#phaidei mention

[starcurtain]

We are only in 3.0 but do you have any theories how the story is going to develop? (Especially with no one having any idea where the prophecy came from)

Also maybe it's just me, but I think they made Phainon just a little bit too fond of Mydei to the point I can feel my alarm bells going through the roof...i don't know if it's a death flag but it's defintiely some kinda angst flag...

How does it feel to be the smartest person in the room? Predicting them Phaidei death flags all the way from 3.0. Good job, anon!

To be honest, I have given up on trying to predict Hoyoverse stories because if at some point someone told me Penacony was going to be invaded by viral meme talking monkeys, exunt pursued by a ninja, I would have asked them what kind of crack they were smoking, but... here we are...

However, I do have a wild conspiracy theory about Amphoreus, and it goes like this:

Amphoreus itself is one gigantic "allegory of the cave" meets "lotus eater" plot.

The Amphoreus that the Trailblazer and Dan Heng are currently trapped in isn't a real world at all--it's a simulation maintained by the combined powers of Remembrance and Erudition (possibly with the third aeon involved. If the third aeon is actively involved, it may be Enigmata. If the third aeon is not involved with maintaining the simulation, it might be an enemy instead, i.e. Destruction). I believe that this simulation might be running with a person--Cyrene/Elysia--at its core. This is the reason that Amphoreus only appears in the Garden of Recollection's mirror--because it was never a real place and only ever existed as a fictional location in someone's mind/memory. It also would explain some of the inexplicable elements the plot keeps bringing up, like Trailblazer's synesthesia beacon being able to work on Amphoreus despite the planet supposedly never being connected to the Silver Rail.

My basic speculation is that the person at the core of the situation has lost their original world, and is using the power of aeons to keep their world "alive" through a simulated reality. This invokes the lotus eater plot: Someone is intentionally "refusing to wake" from a dream, indulging in a fantasy to escape from a cruel reality.

However, I suggest that the person who is maintaining the simulation isn't trying to accurately recreate their original world. Instead, they're telling themselves a story. They're not remembering a real world or 100% real people--they're filling in gaps, piecing together different elements of truth and creating entirely new material in efforts to produce a version of the story that will finally have a happy ending. Rather than attempting to bring reality back, they're creating a fairy tale, combining jumbled memories, rewrites/revisions, and entirely retelling portions of the tale when something goes wrong.

This invokes the "allegory of the cave" plot. The person at the core of the simulation isn't seeing reality, but instead watching nothing more than shadow-play, shallow imitations of forms, acting out one-dimensional imitations of reality and accepting that one-dimensional re-enactment as their only "truth." The story we are watching as players is, in fact, nothing more than a story in-game as well.

This accounts for the strange skips between times, places where the plot collapses in on itself--events are occurring both thousands of years and two years ago, all at the same time--places where things don't add up (how did Tribios escape on her own?) and the odd clash of archaism and modernity (people still use stone tablets as reading material but also have cellphones with cameras). It also accounts for the "black tide" manifesting in ways that look like computer viruses--the simulation itself is being attacked and dissolving.

In fact, we could see the "black tide" itself as the way the story reconciles with reality--the simulation may be crumbling or failing (either internally or because of external pressure such as an enemy aeon), and that manifests as an "impending apocalypse" inside the story!Amphoreus as well.

Simultaneously, there's a meta aspect to the "allegory of the cave" plot: None of the Amphoreus natives recognize that they're in a story. They all think that what they're seeing and experiencing is reality. This makes them literal "allegory of the cave" participants. They stare at the false projections on the "cave wall" and are convinced that's reality. At the core of their adventure is the idea of "flame-chasing"--that is, they are spellbound by the flame that projects the false shadows on the wall. The prophecy is the chains that keep them bound, unable to look away to any other possibilities and discover the truth outside their "cave." This accounts for the fact that the characters' themselves don't seem to notice the odd discrepancies in their timelines (i.e. Tribbie handwaving Tribio's inexplicable escape and Mydei not pausing to go "Something isn't right here" about the strange gaps in his own backstory). They don't question the story--because they're part of it. (Anaxa, then, becomes the one exception, the one character who is trapped in the illusion but aware enough to tell everyone that they're in an illusion.)

But this creates a conundrum. If the characters don't follow along with the story and pursue the prophecy, then they might be marching to their own inevitable ends, because it is entirely possible that either all of them are already dead or none of them ever existed. Trailblazer and Dan Heng obviously need to escape the simulation, to then and only then find the "true" Amphoreus--whether that is a real-world hidden from us by the simulation... or whether there's nothing left to find at all. But the Amphoreus natives themselves? They might not have anything left outside their shadows on the wall.

Basically, Amphoreus is just the plot of Princess Tutu, is what I'm saying.

That's my tinfoil hat conspiracy!

[dragonselkie]

phainon talking about mydei “that immortal body soaks up damage like a sponge! trust me. I’ve tested it myself” “he taunts me every time we meet” “you can definitely trust him to watch your back in a fight” and owlbert’s “till death do you part” and phainon’s sitting like this

[moshaeu]

the fic made me do it

https://poipiku.com/11747569/11880178.html

[cspcrashing]

mine ☀️🍷

[goldcleaver]

phainon. darling. we get it. you miss your wife.

[pineycone]

In hindsight, we should’ve foreseen amphoreus being both really gay and angsty given its two main inspirations are honkai impact 3rd and greek mythology (aka world champions of tragedy, homosexuality, and doomed homosexuality)

[guujikaroko]

It's Pride Month! I don't really have anything planned so let me list the Most Queer Moments of the games I usually talk about:

- Kiana and Mei having a whole ass Naruto-esque character progression;

- Al-Haitham and Kaveh being pretty much married at this point;

- Hoyoverse animators snorting five lines of Yuri Crack™ each to make a short of Black Swan and Acheron dancing tango;

- Leonardo motherfucking da Vinci living in Mona Lisa's body as a Servant;

- Shaoji deciding he'd make Elysia be the lesbian coming of Christ;

- Navia and Clorinde having an ultra-spicy angsty backstory to them;

- Phainon and Mydei existing around each other;

- Qin Shi Huang willingly abandoning the concept of gender in order to ascend and become the Ultimate Lifeform.

There's probably soooooo much more, but those are the ones I remember best. Of course, the best thing to do in Pride Month is celebrating real life queer people and their success and happiness even amidst struggle, but we can also have a little fun with these characters too!

[alexfoundausername]

They are fishing for Gorgo’s ring :3

[starcurtain]

Comparing Phaidei and Other Hoyo MLM Ships (Part 2)

<- Part 1 is back that way.

In the first part of this, I laid out some of the ways Phaidei fits within Hoyo's normal pattern for queer-coded MLM ships: They're equals but opposites, perfectly matched; they've ostensibly got a "rivalry" as a cover for their laser focus on each other; their models are deliberately placed closer together in cutscenes than other characters' are, and they're intentionally paralleled to a heterosexual married couple. All of these are traits that other Hoyo MLM pairs also show, a sort of foundational standard for Hoyo's queer-coded MLM ships.

But then Phaidei just took a huge side-step around all of them, and started doing things that Hoyo hasn't done in any of their other recent games. (Tiny aside here: HI3 does wildly different things with its characters; I think that being first published when Hoyo was a more obscure company allowed them to get away with things--like the Bronya/Seele kiss and Welt and Co.'s cross-dressing, for example--that "modern" Hoyo games cannot get away with due to greater levels of public scrutiny.)

I said it in the other post, but it bears repeating:

You really aren't imagining things--Phaidei is actually different.

So I wanted to take a closer look at what was making it feel so unique, by comparing its differences to other popular Hoyo MLM ships.

Here we go:

1. The Feeling's Mutual

There was no heterosexual explanation for this framing.

In Part 1 of this post, I noted that Hoyo has a typical personality pattern they follow when queer-coding their male characters, particularly in using "difficult" personalities to create an artificial sense of distance between the characters. If one character is angry all the time, or tsundere, or using sarcasm to cover for their fear of getting close to others, Hoyo can mobilize that personality gap as a shield to give anti-LGBT+ players plausible deniability. Hell, there are people still out there genuinely convinced that Alhaitham and Kaveh have a toxic relationship. There are people out there saying Ratio despises Aventurine because he was mean to him one (1) time while undercover. That's how effective injecting a little bit of bickering into a queer-coded relationship is.

Hoyoverse is very, very familiar with creating this delicate balance of teasing the ship while feeding anti-LGBT+ players and censors just enough "Look, they don't like each other; they're arguing!" contrary material to avoid setting anyone off.

Which... makes it absolutely bizarre that they made almost no effort to do this with Phainon and Mydei.

Sure, on paper we're told that Phainon and Mydei are rivals. Phainon describes it as "He's both my friend and my foe." And yes, they have their quips (Phainon's "It's exhausting talking to you sometimes" comes to mind).

But animosity--the genuine desire to one-up each other--is completely missing from Mydei and Phainon's "rivalry." They aren't Sasuke and Naruto. They aren't Izuku and Bakugou. They don't actually even want to beat each other--they want to be equals. If you defeat Mydei in the 3.0 competition, Phainon immediately folds and calls the contest off. If you let Mydei win, Mydei immediately folds and declares no contest.

Although Aglaea notes they compete because they're "impulsive youths," what she was actually missing is that Mydei only let himself be goaded into Phainon's hot bath competition because he was worried about Phainon and wanted to take Phainon's mind off the failed trial. Then, immediately after beating Phainon in the hot bath challenge, he lets Phainon win the "take more people home" challenge, to tie up their score again.

In fact, Mydei and Phainon's relationship is so devoid of the actual back-and-forth typical of other Hoyoverse MLM ships that at one point, Phainon even asks for it:

(Though he's equally quick to demand compliments from Mydei too.)

Instead, virtually every line from Phainon and Mydei through both 3.0 and 3.1 reiterates that they care deeply about each other, and are concerned for not only each other's physical well-being but also each other's mental and emotional health. They freely and consistently support each other both on the battlefield and off, confessing their struggles and relying on each other for advice. Whenever they're separated, the game intentionally hammers home how worried they are without the other around.

Over and over and over again, the devs tell you how well Mydei and Phainon know each other and how much effort they're putting in to take care of each other:

The game doesn't let us forget that they are one another's "closest person," and that the respect they have for each other is mutual. Although I wouldn't go so far as to speculate they actually recognize romantic feelings, canon makes it clear that they are aware their emotional connection goes both ways. They don't just value each other's battle prowess, intelligence, or usefulness--they value each other's feelings explicitly, every single time emotions are expressed between them in the game's text.

In fact, Mydei even scolds Phainon for approaching their goodbye with a straight face; he knows that Phainon is hurt by their parting, and he wants Phainon to be honest, as Mydei is being honest in turn:

The rainbows in the background really sold the scene, ngl.

This isn't Renheng, where resentment has taken away any glimmer of joy. This isn't Ratiorine, where even if Aventurine were in a more stable mindset, Ratio's inability to spit out his feelings might keep them from going anywhere. Even with Haikaveh, the Hoyo ship known for Alhaitham's devotion, Kaveh's own struggles and refusal to accept Alhaitham's kindness are an active plot point keeping them from progressing. Maybe you could draw a parallel between Phaidei and Cyno/Tighnari for levels of "mutual," but even then, Cynari interactions are often left off-screen or in the background, for the players to fill in the blanks. On the contrary, Phainon and Mydei's fondness for each other is constantly in our faces.

The devs wanted players to know Phainon and Mydei are invested. We're supposed to see how much they want to be near each other.

More than that, we're supposed to understand just how deeply they trust each other.

Okay, okay, yes, I know this is massive foreshadowing to the inevitable betrayal and tragedy impending (come on, Amphoreus wouldn't qualify as an ancient Greek drama without it!), but I think that a lot of people are missing the key here: By this point in the story, Mydei already knows how he's going to die. He knows someone is going to stab him in the back and finally end his immortal life. When he entrusts Phainon with this secret, he's not trusting Phainon to keep him safe. He's trusting Phainon to do the opposite.

He's telling Phainon: "I want it to be you."

If the prophecy can't be changed and fate is set in stone, then Mydei wants Phainon to be with him in his final moments, to be the one to finally set him free from the "curse" he perceives his own immortality to be. Of course it would be Hoyo who makes "I want to die by yours hands" into a declaration of ultimate trust, but it is an explicit statement of trust, in a way that very few--if any--other modern Hoyoverse MLM ships get to show each other on screen.

Phew, that was a lot!

But I think this is one of the clearest and most defining differences between Phainon and Mydei and other Hoyo MLM ships--the devs took away players' ability to claim they don't get along. You might still be able to call them "just friends" or "brothers in arms," but unlike Alhaitham and Kaveh who fight, Ratiorine who scheme, or Renheng who are actual enemies, Mydei and Phainon explicitly like each other. They trust each other. They seek one another out.

It might seem like a small thing on paper, but this is actually a big thing in practice. Hoyo is pushing the boundary here, reducing the avenues for deniability. It is harder for anti-LGBT+ fans to claim that Phainon and Mydei don't have obvious in-game ship-tease than for virtually any other modern Hoyoverse MLM ship. (By the way, this is why people have resorted to calling Phaidei "industry plant yaoi;" because they can't deny the queer-coding is actually there this time, they instead have to try to de-legitimize the ship in other ways, such as dismissing it as nothing more than bait.)

This also means Hoyo has less of an "out" if people start to really question. It would be harder to explain away Phainon and Mydei's relationship than it would be to explain away even Alhaitham and Kaveh's. Alhaitham and Kaveh have "They're always arguing" and "Their friendship was ruined by their fight" or "They're just roommates," etc. to lean back on. Phainon and Mydei... are really bad at even pretending to be rivals...

All of this to say: Hoyo made a bold and deliberate choice allowing two of their mainstream male characters to be so emotionally close and attentive to each other on screen. They went outside their own current comfort zone for this one, guys.

2. We're Conspicuously Missing a Twink

Moving on from Phaidei's emotional differences, I wanted to talk specifically about Hoyoverse's perspectives on gay men, and how easy it is for companies to slip into not only stereotypes for gay characters, but also extremely heteronormative portrayals of gay relationships. As sad as it is, it is easier to market queer-coded male characters to yaoi fans (who are often--although obviously not always--heterosexual women) if they fit into the expected pattern for heterosexual relationships: a highly masculine man to "wear the pants" in the relationship, paired with a delicate, effeminate man to obviously be the bottom.

Now, don't get me wrong: Gay relationships come in all varieties; people have different preferences, and categorical groups like "twinks" and "bears" exist so people who have those preferences can find each other. Obviously plenty of hyper-masculine (and just masculine-leaning) gay men do want more effeminate partners. Plenty of real guys consider themselves twinks and have great relationships with men ranging all the way up the most masculine dudes you've ever seen. But "masculine man with feminine man" isn't the only kind of gay relationship around, despite the fact that that's what Hoyo's yaoi shiptease might lead you to believe.

(Edit: I can't believe I have to say this, but it seems some portion the HSR fandom cannot read, so apparently I do: Stop using my post in your hunk/twink or hunk/hunk discourse; if you didn't bother to read the paragraph above this in which I word-for-word point out that real gay relationships come in all varieties, including lots of relationships between masculine men and more effeminate men, then that is on you--this post isn't about how "hunk/hunk" is more "real gay" material or "hurr durr twinks bad;" it's about how Hoyo has served up the exact same ship with different clothes on 13 times in a row, with their constant modus operandi being yaoi genre staple tropes in which one character is essentially designated as the bottom and the other as the top specifically using masculine versus feminine coding, because that is what sells to the yaoi fan demographic they are targeting, particularly to heterosexual female yaoi fans, who are predisposed toward heteronormative relationship patterns even in the gay media they consume. The only situation in which hunk/hunk is "more progressive" than hunk/twink is for Hoyo, who clearly have hunk/twink as their comfort zone and only very, very rarely step out of that established pattern. This entire post is about Hoyo's patterns for creating their mlm ships, not about gay rights activism--read the essay in the context of Hoyo's design philosophy or just stop reading here, fucking please.)

I don't want to say that Hoyo's track record on this front is bad, because honestly it's not. Their male characters often have surprisingly complex expressions of gender identity, with interesting blends of masculine and feminine traits. But... Hoyo does have a pattern. Plenty of their queer-coded MLM ships fall into this same general (and kind of stereotypical) profile: a masculine man with a more feminine man. Alhaitham is inexplicably ripped and represents calm rationality, while Kaveh is "the spitting image of his mother," has to wring out his wrists when he uses his own weapon, and represents passion and romanticism. Ayato is the head of his clan; Thoma holds housekeeping classes for Inazuma's other housewives. Xingqiu is the "refined" rich boy in ruffles; Chongyun is the down-to-earth working lad. Wriothesley is the most masculine man in Genshin Impact; Neuvillette mothers the entire race of Melusines. Over in Star Rail, Aventurine covets pink diamonds, bathes himself in sparkling perfume, and is so tiny Ratio's hands can encircle his waist. (I don't actually think Aventurine is that feminine, but trying to pretend that he isn't designed to evoke queer tropes is just silly.) Moze is as ripped as Alhaitham, while Jiaoqiu is... very pink. I'm going to talk more about Renheng in a sec, but Renheng is also this way, with the more "delicate"-looking Imbibitor Lunae to Yingxing/Blade's solid frame.

Mydei and Phainon don't fit this pattern at all. Both of them are as tall as Star Rail models come, and while Mydei's build has an impressive degree of bulk, Phainon is no slouch either:

Neither one of them is visually effeminate in any manner, and they're also not effeminate in personality or role in the story. Neither of them is a housekeeper or a home-maker; (again, poor Aventurine catching strays, but:) neither of them is in the business of blinding people into deals with their good-looks or careful facade of helplessness.

Theoretically we could say the devs tried to squish Mydei into a more heteronormative role by giving him traditionally "feminine" traits: he cooks, he plays house with children, he puts milk in his juice and turns it pink, he's paralleled almost exclusively to his own mother... But his role in the plot is such a quintessentially masculine story (son of a self-fulfilling prophecy, father-killer, god-slaying warrior, king to his people, aura-farming champion of the Amphoreus battle cutscenes, etc.) that clearly we are not meant to perceive him as a stereotypically feminine figure. The whole "malewife Mydei" thing comes across as so comedic because he is so masculine.

Conversely, Phainon, despite being the "gentler" of the two characters, the one who is described as having a soft heart and being outgoing and kind, is even less suited to being called feminine. His "Messiah"-esque role in the story, literally being the "prodigal son" of Amphoreus, paints him as the very picture of a classical male hero. Even more so than Mydei, he is a private and closed off person who hides his heart--and his own identity--from those around him, traits more often stereotypically associated with emotionally-closed-off men than female characters.

Up to this point, Hoyoverse had a relatively stable pattern in the MLM ships they baited in their recent games. They primarily played it safe, sticking to queer-coding relationships that both visually and narratively reflect heteronormative relationships.

But Phaidei once again broke the mold.

This time, Hoyo chose to queer-code not the more delicate-looking man (although I guess there's still plenty of time for Anaxa, I shouldn't sell him shorter than he already is lol), but two overtly masculine male characters, who can't be readily projected on to a stereotypical heterosexual relationship. This was a big departure from Hoyo's norm, and I think this actually deserves a lot more respect than people are giving it. Hoyo didn't have to pick their two muscle-bound warrior male leads and make them close and caring. They didn't have to expose themselves to the obvious question: "Why are two 'manly' characters being so soft on each other?" It is harder to pass off Phainon and Mydei's queer-coding as accidental, or suggest the fans are just reading too much into it, when nothing about them can be mistaken for a "traditional" heteronormative relationship. For a game produced in China, where standards for depicting men and masculinity in media are so high, making the choice to bait two masculine men together (let alone this expansion's "hero," who is an expy of a beloved former character), was a very bold and risky choice on Hoyo's part.

Companies don't make bold and risky choices on accident.

Finally, I wanted to make one more point about why I appreciate Phaidei's emotionally attentive depiction--it's because there's a whole other realm they could have taken the "definitely going to turn into a villain" queer-coded main character. As I mentioned in the first part of this post, queer-coding villains is a trope as old as dirt. When you queer-code a male villain particularly, you add an extra layer to the danger: Now the male villain is not just a physical threat, but a sexual one. Adding queer-coding to the male villain has often, in past media, been used to conflate homosexuality with deviance or perversion and suggests sexual violence even if nothing ever truly occurs.

Maybe the real Hoyoverse queer-coding was the red flower petals we threw along the way.

I said I was going to bring up Renheng, and here it is: Unfortunately, Blade and Dan Heng fall into this latter pattern a bit. Although he has his reasons, the game's portrayal of Blade's "pursuit," especially in the early portion of their story, casts Dan Heng into the role of the victim, a young man being hounded by a crazed stalker who refuses to let him go. Their cutscenes, including Dan Heng's nightmares, paint Blade as an overwhelming presence who invades both Dan Heng's physical space but also his mental space, making it impossible for Dan Heng to escape his clutches. This "We must pay the price together" absolutely reads, out of content anyway, as some sort of yandere death pact. Their lightcone is literally called "Nowhere to Run."

Even though Blade is not deliberately engaging in any form of sexual behavior, his obsession with Dan Heng in their early scenes can give players the impression of a cliched "depraved homosexual," and the implication that sexual violence could occur is present through their early interactions. This isn't on accident; Hoyo was playing with the yandere trope on purpose! I'm not going to lie, part of Renheng's early appeal for many players was how scary and dominating Blade came across as. The subtle sexual implications of pursuit are the point, and if you think Hoyo wasn't capitalizing on the intersection of "sexy" and "dangerous" with Renheng's early interactions, then you're probably a little too pure for this world.

As things progress, of course, we see this dynamic between Renheng dissipate, shifting his narrative from "crazed pursuer for unknown reasons" to "potentially the victim" of their past scenario, an effect which they achieved through the slow drip feed of Yingxing and Dan Feng's backstories. This, I think, speaks to not only a shift in the devs' intentions for Blade and Dan Heng's relationship (there's more to be said here about the Yingxing-Baiheng-Dan Feng mess that is the cut lore, etc.), but also to a shift in the way the devs wanted Blade to be perceived by fans, from a potentially predatory figure to a much less toxic potential love interest.

Anyway, back to Phaidei: We know that Phainon is headed for a downfall. It's been so obviously foreshadowed at this point that there's really nothing much more to say than that--however, even though he will likely also descend into villainy like Blade, and even though we know he's very likely going to kill Mydei... I don't think that the devs will use Phainon's queer-coding as part of his villainous identity. I don't get any sense that the dev team has any intentions of conflating Phainon's potential homosexuality with depravity, or using it as a motive for his descent into villainy (he might be gay and a villain, but he won't be a villain because he is gay). I definitely don't think we will see the kind of sexually-threatening physicality between Flame Reaver and Mydei that the devs did earlier with Blade and Dan Heng, even if "stabbing someone from behind" does have an inherent sort of sexual symbolism.

I appreciate that even in a story headed for the obvious "stabbed in the back by the villain form of the man I loved," the devs seem like they have moved on from falling into the pitfall (accidentally or intentionally, to sell yandere tropes) of portraying of gay men as predatory.

3. Leave Room for the Trailblazer

In part 1 of this post, I mentioned that Hoyo uses the placements of characters in scenes to indicate closeness, and I already pointed out that Mydei and Phainon stand really... really... close together, much closer than they stand to other characters.

However, it's not just that their models are literally positioned closer together in cutscenes--it's that their body language explicitly closes other characters out. Plenty of Hoyoverse MLM ships are ship-baited by moving the models of the male characters closer together, but very, very few of them are positioned to so consistently exclude even the player.

For comparison, consider the well-known scene where Alhaitham brings the Traveler and Paimon to his and Kaveh's house, which was framed with both domesticity and intimacy:

Although Alhaitham and Kaveh are also prone to the "stand shoulder-to-shoulder" thing that Hoyo does when they want to imply closeness between characters, the framing of their scenes nevertheless leave enough space for the Traveler and Paimon to be active participants in the conversation, enough space between Alhaitham and Kaveh for Traveler to not look blocked out.

For example, despite standing next to each other in that moment above, the camera deliberately cuts Alhaitham out, so that only Kaveh and the Traveler duo occupy the shot. Later on, Alhaitham bridges the divide between the Traveler and Kaveh, turning away from Kaveh toward the Traveler--once again, the conversation and scene are open to the Traveler, and thus, to the player.

Here's a live demonstration of my earlier point: Alhaitham and Kaveh stand closer together than the player and Candace, indicating their closer connection.

Other scenes play out similarly--although Alhaitham and Kaveh are close, their body language doesn't actively exclude other characters or the player from feeling like part of their conversations.

Over in Star Rail, we see the same general situation. We know that Aventurine rarely stands close to other characters, with Ratio being the one relatively consistent exception, but even so, the camera will usually give them some breathing room, making it feel like there's enough space for the player on the other side of the screen to be part of the moment:

Meanwhile Blade excludes both Dan Heng and the player, putting us on equal footing to Dan Heng and giving the impression that the player and Dan Heng are standing against Blade together. There is still room for "us" in this scene.

However, once again, Phaidei proves the exception. Mydei and Phainon don't just stand close--they don't even want to share air with anyone but each other.

A very normal way to have a group conversation. Definitely.

Consistently when standing side-by-side, they turn inward to face each other, rather than facing other characters in the conversation, literally forming a closed unit despite the fact that they're supposed to be in a group scene:

The thirdest third wheel to ever third wheel.

If it wasn't enough for the devs to just imply that the Trailblazer isn't able to break through Mydei and Phainon's circle, they decided to call it out in the text itself, echoing the player's own thoughts: "What about me?"

As I mentioned in the first part of the post, the devs also consistently use specific camera angles to capture both Mydei and Phainon in the frame together, at the same time, further emphasizing the closed nature of their conversations.

You will never see so many over-the-shoulder shots again in your life. You are the outsider looking in!

Perhaps most telling about the devs' intention to create an intimate air for Phainon and Mydei's conversations is that literally everyone else disappears when they speak to each other. For example, Phainon and Mydei's first goodbye takes place in the Garden of Life, which is actually a pretty bustling plaza with numerous NPCs. But every single NPC was deliberately removed by the dev team for Mydei and Phainon's scene there, to allow them a private moment:

Even in their final farewell, where Mydei was seen off by a literal bustling crowd of NPCs, not a single person is visible during their goodbyes--until the exact moment Mydei reminds Phainon that the whole rest of the world is waiting for him. The whole rest of the world didn't even exist for Phainon until Mydei forced him to remember.

It's not just the Trailblazer (and us, the player) who is third wheeling Mydei and Phainon's relationship. They literally exist in a world of their own when they speak to each other. No other modern Hoyoverse ship is on this level of excluding even the player--excluding even the damn NPCs!--to make a point about their closeness.

I thought I was going crazy the first time I was watching these scenes, thinking "It can't be that the devs actually went that far in framing Mydei and Phainon as a pair." But they did. They actually did.

The envelope has been pushed off a mountain, my guys.

But that still wasn't enough for the devs. They needed to go further.

4. Deploy Shoujo Manga Trope #57

I know I just said that Phainon and Mydei's relationship doesn't map well a typical heteronormative male/female relationship, but that doesn't mean the devs gave up on any and all attempts to apply typical romantic cliches to Phaidei. On the contrary, the dev team's thought process seems to have been "Hey, we're doubling-down on our queer-coding for Phainon and Mydei. How can we make it really, really, really obvious they're a ship?" And then they literally spun a roulette wheel of romantic tropes and threw every single one of them at patch 3.1 at the same time.

We have the "romantic lead beautifully framed by red rose petals blood glitter":

The "You used my love to manipulate me" subplot:

Phainon begs for compliments, and Mydei's reaction is to look away demurely and call him a scoundrel?? Am I seeing things?!

This is where he'd be blushing like a tomato if he was a female character.

The "please look after my dear husband when I'm gone" tragedy trope:

THE RING???

"LET'S MEET AGAIN IN THE NEXT LIFE"?!!

What do I even say about all... this...? Do I even need to say anything at all? Has any MLM ship in a recent Hoyoverse game gotten remotely as many romance flags? Alhaitham, where is Kaveh's ring?!

What I actually want to say isn't a specific breakdown of any of these moments, but what they mean in totality. Remember that Hoyo made every one of these choices with deliberate intent. They knew what the picture would add up to. These are explicitly romantic tropes that are extremely difficult to interpret in other lights.

You are supposed to read "If there's a chance in the next life" as "I want to be reincarnated with you; I want to meet you again; I want to be with you in a softer world."

You're supposed to think of the ring as a wedding ring. For one, Gorgo would only have gotten it through her marriage to Eurypon, but even more so--there was no reason this item needed to be a ring in the first place except to evoke images of wedding rings. We already knew from 3.0 that Castrum Kremnos used crests and seals for identification. Why make it a ring and not just the crest of Castrum Kremnos? Furthermore, why involve Phainon at all? The audience would never have known any different if Chartonus just said "Found this I did, have it you should, Mydei." It's a ring and it's a ring deliberately from Phainon because the devs want you to see it as a wedding ring.

What an incredibly bold move on Hoyo's part, and I don't even really mean just in the context of being a Chinese company, but even in the context of being a global company. Hoyo lives and dies by the revenue of their character banners, and choosing to explicitly and (nearly) exclusively apply romantic tropes to their male lead and deuteragonist in a brand-new patch cycle was a legitimately daring choice. Their deliberate application of romantic staples to an MLM ship, in a way that is difficult even for anti-LGBT+ fans to write off, was a very, very calculated decision. I genuinely hope it pays off for them. I hope Mydei and Phainon's banners both sell well, so the devs' receive a clear message in turn that fans appreciated their boldness and their commitment to creating queer content for these two characters.

I'm just going to end on one final note, about a scene that you may have noticed I conveniently skipped. Yes, the most conspicuous scene of them all:

5. A+ Censor Dodging

By some miracle of obliviousness, some Olympic-level mental gymnastics, or by sheer force of will, I think some people might still have made it to this point thinking that Phaidei was not being deliberately baited by the devs. You could maybe, somehow, convince yourself that the blood glitter rose petals and the shoulder-to-shoulder emotional conversations were just coincidences, that the tsundere "I'm not worried about him" was just dudes being tough guys, that the Trailblazer was a third wheel because Phainon and Mydei are "just good friends."

But then devs said "No, we need to be unmistakable. We need to make ourselves 1000% clear. We are baiting the yaoi fangirls, guys; please stop ignoring our hard work."

If going further than they've ever gone with Mydei and Phainon's body language wasn't enough, if Phainon's being willing to kill a god to save his man wasn't enough, if implying a wedding ring wasn't enough, what else could the devs possibly do to remove all plausible deniability and make it undeniably clear that Mydei and Phainon are queer characters (even if it is only for the benefit of yaoi fangirls)?

They can do something they've never done in their recent games before: Imply actual sex between male characters.

(Side note, Hoyo lesbians have had this implied sexual content pass from the beginning. You will always be famous, Beiguang. It's only the male characters that can't even have implied sex. 😂)

Obviously Phainon and Mydei are not having sex in the game. The dialogue even goes out of its way afterward to remind us that they remained fully clothed in that bath, thank you. But the refusal to show what was actually happening--censorship used as a tool to imply--the cut to the black screen, the narration of one animal pursuing another, the discretionary water droplets between the moaning... (And another little edit because @mynabirb made such a good point in the tags: The fact that they chose to "censor" this with a butterfly, the literal symbol of romance in Amphoreus, is almost too much. The devs really did say "Time to silence all doubts.")

From the player's perspective--and examining this as a choice on the dev team's part--there is no way to read this scene other than "sexually suggestive." You're supposed to think "This sounds incredibly sus." Because it is sus. Because the devs added this scene knowing that it would intentionally make people think about the idea of Phainon and Mydei having sex.

Sure, this scene is really funny in context. You're supposed to come out of it laughing, going "Wow, they're idiots." But you will also, whether you like it or not, come out of this thinking "Damn, Hoyo really went all in on the yaoi bait, didn't they?"

You can't "Devs didn't mean it" out of this one.

Which is brave as hell on Hoyo's part, to be honest! Even if this is nothing but queer-baiting, they saw that sick yaoi fan money and decided to go all in on it.

Say it with me: A dev team from a country with notoriously strict rules against depictions of homosexuality in media, from a company with a huge global fanbase including many conservative and religious countries, and with a majority male target audience, went out of their way to undeniably include sexually suggestive gay content in their game.

Whatever their motivation--be it simply money or from a genuine desire to tell gay stories--this wasn't a casual decision. This took commitment. This decision almost certainly went all the way to the top brass of the team for clearance. Someone probably had to fight to get this added.

But they did it, and not with Kaveh and Alhaitham (the previously undisputed kings of current Hoyoverse queer-coding) but with two brand-new (to Star Rail at least) characters who have extremely important roles in the game's on-going narrative--major characters who can't be overlooked.

Phaidei is literally built different.

But I'm still left with one lingering question:

Is Hoyo queer-coding or just queer-baiting?

Even though I played 3.1 in a sort of stupefied haze because I actually couldn't believe what I was seeing in Phainon and Mydei's scenes, I also ended it with a pretty bittersweet feeling.

How amazing that Hoyo pushed the envelope so far with Phaidei... But at what cost?

Did Mydei really have to leave Okhema never to return? Or is he being banished from the plot because his relationship with Phainon was too intense?

Isn't this just the "bury your gays" trope, in essence?

Lore-wise, there isn't any reason Mydei actually has to leave Okhema forever. Sure, he presumably is going to fight the Black Tide where it manifests across Amphoreus, but what about that requires him to "never return"? Demigods aren't geographically bound to the locations their Titans blessed, or Aglaea and Anaxa wouldn't be able to leave the Grove. There shouldn't be any reason Mydei can't visit Okhema when he wants.

The more you think about it, the worse it looks that the dev team implied Phaidei harder than they've ever implied an MLM ship before, only to immediately turn around and go "And then Mydei left forever." As if the only way it's okay to make characters that gay is if you then get rid of at least one of them. (Speaking humorously, at the rate Phainon and Mydei were going, if the devs didn't get rid of Mydei, he and Phainon probably would have been making out on-screen by 3.2, but you know what I mean.)

Sure Phaidei can be the MLM Star Rail ship with the most support in canon--but only at the cost of never being seen together again, apparently.

I'm not sure I like this trade off.

However, I am telling myself to remain cautiously optimistic. We know that Mydei's role in the story is not done, and that he and Phainon are destined for at least one more reunion, even if it won't be a happy one. We've been told that Amphoreus's story will be "heart-warming." I choose to believe that the devs will try to scrabble some sort of positive ending out of all this. At the very least, perhaps we'll end with a "in another life montage," and get to see Phainon and Mydei finally meeting in that library.

So is Hoyo queer-coding from a genuine desire to include gay characters or just baiting hard to sell Mydei to fangirls?

I'd say let's wait and see. Amphoreus has barely started cooking.

In the meantime, I think it is worth examining (and appreciating) Hoyo's willingness to mix up their own patterns, break their own trends, and to try something truly new and different with Phaidei. Even if this is all the content we ever get, Hoyoverse did things they haven't done before in any of their recent games, and showed that they're willing to push the limits for queer content in order to tell the stories they really want to tell.

I am a served fan, Hoyo. Well played, well played.

[moshaeu]

i hope phainon doubles the runtime of every single story quest after this through long drawn out dead wife flashbacks of mydei. i want him waxing lyrical about that time he saw mydei’s thighs in the baths and nearly passed out. i need him to go full ethan winters of resident evil fame on us

i like how you think anon

[blueberrisdove-sideblog]

COCKWARING, ☆ ft. mydei & phainon.

paring : mydei x bratty fem!reader x phainon.

tws : nsfw / smut. creampie (anal & vaginal), chocking, phaidei sandwich, biting, cōckdrunk reader, dumbification, hair pullling, size kink, reader mentioned to have curly hair, p*rn with no plot, cūmstuffed, belly bulge and messy sēx. minors do not interact.

Your curls were clinging to your face, soaked with sweat and drool, bouncing with every thrust. You couldn’t even beg properly anymore—your mouth was open, tongue out, a trail of spit dripping from your lips.

Phainon was underneath you, cock buried so deep in your pussy you could feel it in your ribs. Every time he bottomed out, your breath hitched, your vision blurred, your fingers clenched uselessly around his shoulders.

And behind you—Mydei was a fucking animal.

His cock was thick, rough, mean, splitting your ass open without mercy. His hand was twisted in your hair, tugging your head back so you could barely breathe. His breath was hot against your neck, and his voice was low and filthy in your ear.

“Look at you.”

Your belly was stretched, bulging visibly with the size of both of them inside you, pressing so deep their cocks were pushing against each other through your body. You glanced down and saw it—your stomach shifting with every brutal thrust.

“Fuck,” you slurred. “Can’t—can’t take it—‘s too big—”

Phainon chuckled, calm and cruel, his fingers tweaking your nipples while he rolled his hips just enough to make you squirm. “You’re taking it. Look how pretty you are like this. All stuffed, all stretched… you were made for this.”

You sobbed and gasped, your whole body twitching.

Mydei growled against your ear, then bit into your shoulder, hard enough to leave bruises, and slammed forward. You screamed—his cock ground deep into your guts, and your ass clenched around him like it was desperate to keep him inside.

“Keep crying,” he said through gritted teeth. “I want you to fucking cry while we fill you.”

You were already leaking—your cunt dripping all over Phainon’s thighs, the mix of your slick and their precum soaking everything. Your skin was marked in fingerprints, teeth, sweat. You were nothing but their toy now.

Phainon shifted and grabbed your waist, fucking up into you harder, each stroke knocking the breath out of you. He was smiling, calm, gentle in the way he held you—cruel in the way he bottomed out every single time.

“Bet you can’t even think anymore, can you?” he whispered, tugging at your nipples. “Look at you. Just a stupid hole with curls bouncing while we ruin you.”

You couldn’t answer. You couldn’t even blink. Your eyes were glassy, rolling back, your lips parted as tears spilled down your cheeks.

Mydei pulled your head back further by your hair and wrapped his hand around your throat. He squeezed, and your moan came out strangled, breathless.

“You want us to stuff you full?” he hissed, cock pounding deep into your ass. “Want your pretty little belly all pumped full of cum?”

“Yes,” you choked, drool dripping down your chin. “Please, please—want it—need it—fill me—”

Phainon moaned low in his throat. “Then take it.”

Your body clenched hard as both of them slammed into you at once—and then they came.

It hit you like a truck.

Mydei grunted as his cock twitched inside your ass, thick streams of cum spilling deep into you. The warmth of it filled your insides, pressure building until your belly visibly swelled more.

Phainon wasn’t far behind—he gasped, hands gripping your hips, cock twitching deep in your cunt as he pumped you full, thick and hot, until it spilled out around his base and soaked the sheets.

You couldn’t even scream. You just spasmed, pussy clenching down and milking him for everything, your whole body shaking with the force of it.

They didn’t pull out.

They kept you there—Phainon holding your waist, Mydei pressing your back to his chest, his hand still around your throat, both cocks twitching inside you while your belly swelled, sticky and overstretched, so full you could feel it sloshing.

You were just a whimpering.

“Good girl,” Phainon whispered, lips brushing your jaw. “You were made for this.”

“Still think you’re a brat?” Mydei asked, breath hot and heavy.

You tried to answer, but all that came out was a little moan and more drool.

“Didn’t think so.”

Your body felt like melted sugar—warm, sticky, and useless.

Your thighs were trembling, twitching every now and then when aftershocks rippled through your muscles. Your belly was swollen, flushed and sensitive, their cum still tucked deep inside you where it had no choice but to stay. You’d been stuffed full. Used until you were nothing but a drooly, needy mess.

And yet… neither of them had pulled out.

Phainon’s cock stayed nestled deep in your pussy, and Mydei’s—thicker, still twitching—was buried in your ass. They’d barely moved for the past ten minutes, just holding you. Breathing with you. Rocking their hips slow, careful, so gentle.

Your curls were stuck to your forehead, damp and messy, and Phainon’s fingers kept brushing them away, smoothing your hair back with delicate little touches like you weren’t still split open on their cocks. His other hand rested on your lower belly, pressing down just the tiniest bit—right over that full spot where the bulge still lived.

“You’re still so tight around us,” he murmured, his voice soft and warm against your cheek. “It’s like your body doesn’t want to let go.”

You whined, barely able to lift your head. “I don’t want you to… feels good like this…”

Mydei chuckled behind you. You could feel his breath against your shoulder blades, his chest solid against your back, arms curled protectively around you.

“Of course it does,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. “You’re made to be filled. Look at you—can’t even move without clenching down.”

You whimpered when Phainon gave a slow roll of his hips, barely an inch, but it made your whole body jerk.

“Too sensitive,” you mumbled. “But… don’t stop…”

Your hands curled weakly in Phainon’s chest. You couldn’t hold yourself up—you were slumped across him, fully relying on both of them to keep you steady. And they did. One in front, one behind, cocks still buried, hands stroking your skin gently like they were calming you down after a storm.

Mydei nuzzled into your neck and tugged at one of your curls, wrapping it around his finger. “You gonna cry if we pull out?”

You gave a breathy little nod. “I’ll cry. I’ll scream.”

Phainon kissed the corner of your mouth. “Then we won’t.”

They stayed inside you.

Let you breathe. Let you melt. Let you keep them in deep, stretching your used-up holes, the heat of them still radiating into your overstimmed body. It wasn’t even about fucking anymore—you just needed to be kept full. You were addicted to the stretch, the closeness, the safety of it.

“You did so well,” Phainon whispered against your lips. “Took both of us like you were meant to.”

“Messy little brat,” Mydei added, a little teasing, but his voice was quiet now. “All full and pretty. Can’t even pretend to be tough anymore.”

“M’not a brat,” you mumbled into Phainon’s chest, totally out of it.

He smiled. “No. Not anymore.”

They rocked you slowly, kissing your cheeks, holding you in place. Their cum dripped out, but they didn’t let you go. You didn’t want them to. You just wanted to be kept like this.

© 2024-2025 blueberrisdove-sideblog all rights reserved. pretty please, do not steal my dividers, translate and plagiarize any of my works, or either repost my works in any other platform without asking, thank you!

[nepenthic-delirium]

𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓: 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

ᝰ.ᐟ SUMMARY: What's an average day like living with your two darling chrysos heirs? Well to put it lightly...it's not for the weak.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: MYDEI + PHAINON X FEM!READER (POLY!)

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: general mydei+phainon shenanigans, reader's a bit of a grouch but can you blame her?, Aggie and Tribbie mentions, the polycule is polyculing. FLUFF!!! :3

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 1.2k

𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: DID NOT PROOFREAD WE DIE LIKE KINGS. I wonder why Mydei is sleeping with his back towards reader?? Def not cuz of his tenth thoracic vertebrae hahahahahaha + Also I love myphai/phaidei so much theyre so silly. First fic on this blog yipppe!!!

The room was suffocatingly warm. 

Of course it would be, you surmised, as you were stuck between two behemoths of men; the Deliverer himself and the undying Son of Gorgo. 

However, it wasn’t bad. You actually quite liked it, even though Phainon’s limbs were intruding into your space and his leg haphazardly thrown across yours, or how Mydei’s back was turned towards you as he slept like a rock, his strawberry-blonde hair tickling the tips of your nose. 

It was nice, sweet even. You liked being in the middle, their warmth like a blanket on a cold night. Mydei, with his harsh yet caring words, and Phainon, with his rough yet soft touches. 

However.

“Get off ‘fme,” you grunt, nudging Phainon off you. God, he was heavy. “You're smuggling me.” 

Phainon groaned, snaking one hand under your waist and pulling you closer to him. He nuzzled his face into your neck, and you could feel the sly grin on his face. Bastard, you think with annoyance filled with love. 

“Nooo,” He whined, his voice high and pitchy. “I like being near you.” He parted from your neck, his lips jutting out in a comical pout. 

“You wouldn’t deprive me of my fav-” 

Slam! Your eyes widen as Mydei’s unamused face appears in your peripheral vision, his hand clutching the pillow he was just laying on. You turned your head to Phainon, who was groaning, a hand on his head. 

“What was that for, you brute!?” Phainon huffed. 

“Must you start annoying everyone in the morning?” Mydei retorted. “Your voice makes even the droma’s irritated.” 

“What-? My voice is perfectly fine!” 

You groan. Ah yes, what a very typical, average morning. 

-

“You two better not make a mess in the baths–again.” 

Phainon rolls his eyes, casting a sideways glance at Mydei. Mydei huffs, his voice rough as he responds, “Phainon was the one who started it anyway.” 

Phainon opens his mouth to respond, but you cut him off. “If I see you two arguing even once, I’m gonna make Aggie kick you out. Then I can finally have a girls night with her and Tribbie.” 

They reluctantly agree, and you hum in response, before taking a glance at them. Phainon’s silvery hair looked almost white in the bright sunlight of Okhema. His eyes, the color of the midday sky bright as he animatedly talked about the new sale for weapons in one of the shopping districts. Mydei’s eyes are straight-ahead, honey-colored eyes impassive. However, just from his body language, you can tell he’s listening, humming along and leaning his body towards Phainon’s direction. 

Once you reach the baths, you can already see people crowding around you three as they catch sight of the glimmering Deliverer, and the Crown Prince of Kremnos. You roll your eyes, pouting as you sarcastically drawl, “I wonder if they’re here to gawk at me this time.” 

Mydei laughs, the sound both foreign and yet beautiful on him. “Truly, they’re here to behold your beauty.” 

Phainon grins, adding on, “Bet they’re jealous we have the prettiest lady at our side.” 

You grin, deciding to join in even though you know the opposite of Phainon’s statement was the truth–that people, both the men and women of Okhema, were seething with rage that you were Mydei’s and Phainon’s significant other. You still vividly remember the time you saw a woman sobbing at Mydei’s favorite pancake place just because she thought you were dating him. You wonder how she’s holding up now that it’s pretty much known throughout Amphoreus that you are.

You enter the baths, heading up to the Chrysos Heir’s bathing section. Although you weren’t a Chrysos Heir, you had sidled up to Tribbie to aid your case to Aglaea, who happily responded. Besides, the perks of the Chrysos Heir’s V.I.P section was pretty good–the water was always the perfect temperature, and you always had the best girl talk with Tribbie and Aglaea, and sometimes with Hyacine as well if she visited.  (Not to mention the fact you got to see Phainon’s abs…) 

As you settle into the water, you hum contentedly as you sink in. The water, as always, calms you down. A perfect solution to the two stresses in your life–a strawberry-blonde prince and a blue-eyed deliverer. 

That’s until you hear Mydei’s words ringing through the bath. 

“Well, if you're so confident, why don’t we test it out, Deliverer?”  

“Why so boastful, Mydei? We all know who won the holding-your-breath-under-water competition last time!” 

“HKS! We’ll see about that.” 

Your eyes open in a flash. “No!” 

-    

You rub your forehead in annoyance as you scowl. Aglaea’s milky green eyes are filled with barely concealed exasperation. Tribbie’s smile is a bit strained. 

“You guys are so annoying.” You can feel your eyes twitch as Phainon opens his mouth, probably to blame Mydei for the incident at the bath. 

“Mydei provoked me–” 

“How despicable, blaming someone else for your–” 

Aglaea coughs, her eyes narrow and her voice filled with frustration. “Must you two bicker at every given moment?” 

“Just imagine how it is at home.” You roll your eyes, foot impatiently tapping the ground as you cross your arms. 

“Is it really that bad…?” Tribbie grimaces. 

“Yes.” You deadpan. 

-

“Mydei, has anyone ever told you your cooking is heavenly? Out-of-this-world? Something that not even mere mortals can comprehend?” 

You take another bite, savoring the taste on your tongue. The flavors tied so well, and holy Kephale, it just melted on your tongue. Phainon seemed to agree as well, wolfing down cuts of steak that Mydei had (generously) put on his plate. 

Dinnertime was always your favorite–even though the sun never set in Okhema, it marked the end of an eventful “day” in the Holy City. Not to mention, Mydei and Phainon were always tired after their…competitions, and it always warms your heart to see them not bickering for a change.  

You can see Mydei’s bashful grin, the tint on his pale cheeks. “If I remember correctly, you told me the same thing yesterday. And the day before that, too.” 

“I mean–” Phainon stuffs another piece of meat in his mouth, chewing before swallowing. “--she’s not wrong, now, is she?” 

Phainon and you wash the dishes after dinner, much to your dismay as Phainon can’t help but get his and your shirt’s wet from yucky, dish water. After you finally get done for the day, you brush your teeth with Mydei and Phainon, practically squished in the middle.  

Phainon jokes that he thinks he sees a pimple on Mydei’s cheek, to which Mydei retorts that Phainon needs to get his eyes checked. You think you might have to get your eyes checked with how many times you rolled your eyes just today. 

 When you finally make it to your bed, you curl around Phainon (whose in the middle this time) and Mydei hums some well-wishes of sweet dreams, you can’t help but smile. 

These two might be insufferable, annoying little brats, but you can’t help but love them. 

After all, they’re your insufferable, annoying brats.

@ NEPENTHIC-DELIRIUM. do not plagiarize, claim my work as your own, translate or share my posts on any platform outside of tumblr.

[angelblushe]

HSR 3.3 UPDATE SPOILERS

This entire post is is my insane ramblings about phaidei within the context of this scene. ⬇️

I want to talk about the significance of this farewell scene with the implications this has about Phainon’s bond with Mydeimos, as well as talking about artistic choices in the illustration and dialogue.

There is a stark difference between Phainon’s imagined farewells with the Mydei and with the rest of the Chrysos Heirs.

Everyone else says the same line, “Goodbye, Phainon.”

Mydei on the other hand? He says, “See you around, Phainon of Aedes Elysiae.” Not only is it a promise to see one another again, rather than a farewell, but it is also so much more intimate.

Mydei is referring to him with respect as to where he came from. Typically, Mydei refers to Phainon as “Deliverer”, (and from what other Heirs have mentioned, it comes from a good place), this title having meaning to Phainon’s future—his role in relation to the prophecy. In this instance, Phainon imagines Mydei referring to him in terms of his identity that more closely coincides with his past. The same past that Phainon discusses with Mydei before he departures to Castrum Kremnos. In this past scene, they both open up to each other about aspects of their past they haven’t spoken about to others.

When Mydei leaves for Castrum Kremnos, this is after he has stepped up into divinity, having to face his traumas and fears in regard to his leadership and culture as a whole. Mydei understands Phainon’s grief to a certain capacity, as they both come from homes that are now destroyed.

Phainon’s home is one that no one knows of, and Mydei’s idea of a home is one that his culture is hesitant to accept.

With this in mind, it’s obvious Phainon has shared a more vulnerable part of himself in regards to his past with Mydei. Seeing as his imagined farewell with Mydei is so much different than it is with everyone else, it’s clear that it comes from a special connection between the two that sets them apart as a pair.

In the 3.1 update, even during Tribios’ story, it is brought up time and time again that Mydei and Phainon are two warriors that go hand in hand. They are portrayed to be equals in strength, balancing each other (this can be further explored in their sun and moon motifs directly ingrained into their designs).

Now, I want to talk about the illustration that accompanies this scene. Phainon says goodbye to all the characters that have departed thus far: Trianne, Anaxa, Castorice, and Aglaea. As each farewell is spoken, each character leaves the illustration. We see that each of them is also painted monochromatically in a color that is associated with them.

Mydei is an exception to this rule. Interestingly, Castorice is not. I point this out because (at least from personal interpretation) she is—to an extent—not truly dead, as we actually get to briefly see her with Mydei during the 3.4 update when in battle. This is important to note because both of them have virtually stepped away from Okhema to fulfill their roles of the prophecy without truly dying.

I think it’s very interesting that Mydei is the only one illustrated in full color in Phainon’s mind. I interpret this as meaning that, to Phainon, Mydei is still someone who is stable, consistent, and truly alive.

Phainon has lost his home, his grief over Aedes Elysiae being something that he struggles with for the first few patches of Amphoreus. In addition, in the recent patches, he is continuing to lose his loved ones—people that very obviously hold each other closely (the Chrysos Heirs are very much found family in my eyes, often outright using familial terms to refer to one another).

Despite these constant losses, Mydei is a steady rock, his curse of immortality being a source of comfort for Phainon (although something he anguishes as well since we see him struggle with his guilt when having to leave Mydei to fight alone twice).

Nevertheless, when he imagines speaking to Mydei, he imagines flesh, bone, and blood. Something more tangible than what he thinks of when contemplating the others. Even his dialogue with Mydei is different, his whole conversation set up to be almost separate from what he discusses with the others.

For this reason, I believe that Phainon derives a deep sense of comfort from Mydei. Mydeimos is his equal in strength, a tank on the battlefield, he is dependable and has arrived time and time again to save the day. To Phainon, he is not as easily defeated as any of the rest.

To cap it all off: I think there is something so heartbreaking about their wishes to see each other again.

During Mydei’s real farewell, he says, “But... if there's a chance in the next life, you should come visit my library.”

A wish that they could meet again, in world unlike the one which confines them to prophecies and fate.

However, in Phainon’s farewell to Mydei, contained in his imagination, Phainon expresses that, “We aren't parting ways forever. You're just off to guard the gates at Castrum Kremnos. Let's not make this a tearful farewell.” In which Mydei agrees, and says that he believes they’ll meet up again within this same life time (to duel, of course).

I think there’s a sad yearning there, that Phainon wants to hold out hope that he will be able to have some kind of peaceful ending with Mydei. Especially since he perceives Mydei to be a pillar of strength, someone that can withstand it all. We have seen time and time again that when Phainon is unsure of himself, or what to do as a whole, he thinks of Mydei.

For someone who has lost so much to death, to have someone who can withstand the tantalizing whisper of the west winds, it’s a relief. That finally, this is someone Phainon can’t lose.

Until he does.

…

OH and I’m not even going to get into the whole, “It's a date, Mydeimos.” I will have a break down.

[that-aven-simp]

PART TWO!!!

2/2

[nonmooss]

Is Phainon the one commenting Mydei's character stories ?

If you read Mydei's character stories, you probably noticed that they all are extracted from history books, and that at the end of each, a man wrote some comments.

First I thought it was Mydei, and even Krateros. But by progressing through the stories, it seemed more likely that it's Phainon.

What excluded Krateros for me is the mention of Mydei's friends. Yes, perhaps he did talk to him about them but regarding the quest, the talk about them is a moment that the game made us associate with Mydei and Phainon only. Plus the fact that all books are from a same library hints towards their promise at the end of 3.1. So the thing is to know which one of them commented on Mydei's stories.

I don't think Mydei would comment about himself in history books, especially on myths made of his childhood, even less to comment "Strong." under it. Even though I do believe Mydei acknowledges his own strenght, I don't think he would take the time to brag it around in history books. The only comment I could see Mydei make is the one on his friends, so they wouldn't be forgotten by history, and perhaps the last one regarding the Sea of Souls could be him too... However the fourth story seems to be about Mydei's departure for Kremnos, and the man's handwriting is recent. So it's either Mydei who wrote it before going to Kremnos, orrr Phainon being emotional after Mydei's departure.

Meanwhile, as I don't see Mydei commenting about himself, I do easily see Phainon commenting history books about him. After all, he is qualified as being an "amateur historian" which is even showed in the current event. This could easily be Phainon learning about Mydei's childhood and acknowledging how strong and resilient he is for becoming the man he is after all of this tragedy. It could be Phainon reading through Mydei's detractors' resolutions and giving away a vain advice that Mydei should not care about them and should continue to follow his own path. It's honestly very Phainon coded with how protective he is

As for the last one, since Phainon was the one who got the idea to fish out Gorgo's signet ring from the Sea of Souls, it doesn't feel that weird to see him comment about it.

I am mixed between saying that this is a reach made by my Phaidei brainrot, or if this is very possible. Please tell me what you all think, because I am so confused about this !