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To Date a Harbinger

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FelixSmelix:
So I've gotten Childe's bad ending like 10000 times now and he's told me, in six different formats, that he loves someone else. Who the fuck does Childe love???? Why can't I get him to love me??? CHILDE IVE BLOWN 100 BUCKS FOR YOU WHY WONT YOU APPRECIATE ME

Vlad:
Zhongli

Nananana-it’s-batman-dia:
Lmao zhongli

FelixSmelix:
What th efuck are you guys talking about? Who's Zhongli???

Ekakakaterina:
Are you fucking kidding me felix I TOLD YOU: Zhongli’s secret route!!

FelixSmelix:
WHO'S ZHONGLI???

Ekakakaterina:
https://www.ToDateAHarbinger.my/walkthrough/zhongli’s-secret-route
Read this u imbecile

OR: The "To Date a Harbinger" Community gathers around to understand why, in the dating sim, Childe Tartaglia is so difficult to date and why a certain Geo Archon is involved in this.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

 

 

FelixSmelix:

So I've gotten Childe's bad ending like 10000 times now and he's told me, in six different formats, that he loves someone else. Who the fuck does Childe love???? Why can't I get him to love me??? CHILDE IVE BLOWN 100 BUCKS FOR YOU WHY WONT YOU APPRECIATE ME

 

Vlad:

Zhongli

 

Nananana-it’s-batman-dia:

Lmao zhongli

 

FelixSmelix:

What th efuck are you guys talking about? Who's Zhongli???

 

Ekakakaterina:

Are you fucking kidding me felix I TOLD YOU: Zhongli’s secret route!!

 

FelixSmelix:

WHO'S ZHONGLI???

 

Ekakakaterina:

https:/www.ToDateAHarbinger.my/walkthrough/zhongli’s-secret-route

Read this u imbecile

 


TO DATE A HARBINGER

OtomeDatingSim

Welcome to the world of Teyvat, where Gods roam the earth and the Fatui—a well-known evil establishment—threatens the very balance of the world by attempting to sabotage the God-human balance by inventing their own powers. As a local of Liyue, a freak accident lands you right into the heart of the Fatui, where you now serve as a maid-on-hand for the Tsaritsa herself (the leader of all Fatui) and her Eleven Harbingers, all of which live on their own deathly reputation. Seeking a way to survive in this court, you must now work your way up the system so as to remain untouchable to others and, along the way, work together with other Harbingers in order to survive the entire order. Will you backstab the other Harbingers in the name of your survival—or will you work with them and become their friends? Find out as you complete quests, interact with the characters, and maybe even develop some steamy relationship with them along the way!

General Walkthrough| Childe's Detailed Playthrough | Q&A | Additional Links



General Walkthrough

Hey there!!! It’s OtomeDatingSim back at it again and today, we’re tackling the notorious “To Date A Harbinger” who has angst, and steam, and SO MUCH backstabbing, it’s practically a pin cushion. But jokes aside, I’m here to give you the general play-through of To Date a Harbinger so that all of you can get your Romantic Ends with your chosen harbinger in the end! So let’s get started!

 

 

Childe Tartaglia : FIRST UP! We can’t talk about “To Date A Harbinger” without mentioning Childe Tartaglia. That’s because his route is notoriously famous for just how goddamn difficult it is to achieve a Romantic ending with him and, even then, there’s an After Ending play through that you have to survive before you can even achieve anything remotely romantic with him. Yes, this man’s hard to get, but for very good reason. If you’d like to see his detailed playthrough, click here . Otherwise, just know that to generally survive his route, you simply have to be friendly with him. Be his partner, act as his confidant. DO NOT, though, push on any of his personal life details; he will push you away if you do so. DO NOT question his choice to be a harbinger either, because although it might seem like an innocent question, it’s a very personal topic for him and you’ll have to wait until he’s ready to confide in you. Otherwise, make sure to just keep a respectful distance from him until he chooses to come to you. Bonus points if you banter with him!

La Signora: Badass. Badass, badass, badass. Don’t come onto her strongly—she's quite apprehensive at the beginning, so it's good to go slow. Get her icicle flowers from the Fatui Gardens. Though she never mentions it, she enjoys gifts from her fellow servants, especially from you since you’re a special case of the Tsaritsa. Make sure to always come to her room on time if she calls on you for it because goddamn she’s very particular about how punctual you are. Make sure to always compliment her for her strengths. NEVER bring up the other harbingers around her, she dislikes talking about work whenever she’s in the safety of her room. Bring her her favorite dish from time to time; the chef will know what the dish is (though she’ll never tell anyone) and she’ll even give you a rare smiling sprite if you bring it at the right times!

Scaramouche: Be honest with him. Don’t beat around the bush. He can be a complete shithead at times, but that’s to be expected because the poor dude’s been living with salty harbingers all his life. Compliment his hat. His blushing sprite always shows up whenever you’re complimenting his hat. Also, eat with him always. He won’t admit it, but he’s very lonely inside, and he enjoys company. COMPLIMENT. HIS. HAT. Do it enough times he might even kiss you on the rooftop. Yes, the way to this man’s heart is through his hat.

Dottore: Compliment his dead experiments. No, I’m not joking. Compliment. His. Experiments. Call his inventions genius. Call him genius and maybe call his mask super cool because he likes that compliment, too. Bring him the weirdest dishes. Hell, bring him your burnt dish, the dude likes it crispy. Offer yourself up for experiments (don’t worry, if you have enough relationship points he won’t actually take up on the offer). Let the man be all jittery. Accept him for who he is. For all the madman exterior he shows, once you break him down enough, you’ll hear his tragic backstory as to how he became the Tsartisa’s mad scientist and how he became the way he is today. (Spoiler alert: It’s pretty bad.)

Zhongli: Wait, you can DATE Zhongli??? HELL YEAH you can!! You can actually choose to try and run away from the Tsaritsa and, along the way, you might actually bump into him. Zhongli’s known to be one of the Gods—or Archons, in this game’s terms—and he’s been skulking around the lair, apparently, because he heard one of his citizens got caught inside the Tsaritsa’s scheme. So now, he’s here to try and save you. To win the God’s heart, it’s very simple: offer him shiny things, fight with him, and if you’re feeling particularly bourgeois, you pay for all his meals once you get back to Liyue. Make sure they’re expensive food, too, because he won’t take anything less than the best. Also, STEER CLEAR on the topic of Childe Tartaglia because—for reasons we will state in later FAQs—Zhongli’s relationship points with you PUMMELS whenever you bring up the young harbinger. Do not ever, EVER ask questions about the Osial incident (you will know what this is when you reach later parts in the game). Last but not least, never try and pry from his other companions as well regarding his position as Liyue’s guardian. There’s a huge secret that’ll slam out later regarding this, but unless you’ve tried playing Childe’s after ending, dear god do not question it.


CHILDE’S DETAILED PLAYTHROUGH

(SO MANY SPOILER ALERTS)

 

Yes our Fatui boy has such a difficult playthrough we had to make a whole subsection just for him.



First up, Childe’s playthrough. As mentioned in the general article, Childe’s playthrough is very, very difficult. If you were playing it without looking at a guide, it is without a doubt that you’ll get the Bad End first. That’s because he requires very specific actions in order to get his very Romantic ending.

First, to get Childe’s Romantic Ending, here are three checkpoints you have to fulfill first. First off: the Geo Archon. In the game, you will know the Geo Archon as (obviously) Zhongli later on. Throughout the game, you will have choices to bring up the topic on the Archon so that you can tackle your quests (e.g getting information for the Tsaritsa as to what happened that day on the Osial Incident). You will have to bring up the topic, BUT GENTLY. Obviously, with Childe Tartaglia, it’s usually better to be straightforward with him because he dislikes dodging. But in terms of this topic, it’s very sensitive, so if you can smack the choices where you simply insinuate the occurrence (e.g “So about the incident…) as opposed to a direct mention of it (e.g What about the Osial Incident?”) PLEASE DO. You will notice that every time you bring up the Osial incident (or the Geo Archon in general) he will use his wincing sprite where he’ll look away and a bead of sweat drips down his face. Throughout the game, HE SHOULD NOT USE THIS SPRITE MORE THAN 3 TIMES: Once when you question him for the Tsartisa, once when the Tsaritsa directly questions him, and lastly when he conveys to you what actually happened that day. ANY OTHER TIME he uses the sprite means you’re down to a Bad End. Yes, we counted.

Second checkpoint: WHEN HIS SIBLINGS COME TO YOU. Yes, Childe’s family is actually alive. This comes as a shocker to most gamers because, usually, all harbingers are orphaned. Childe is orphaned, yes, but he’s an orphan with kiddos, who he will later claim lives at the edge of Snezhnaya where they can run off to the next state if they need to. Of course, the Tsaritsa does not know about his siblings—this is something he keeps down under—and they will eventually show up one time when you go on the Snow Escape Quest with him. You’ll go with him to a village at the edge of town, and there you’ll meet his three angels who’ll all hug and call him brother and act distant from you. Here, you need to get close to the siblings. You have to gain up to 20 relationship points with them each (and if you play the game, you’ll know this shit is super fucking HARD) and you need to make sure that each of them tells AT LEAST 2 childhood stories of Childe. It’ll be more devastating the more you hear the stories. For example, there’s a story as to how Childe used to skip dinner four days in a row weekly for four months just so his siblings could get enough food to eat for themselves. They’ll talk about how he used to fall sick constantly, but even then, he was pushing himself to be the strongest harbinger yet. (The saddest ones get told by Teucer, our small child. I cried every single time he spoke).

Last but not least: Zhongli. If you meet Zhongli at the end of Childe’s route, then you’re basically on the path to the Romantic End. Extra romantic if Zhongli says, “Childe…” with a sad-looking sprite. 

 

BUT WAIT. Why the heck is Zhongli sad??

 

And this is why Childe’s Romantic end is also known as Zhongli’s Secret Route. This is because, apparently, according to canon, Zhongli has been in love with Childe this entire time. That’s right. Our great Geo Archon has been simping over for Childe Tartaglia as hard as the entire population of Liyue combined. And to make things worse, Childe’s been in love with Zhongli, too, which explains why they’re both dodgy about the incident with Osial—because it involved the both of them. If you decided to, apparently, avoid playing safe and instead mention the Osial incident at every possible scenario, you’ll hear the romantic backstory between the two where they used to hang out all the time in Liyue, going on night walks together, going to every movie theatre possible, and even sharing dinner on every weekend. There would be even a sprite where Zhongli—for the first and last time in the whole game—actually blushes when you mention about those dinners, with him fumbling as he says, “Well, Childe used to pass me his chopsticks with the dragon and phoenix without knowing…” before he shuts up squirming. It’s absolutely adorable. Then you’ll hear the (HUGE SPOILER ALERT) tragic backstory where Zhongli gives his gnosis away and Childe looking shocked as he stares at Zhongli while asking, “All this time?” It’s why he ends up coming back to Snezhnaya in the end and ends up serving the Tsaritsa quietly for the next many years until you bump into him soon after and force his hand.

You’ll even see easter eggs of their relationship throughout the dating sim. If you, for instance, decide to go into Childe’s room that one time he’s not in, you’ll notice small things around his home. For one, his desk contains a paperweight which is in the shape of a dragon, which you’ll later learn is Zhongli’s draconic form (yes, gods have forms y’all). You’ll also see Childe mention from time to time, “Oh, restaurants? Haha, I love going to them! Once, I had a friend who’d drag me everywhere, you see? He’ll make me feast on the most magnificent meals and... oh, I’m sorry. I brought up too much” and then wander off. You’ll also find Childe more often hiding on the rooftops, where he’ll stare at the sky and mutter things like, “If only you were here…” in a low and distant tone.

On darker days, if you choose to go outside to wander in the halls instead of going back to your room, you might even see the glow of a draconic body soaring around the sky, rumbling between the clouds before disappearing into nothing. You’ll also see Childe running out onto his balcony from a window above (your room’s on the highest floor with the Tsaritsa) who almost hurls himself off the balcony, if not for the fact the dragon disappears and his sad sprite shows up for a millisecond before it disappears.

You get equal amounts of easter eggs in Zhongli’s route, too. Shadows of Childe’s presence in the shape of all the things he’s bought for Zhongli (a pair of beautiful scimitars, a jade vase, a gorgeous set of artworks), the red pouches left all around his room (“Ah… I had a friend who had a remarkable amount of red pouches he used to carry all his coins. We’d go through them so fast, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve offered to keep them from time to time whenever he accidentally leaves them over"), and even in his bedroom, if you reach his Romantic Ending (“Oh, this necklace? It came from a friend a long time ago. I wonder how he is now…"). That’s right. Even when you’re romantically involved with Zhongli, the man’s still whipped for the Fatui Harbinger as though he isn’t dating you now.

BUT WAIT! If that’s how Zhongli’s like when you reach his Romantic Ending, then what about Childe? Well, I’m proud to say that he’s even worse. When you get the Romantic Ending with Childe (that is, if you survive the 1001 hurdles of hell), you end up being all lovey-dovey with him, obviously. You go on dates with him, he brings you to all the restaurants in Liyue and buys you everything you want. But from time to time, he’ll find a lot of things related to Zhongli, such as stopping at a meat bun stall and mooning about how much Zhongli used to like the red bean paste one, or how he’d just stop by random antique shops and wander through it only to pluck up a Geo Archon figurine (“Don’t you think he looks cute?”). The worst one is the after ending, where you actually get to marry Childe (that’s right!!! Out of all the harbingers, you get to marry childe because, well, he’s so hard to complete!) and Zhongli actually shows up at the wedding and congratulates you. Of course, he does it while using his one and only smiling-but-I’m-about-to-cry sprite (the ONLY time he ever uses that sprite) and his voice actually cracks from the sight of you. So basically, you just broke his entire life. Congratulations.

After that, you’ll basically get a small text at the end of Childe’s after end where it’ll just be you and Childe at a beach, chillin’, and Childe will say, “It’s been four years since we married. I wonder where did Zhongli go?” And if you stick around and ask around town, you’ll get hints here and there that Zhongli’s actually left Liyue permanently (e.g Wanmin restaurant owner: “I think Zhongli came here one spring and told me how he wanted to taste my noodles one last time. I wonder what’s that all about?”; Liuli Pavilion owner: “Oh, I think Zhongli hasn’t come here since… well, since Childe brought him here, actually.”). You’ll even get an explicit message from Xiao at the Liyue Harbour if you’re lucky, who’ll tell you: “Oh, Zhongli? I think he mentioned living with the glazed lilies or something. God knows. He’s always gone, these days.” It’s awful.

 

Which, of course, comes to the main question: Can you get these two idiots together?

The answer is obviously OF COURSE. But to do so, you need to get Zhongli’s Bad End and Childe’s Bad End first. That’s because, obviously, you just cannot romance them. Then, you have to go through both their routes again and essentially press on the obvious things: for example, mention Osial. Always. Bring up the incident at every second. Whenever Childe tries to dodge, bring it back up (e.g “Oh, I don’t think I want to talk about that…” “I think we do.”; “I think that’s too sensitive.” “You can tell me about it.”). Same goes for Zhongli (e.g “I believe that’s an unnecessary topic.” “But I’m curious!”; “I believe it’s something of the past.” “I’m sure it isn’t.”). Also, since you’ve completed both Zhongli’s and Childe’s Bad End, you will end up with a set of different dialogues at certain parts when you replay their routes. For example, whenever Zhongli starts mentioning things like, “Oh, I don’t think my old friend would like to talk to me again,” you respond, “Of course he does! He probably misses you, too.” You repeat the same sequence with Childe (who, albeit, might be more dramatic than Zhongli) and make sure to HON IN THE FACT THAT ZHONGLI STILL MISSES HIM EVEN AFTER WHAT HE DID. Make sure to emphasize that it wasn’t his fault that he had to release Osial, but that it was the Tsaritsa and La Signora that forced his hand. Of course, don’t let him completely brush off the fact that he did hurt innocents—Childe will very happily mention it at every chance—but of course, don’t make him blame himself completely. Just let him sit in the middle ground. Very safe.

Eventually, if you get lucky, you’ll finally get around to a scene wherein Childe’s route, you’ll have him in his room with his siblings and they’ll be talking about Zhongli (in this case, they’ll call him “Mr. Dragon” because that’s what Childe calls him when he’s around them). Whenever Childe talks about how “Mr. Dragon used to bring him to the restaurant” or “to the theatre”, make sure to emphasize that “Mr. Dragon probably would still like to spend time with you, too.” Make the kids rally around you. It works every time. Also, if there’s a chance when there’s a knock on the door, OPEN THE DAMN THING. That means you’ve raised Childe’s relationship points with Zhongli high enough for the Archon to muster up some Archon balls and to meet his crush. If you do get to this point, INSINUATE THAT THEY HAVE TO TALK AT EVERY TURN. Make them come together again. Take one for the team.

Obviously, you get the jist of this at this point. If you reach the points high enough, you’ll end up with the Happy Ending, where you’ll face the Tsaritsa and Childe stood at the front ready to sacrifice himself. He’s willing to admit to the Tsaritsa that he won’t be with the Fatui anymore and that he’d rather take death than have to hunt another Archon again. The Tsaritsa will want to kill him (of course) and your job here is to buy enough time to make sure Zhongli gets there as soon as he can. Choose options to stall like, “Bring tea to the Tsaritsa” or “Bring up as many emergencies as possible (i.e Scaramouche losing his shit at Dotore again)” for the next ten minutes. DO NOT let Childe finish his talk, even when he’s giving you the stink-eye. 

The good end will be where Zhongli fights the Tsaritsa and they barely get out of it alive. They’ll thank you for the help, of course, but they’ll be too busy mooning over each other. They might also kiss if you’re lucky (WINK WINK) and the ultimate ending is when you see them get hitched. (You have not seen beauty till you see Childe and Zhongli in RED). The after ending is very steamy, so I recommend you 100000/10 to BUY IT. You won’t regret that 5 dollars, I swear to you.

 

There’s also a series of ways to get Zhongli-Childe’s bad endings, but after all the pain you’ll be crying getting Bad Ending after Bad Ending, I won’t put it in this article. Instead, I’ll link it here and here if you’d like to check it out. If you want to get all the other endings as well (like the funny ending, which I think is HILARIOUS, check it out here!), you can go ahead to my home page and check it out. Otherwise, have fun snagging your Harbingers!


Q&A

1. Are there any other secret pathways apart from the famous Zhongli-Childe route?

  • Nope! If you’re wondering if any other Harbingers have some deep secret crush on each other, the closest I can give you is Scaramouche and his hat or Dotore and his experiments. La Signora might hint on some flirtations in this route, but since you're escaping the Fatui, it's not likely that she'll try and pursue you. Big sad, but hey, at least you can do a route on her!

2. Do you end up alone in the Zhongli-Childe route?

  • Sadly yes. Although you get to be Childe’s ultimate bestie, you'll end up living in Liyue alongside with the two lovesick idiots. Of course, you get to work together with Xiao (which is awesome, I recommend 10/10), but other than groaning internally with Xiao and complaining about the two romantic idiots, you're pretty much single.

3. What are the specifics in the Zhongli-Childe after ending?

  • Let’s just say someone gets kids. A lot of them ;)

4. Will there be more additions to “To Date A Harbinger?”?

  • Honestly? Yes. There are said to be eleven harbingers, but the producers have only released four of them. And given that they’ve even added Zhongli as an option even when he’s not a Harbinger, you might even potentially get Xiao or Ningguang in the next edition. Pretty exciting!

Keep on with those questions, y’all! Until next time!

Notes:

This is my greatest creation.

But jokes aside, I loved the original author's work so much that I pulled it in with Genshin Impact and I have to really give them the credit here for this awesome idea. Metis_Ink you are amazing!!

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