Some Notes on Mydei's Characterization (Part 1)

I'm already tired of seeing Mydei slander (if I have to read "He's a brawn over brains berserker who just cares about fighting" one more time, I might actually die), so I thought I'd put together some quick notes on what canon has to say about Mydei's character. Please note this post contains only my own interpretations of canon material; not everyone will interpret scenes in the same manner.

Starting with some of the most off-base stuff I've seen first:

1. Being Capable of Violence is Not the Same as Being Violent

Mydei's trailer and his role in the story both confirm that he is capable of extreme acts of violence. When it comes to battle, multiple people--Eurypon and Phainon, for example--refer to Mydei specifically as a "beast," rather than a person. In his character stories, we're told that he was such a ferocious predator in the Sea of Souls that even monsters stopped coming near him, and in another of his character stories, he's described as tearing the throat out of an opposing enemy who had an army a thousand men strong. It is a basic and unavoidable fact of Mydei's character that he is capable not only of killing but of killing in egregiously brutal ways, literally tearing his enemies apart with his bare hands.

Mydei will fight, he will cause harm, and he will kill--whenever it is necessary to do so.

But there is an extreme world of difference between being capable of violence and actually being a violent person, and Mydei has shown, in both word and deed, that he is an inherently gentle character who, if given the option, would prefer to choose the path of least harm.

More Phaidei Fics I Want to Read (Part 3)

1. The Hades and Persephone AU but with a twist: Phainon is the lord of the afterlife (Aedes Elysiae is the literal Elysian Fields) but mostly by accident, because Cyrene just didn't want the job and up and went off adventuring(?) one day. Really, Phainon's not suited to ruling the Underworld at all; he's got a terribly soft heart, and half the time when people beg to be sent back to life, he can't find it in him to say no. But then there's Mydei, the guy who won't stop dying, despite the fact that the glaring "death day countdown clock" in his life's record keeps telling Phainon it's not yet Mydei's time. Mydei keeps insisting that death is where he should be, to reunite with his mother and friends, but as sweet as that is (and as much as Phainon would like to keep seeing him!), letting people out of the Underworld is one thing--but letting someone in early? Big no-no. Yet, no matter how many times Phainon sends him back to life, Mydei keeps finding new ways to die, and when one of the wandering souls from the River finally lets slip that eating the pomegranates of the Underworld can bind you to the afterlife forever... Well, Phainon's about to find out just how determined Mydei can be.

2. The mostly angst one: After Mydei leaves Okhema, Phainon does his best to keep his promise and take over Mydei's role looking out for the Kremnoan people. It's not easy, especially with Krateros lurking over his shoulder like the world's most unpleasable father-in-law guard dog--or with Okhema's prejudice. Was it really this bad all along? The more Phainon struggles to help the Kremnoans and to learn their ways, the more he realizes just how much Mydei was truly doing to protect his people all these years, sacrificing his time, his funds, and his own reputation to make sure all the others could get by. On every step of his journey with the Kremnoans, Phainon learns something new about the incredibly strong and giving person Mydei really was when the Chrysos Heirs weren't around to see it. Who could avoid falling even more love, with every kindness and grief revealed? They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but how can fondness endure when Phainon knows his heart won't ever come home? (Bonus points for Phainon even moving into Mydei's dwelling in the Kremnoan Enclave--for convenience, of course, and not because it makes it easier to dream that one day Mydei will walk back in the door. Right.)

Some Notes on Mydei's Characterization (Part 2)

<- Part 1 is back this way.

I hit the tumblr image limit way before I ran out of things to say about Mydei, so here is the second half of the notes I've been collecting on his characterization. As always, interpretations are my own.

6. Mydei Both Embodies and Challenges Nikador's Virtues

We know that Mydei is regarded, by characters in the game at least, as the perfect avatar for Strife. Repeatedly, the game parallels Mydei and Nikador, and throughout our journey in 3.0 with Gnaeus, we're supposed to see the similarities between his aloof but noble behavior and Mydei's belief that violence without honor is nothing but meaningless slaughter. Obviously the undying king with powers literally based on the spilled blood of legions would be a good match for the warrior god whose conquest plucked the sun out of the sky... (Although I do like the recent discussions I've seen of there being mismatches between the Chrysos Heirs and the titans, hmm.)

But though Mydei reveres Nikador as his people's god, at the same time, he actually reviles what Nikador has come to represent, quintessentially rejecting the the central tenants of his own people's faith. Even as he recognizes the inevitability of the prophecy, Mydei is unwilling to accept the coreflame because he sees his own identity as diametrically opposed to Kremnos's conception of Strife. Mydei doesn't want to become what Strife means for his people; he does not feel fit to be Strife's demigod because he understands that doing so will mean losing himself, a person who is fundamentally different from the Nikador of Amphoreus's current timeline.

So the game is simultaneously telling us that Mydei is a great parallel to Nikador and a terrible parallel to Nikador, and it achieves this interesting contradiction by deliberately examining Nikador's five core traits in comparison to Mydei, who both exemplifies those traits and defies them.

I can tell Phaidei is the most popular ship Hoyo's managed to push out in a good while because I'm suddenly seeing Phaidei tweets from people left and right that I've had blocked on twitter (or who've blocked me) for ages lol. Yaoi so good it even convinced all the straight-shipping Avenpaz-ers I pissed off months ago, I guess. 😂

Intrusive fandom Mydei thoughts aren't real. Intrusive fandom Mydei thoughts can't hurt yo--

"You know, to be honest, I've never seen a better candidate for mpreg. Like, dude doesn't even have to deal with labor. He'll just c-section himself and it won't even leave a scar. You can't even do a 'died in childbirth' angst plotline because dying in childbirth would probably just make things easier on him..."

My most important Phaidei headcanon is that Mydei is proud of his physique but only really from a warrior's standpoint--his form is an indication that he eats healthy, maintains his physical fitness, and cares for hygeine, but Mydei doesn't really register himself as especially attractive and isn't very aware of people in Okhema perceiving him as a sex symbol. (First, he grew up around the Kremnoan Detachment, and they looked at their prince Respectfully™. Second, Kremnoans just have different standards for dress; it wasn't remotely a sexual thing for men to walk around with their chests exposed in Kremnos.)

Phainon, on the other hand, is very aware of the effect Mydei has on the Okheman population and is working overtime to make sure Mydei doesn't figure out the real reason people are staring. Because if Mydei notices people aren't eying his muscles from envy of his battle prowess, he's going to get embarrassed, and then Mydei'll cover himself up, and that would be a crime against humanity.

(Phainon is doing a public service here, okay? He is simply safeguarding the prince's ability to practice Kremnos's sacred cultural traditions, obviously!)

*CRY* I thought Mydei's banner was available tonight (I am bad at math) so I made plans with my family for ALLLLL day tomorrow...

Quick, how do I ghost like fifteen cousins???

I wish Hoyo would carry their own ideas through sometimes...

I know everyone is really focused on Mydei's current predicament and misery, but I can't stop thinking about his past and how insane the first half of his life would have been, if you take the plot seriously.

Spoilers for Mydei's leaked character stories(!!) and voice lines, but:

Everyone on Twitter: Pi Day is for Phaidei!!

Me, the most pedantic person in the world: B-But their names are pronounced FAI-non and My-DEE... The ship name should be pronounced "FaiDee"?? 🤔

Although I'm inclined to pin the blame suggest that Cyrene seems like a probable focal point for the Amphoreus simulation loopy timey-wimey strangeness, the idea that all of this is just Phainon making up a story is both devastating and hilarious.

Just imagine him giggling and kicking his feet while scribbling frantically in his diary: "And then I'll meet a prince. Not just any prince, but a warrior prince with two-colored hair and golden lion eyes and huge tits and he will definitely be able to crush me with his thighs--"

Bullet list squeezed in the corner like:

I think that would depend on whether the writer wants to add angst or not! (And it sounds like you have a penchant for it! lol)

Realistically the lore does state that Mydei cannot scar because his wounds all heal perfectly, so yes, theoretically it wouldn't work? Very depressing.

But then again, I feel like if you're writing a fic and don't want the angst, you can come up with ways around it! Spoiler for leaked voice lines(!), but one of Mydei's voice lines could be taken to suggest that the red patterns on his body are actually blood etched into his skin. Since it's not his own blood--Mydei bleeds gold--this means it's theoretically possible to etch someone else's blood into Mydei's body...

Imagine Phainon's own blood-made mark in permanent gold under Mydei's skin instead. 👀

Or they could just get re-bonded every single day. That also sounds fun...

(Sorry for taking so long to answer this! There were so many messages it got squished between some really long ones.)

Personally I would like to see the trailblazer in the suit style that the Stellaron Hunters use for some missions. Like, we were a Stellaron Hunter too; we deserve some SH drip!

But other than that, I would also love to see the Elation path added to the game one day, so I would love to see the Trailblazer with a Masked Fools-style mask and fit! Aha is definitely my favorite aeon, so I couldn't resist a cool masked Trailblazer look...

I also think that the Trailblazer should get to wear different outfits by world. I can't find it right now but I saw a really pretty art of the Trailblazer in an Amphoreus-style outfit and like... Why can't we have a full outfit to go with our new weapons when we change paths???

HSR really needs more skins in general...

Hey all, just a quick heads up that I am going to close my inbox for a little bit. Really appreciate all the responses and questions and definitely want to take the time to answer them all, but uhhh...

I'm getting a little overwhelmed. 😂

Want to catch up and try to respond to some of the messages, especially those that have been waiting a really long time now, so taking a temporary pause.

If you've been waiting on a response from me for a while, I will try hard to get the messages answered soon!

Seeing people already trying the "Mydei and Phainon are BROTHERS" and "Devs aren't baiting!!" nonsense...

I wish the Phaidei/Myphai fandom would just not engage with those arguments at all. Trying to convince people like that using evidence makes it seem like their original points are even worth debating.

Collectively, we should all just say, "Damn, if my media literacy was this poor, I wouldn't let people waterboard that fact out of me" and walk away.

Ha ha well wanting to keep the character for yourself mighttttt influence things, yes. 😂

As for not seeing Phaidei, may I ask what language audio you play in? I play in Chinese, but I was recently watching a friend stream in English and I was genuinely shocked at Mydei's voice acting. No hate to the voice actor at all, because I think he has a very fine voice, but I feel like the voice director must have told him to like... sound pissed all the time. I was genuinely so confused listening to the lines because the delivery in Chinese seems completelyyyyy different in many places, and it feels to me that English Mydei has a more aggressive vibe in a lot of scenes. Maybe this affected your read of the characters a bit, if you play in English?

Love me some Xingyun, very cute ship. I was surprised by them adding the blush in the recent event! I think they were able to "get away with it" so to speak because the Traveler was there too; they can use the Traveler as their plausible deniability. But that scene was definitely grade A+ Xingyun bait, for real for real. (And the scene where Xingqiu said he'd have to run away to Chongyun's house and stay for weeks. I was like, "Sir, that's called eloping" lmao).

I fully respect your opinion on Renheng; "you ruined my life and I'm not over it" is definitely not a dynamic for everyone. My opinion is the dead opposite though, funnily enough; I love Renheng! ...But I tried to care about Yingxing/Dan Feng and I just have zero interest in it at all. I think I'm the only one in the entire fandom that prefers Renheng to Yingfeng lol. Enemies to lovers is my jam, although I can definitely see why not everyone likes it.

May your account be blessed with lots of Phainon to blow smooches to in the future!

Thank you very much for sending me a link! I will definitely read it tonight!