rae 🐦‍⬛❄️🪐

So, if you haven't caught on already, all seven deadly sins are mentioned throughout this card.

I like to imagine the progression of the sins as the shape of an upward spiral that slowly grows in intensity. At the base of the spiral is pride, and we end with lust at the top. (Plsssss forgive me if any of this is worded wrong bc its the only way I can explain it 😭) This fits imo, because pride is the primordial sin (ty oomf @/ loreloe on ladstwt for helping me connect the dots) and the other six derive from it.

But here's the thing, this works. And honestly, it works pretty damn well.

What I find incredibly satisfying about the inclusion of the seven sins is that the exploration of them through MC's desires doesn't feel "sinful." Not once is she made to feel bad for her desires, because they are a part of her and should be accepted rather than immediately demonized like I have seen countless times with female main characters in other stories, especially romance stories that have similar themes.

Sylus is encouraging her to indulge because he wants her to gain a deeper understanding of her desires, which will allow her to understand herself more. MC experiences plenty of messy and complicated emotions as she's dealing with the results of suppressing her biggest desire in this card (before the kindled lol), which is revenge.

I'm assuming that because her aether core is in her heart, its dissatisfaction greatly affects her mood. And yay for messy emotions. Her life is insane, and I would love to see her snap more.

Sylus just lets her feel them and process them at her own pace—one of the many reasons why I find his character and his dynamic with MC so fucking refreshing.

Also, after giving it some extra thought and talking to some of my closer mutuals in the fandom space, it's looking like the seven virtues are also hinted at in this card. I will admit that I have my own interpretation of chastity/purity as it pertains to SylusMC, (kinda like how plenty of people have different interpretations of the sins and virtues) but it does look like there are solid examples in Darkbound Souls. Yes, MC's wounded pride keeps her in that city, but it can also be diligence. Wrath brings her face-to-face with Graymist, but temperance is why she's able to feel satisfied with her method of taking revenge without going all the way and committing murder.

The virtues aren't added as a way to compensate for the sins, because that is far too basic, and SylusMC's dynamic is far more layered and complex than, "Sin bad virtue good." Blah blah blah. They're there for balance. They already exist within both of them. Mirrors. Kindred spirits. Anything that these two see in each other is something that they've already recognized in themselves. The biggest takeaway from Darkbound Souls is that the exploration of your desire isn't sinful. There is no way that you can reach a full understanding of yourself if you are constantly suppressing your desires and trying to ignore that they exists. It is something that is a part of you, and sometimes you're going to have to get dirty to expose the root of it, then decide how you want to handle it.

As for MC, the process of acknowledging and satisfying her desires will be a lot for her to get used to, and it will sometimes require her to temporarily step away from the rules and restrictions she is bound to in order to perceive the full scope of them. That's where Sylus comes in. He is someone who has plenty of experience with desire, especially desire that is fueled by an aether core. Does he want her to join Onychinus at one point? Yes. Is he really beginning to lean into his fiendish side by whispering temptations over her shoulder? Yes (and it's so fucking hot.) But what he really wants is for MC to just fully confront her desires without hesitation and fear, and he will provide that safe space for her to do just that. Him removing the fear of consequence as she's in front of graymist so she can think cleary is perfect, and him respecting her choice to not kill graymist is even more perfect.

Just like her in this card, he expressed a clear limit and exercised restraint in Shared Bliss. "I don't give it (the aether core) what it wants all the time." He denies his aether core sometimes because not only does he want to protect the ones he cares about, he also wants to maintain his autonomy. If the core's desires are constantly being prioritized and indulged, how will he know what his own desire feels like? In what way does that feel free? So, of course he understands and doesn't judge her. Neither of them judge each other, and that's so lovely. With that being said, I don't see him leading her down a reckless and even violent path of overindulgence. As she continues exploring desire in future cards, she'll find that difference between satisfying desire and being enslaved by it all on her own. (And she'll answer her own question!) Sylus will give little hints and nudges, but he will mostly sit back and allow MC to figure out her limits and which desires she will satisfy.

I think what he wants is for her to get to a point where she can confidently say that desire is hers to command, just like he did. I think. Emphasis on think. Anything can happen in the current timeline, especially with their aether cores getting hungrier. We all remember how Sylus struggled with hunger when she absorbed the Spatium Core in death and rebirth. Future cards and main story is about go get interesting.