand on the character that was originally a minor villain in an optional side quest.
• The Chessmaster: Once it comes to light that Dvalin is being controlled and manipulated by the Abyss Order, Aether and Grandmaster Jean start connecting the dots that there's some sort of invisible force in the background manipulating events for the sole purpose of weakening Mondstadt. Aether and Jean come to the conclusion that the party responsible had been planning the weakening of the City of Freedom for quite a while.
• Death Glare: Paimon gives one to Venti when the Anemo God claims that he and Paimon were formerly lovers. Not long afterwards, she gives one to Aether to try and dissuade him from believing the ridiculous claim.
• Dimensional Traveler: Just like in the game, Aether and his sister travel through various worlds. In this story the name of someone who travels through various worlds is called a Starwalker.
• The Dreaded:
  • Though they have yet to meet, Aether holds this view towards Morax due to one of his titles being 'The Warrior God'.
  • Noelle seems to be this when she is displeased. Swan reveals that not even the Fatui are willing to cross her.
• Dual Wielding: As part of Paimon's adaptational badass status, she dual-wields knives
• Dude, Where's My Respect?:
  • Because Paimon is the Goddess of Constellations and is therefore connected to the stars, he's confused as to why she is not one of the seven considering that in his experience people who wield the element of the stars and therefore the celestial heavens themselves are often more powerful that the elements limited to the world.
  • Paimon thinks that the people of Sumeru are a bunch of idiots for treating their current god, Lesser Lord Kusanali, like crap just because they can't accept the fact that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is dead even though that is hardly Kusanali's fault.
  • Aether is completely aghast that Starfell Lake, a lake created by a falling star, has not been given its proper dues as a place of worship because of the fact that a star had fallen in the exact spot. Instead... all he can see is a statue.
  • Aether can't believe that Lawrence (the Knight who usually guards the front entrance of the city alongside Swan) has the gall to act so insubordinate towards someone who is his superior.
  • Venti and Stormterror, who are Mondstadt's god and one of its protectors respectively, have become akin to myths while the latter is seen as a monster terrorizing their nation. Schubert bitterly comments that their absentee god makes them a laughing stock in the other nations. However it's revealed in Chapter 12 than there seems to be come sort of chess master behind the scenes who is purposely undermining Mondstadt and weakening it through indirect ways.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The Eighth Harbinger, La Signora, is seen interacting with Schubert Lawrence prior to her canon appearance of appearing outside the Mondstadt Cathedral when she stole Venti's Gnosis.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Just how villainous Schubert Lawrence is in this story is debateable compared to his canon counterpart, but he blows up at La Signora when she talks about his niece Eula when she subtly warns him to keep her in line.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Paimon may have a strained relationship with Venti, but even she is uncomfortable with Aether insulting a place of worship dedicated to the Anemo Archon.
  • Aether is utterly shocked that one of the knights can insult his superior while she is standing right in front of him as well as ignore her. This makes him question whether Mondstadt's reputation of being friendly is a lie.
• Evil Laugh: The Abyss Mage that Venti kills dies laughing at Venti's rage towards them chasing away Dvalin and therefore preventing the dragon from being purified.
• Fake Nationality: In-Universe, Paimon's cover is that she's a student from Sumeru journeying through Teyvat because of her interest in constellations, with Aether as her bodyguard. Charles the barkeeper also comments on Aether's garments looking like Sumeru fashion.
• Fallen Hero: Dvalin is an In-Universe example. Once the great Dragon of the East, he is now seen as a monster and menace by the people who he vowed to protect. Aether points out that ordinary people from all walks of life don't bat an eye at referring to one of the four winds as a terror. This seems to be purposely provoked by the real culprits destablizing Mondstadt from within.
• Genre Savvy: When Paimon asks if they should set up camp by the now destroyed Starfell Lake that includes the destruction of the Barbatos Statue there, Aether shoots down the idea knowing how bad it would look if anyone came across them at what is essentially the desecration of a place of worship. Unfortunately for them, Eula was already at the scene.
• God in Human Form: Paimon and Venti, despite being gods, look human for the most part.
• Hate at First Sight: Aether instantly dislikes the Unknown God that stopped him and his sister from leaving Teyvat all those years ago after she declares that Teyvat has its own laws that have to be followed. He observes from the hate in her gold eyes during that faithful confrontation that she had no love for him and his sister either due to the fact that they seemed to be flaunting the rules of Teyvat.
• Hated by All: As in the game, Eula seems to be deeply despised by the people of Mondstadt due to the fact that she is a Lawrence, descended from the people who had once ruled over the city with an iron fist. Lawrence, one of the knights who guards the front entrance who had the misfortune of being named after the mosted hated family in the land of wind, is blatantly rude to Eula by asking Noelle how she can be so courteous to one of the Lawrence clan while the Knight Captain is within hearing range, purposely ignoring her.
• Headache of Doom: A non-lethal variation. Aether forcing himself to remember that he has a sister gives him a very painful headache that knocks him out soon afterwards.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Purposely invoked by the culprits who are weakening Mondstadt.
  • Venti due to the fact that he has been absent from Mondstadt for over five hundred years. As such, his devotees have dwindled and his power lessened as a result.
  • People recognize Stormterror as being Dvalin the Dragon of the East, but due to the fact that he has already attacked a Port city and is causing trouble in general, people have startled labeling him a monster with an insidious title. Aether invokes that this was likely done on purpose.
• I Call It "Vera": Aether names his new weapon that he found in Paimon's shed, Dreamer.
• Ignoring by Singing: Paimon says this word for word as she tries to block out Aether talking about his sword suddenly disappearing when they were having a discussion about ghosts prior.
  Paimon: LAA LAA LAA, can't hear you, that was too many details for Paimon- wait, what?
• I'm Standing Right Here: Lawrence the Knight questions why Noelle is being friendly towards Eula Lawrence, a member of the most hated clan in all of Mondstadt, while she is standing right in front of him. To add insult to injury, he also ignores her while he is interrogating her. He asks if the maid knight in training is being blackmailed by the Lawrence family only to find himself being rebuffed.
• Imagine Spot: Paimon has one about picturing Morax in the Unknown God's dress when she and Aether are discussing the identity of the Unknown God that attacked him.
• Important Haircut: Paimon cuts off most of her long white hair so that Aether wouldn't be constantly reminded of the Unknown God who took so much from him.
• I Owe You My Life: Feels this way towards Paimon after she fished him out of the river when he got caught in her nets. When Venti asks for him to get Paimon to go to the Angel's Share so that the two estranged gods could try to talk things out, Aether refuses to so because of this.
  Aether: I don't know the history between you two, but I owe her too much to deceive her.
• Leonine Contract: When Aether tries to ask for more information regarding the Archon War, she tells him that she is under contract to not say anything. She states that she did not willingly enter the contract to maintain her silence as Morax physically threatened her at the time as well as threatened to destroy all that she cared about.
  Paimon: Except is it really a contract if someone you trusted strongarms you into signing it? A spear held under your throat in one hand and a mountain ready to crush everything you cared about in the other?
• The Man Behind the Man:
  • Once it's learned that Dvalin is being manipulated by the Abyss Order, people start connecting the dots that Dvalin's most recent attacks aren't as random as they seem. Dornman Port was attacked to likely cut off help from outside nations as well as trade routes, and clearings that he attacked are now occupied by Hillichurls.
  • Aether points out that someone is using ordinary people as well as the Fontaine newspaper to spread fear and terror of Mondstadt and weakening the people's belief in their own god by playing up his absence, pointing to a deliberate and subtle propaganda attack on the God and its protectors.
• Mystical White Hair: Both Paimon and the Unknown God have this. Played for Drama in that Paimon makes Aether uncomfortable due to the shared feature between them.
• Noodle Incident: Whatever happened between Paimon and Venti that caused the present day rift between them. Paimon can barely stand him, and rejects Venti's invitation for drinks. She soon teleports to the other side of the lake to give Venti and Aether space to talk after she used up her quota of being able to stand the other God's presence.
• No Sympathy: Swan isn't at all sympathetic to Lawrence's plight when Noelle decides that the knight needs to start reviewing the rules again despite being the one who had encouraged his fellow knight to confront what was plaguing him, stating that there was confronting your fears and then being an idiot about how you went about it.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Aether and Paimon have this reaction when Eula confronts them at the destroyed Barbatos Statue at Starfell Lake and insists that they follow her back to Mondstadt, hinting that she isn't giving them a choice in the matter.
• Physical God: Both Paimon and Venti are gods who look very human as far as Aether can tell.
• Poor Communication Kills: Neither Paimon nor Venti tell Aether that he cannot kill Dvalin when the Dragon of the East attacks them. The result is that Aether nearly kills him by using his sword as an impromptu projectile and then Venti grabs him by the shirt and starts yelling at him, threatening not only him but his sister as well.
• Pre-Battle Banter: Aether loves engaging in this and outright states it prior to his fateful battle with the Unknown God who stripped him of his powers.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Eula, like in canon, seems to be dealing with this from the people of Mondstadt who still hold the crimes of the Lawrence clan against them despite the fact that it's been fifteen hundred years. Even the knights underneath her, seem to have no problem being insubordinate right in front of Eula. It's strongly hinted that the reason Aether and Paimon had such difficulty in finding a place to stay in the City of Freedom was because Eula was guiding them.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Paimon and Venti engage in this shortly after Venti teleports to the Barbatos Statue of the Seven located at Starfell Lake. Aether can only watch in horror as Paimon starts bickering with one of the Seven Gods that he is trying to contact, finding that her arguing with them works against his goal of trying to find his sister.
• Star Power:
  • Starlight is what Aether originally wielded prior to his powers being sealed away. According to him, people who have power over the stars can move the heavens themselves and this in turn makes them more powerful than elements with an earthly basis such as Geo and Anemo as well as other elements.
  • Paimon in this continuity is the Goddess of Constellations. As such, her powers are related to Starlight. It should be noted that Paimon both has a cape strongly imbued with the power of the stars as well.
• Stepford Smiler: A deconstruction. Aether views Venti as this, lampshading that no one was happy all the time and that especially rang true for immortals. As a result, he is suspicious of the Anemo God because of the cheerful facade he puts up to likely hide his true feelings.
• Sweet Tooth: Paimon seems to have one due to the fact that she adores the soup that Aether made for her, even if the chef himself finds it too sweet for his tastes.
• Upper-Class Twit: Schubert Lawrence is extremely haughty, obsessed by the noble's etiquette and prone to sneer at Venti for being a bard and as such an embodiment of what he considers Mondstadt's decadence, with Aether blatantly calling him a ponce. Still, as proven by his interaction with Paimon, Schubert can be amiable as long as he judges you worthy of politeness.
• We Used to Be Friends: Paimon and Venti used to be allies in the past. But then something happened between them that estranged the two of them, making Paimon bitter and barely able to stand the Anemo Archon's presence.
  Paimon: We were allies once. When he betrayed my trust, we no longer were. Simple as that.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Paimon accuses the ruling Sages of Sumeru to be this. According to her, the Dendro Archon has the ability to wipe Sumeru off the map. The only reason they still have their heads is because the current God is a really sweet girl despite how poorly she's been treated.
  • You really have to question Lawrence's intelligence when he goes off on a tangent about the history of slavery of the Lawrence clan and how even in present day they are plotting against the city of Mondstadt. Right in front of Eula Lawrence, the black sheep of the family and Mondstadt's pariah who is descended from that same family.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 7 ends with Stormterror arriving at Starfell Lake and engaging Aether, Paimon, and Venti in battle.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Venti screams at Aether for nearly killing Dvalin, not only threatening him but his sister as well.
  • Noelle tells Lawrence the Knight just how disappointed she is in him for how rude he is being to Eula by insulting her and her family name while she's literally right in front of him, stating that his behaviour goes against the Knights of Favonius' regulations.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Despite the fact that they managed to get through to Dvalin for a short time, the Abyss Mages show up and interfere with Venti's attempts to try to get through to his friend earlier than in canon, much to his anguish and rage.