Sweet Sunsets and Roses

As a psychiatrist, a lot of Vyn's appearances will involve some discussions of psychology and the mental health of other characters. But of course, doctors are not immune from mental illness themselves, and there also happens to be several references to Vyn's own concerning mental state.

One of the first introductions we receive of Dr. Richter from his character story mentions that, in spite of being someone "who always observed the volatile human emotions from the outside, Vyn never expected himself to become one with the same emotions." Which immediately leaves us with the implication that Vyn is someone who experiences "volatile human emotions".

This was one of the very first descriptions I had read in regards to Vyn, and for the longest time, I was left perplexed as to what kind of volatile emotions Vyn was supposedly experiencing. I figured perhaps it was nothing noteworthy initially, but on the contrary, they were in fact rather vague with their implications in a way that could be quickly missed.

Vyn has the tendency to speak in metaphors and riddles, which can make it a little confusing when it comes to understanding what he's trying to say. But not only does the way Vyn speaks tend to be metaphorical, but the writing itself can include metaphorical scenarios that actually pose as a direct reflection of Vyn.

An instance of this was in Vyn Richter's first sweet chapter SSR, "Hungering Desire". Towards the end of the card story, there is a kitten (who suspiciously matches Vyn's traits, with white fur and golden eyes) that Rosa comes back to the lake to check up on. The kitten is sick, and weakly resting by a rock. Rosa says something along the lines of "I heard animals will choose to hide themselves when their life is coming to an end, and welcome death on their own..." and she then quickly bundles the kitten that seems to have given up with her coat.

Vyn refutes this by saying that the cat stayed in the area in an attempt to survive, to which Rosa thinks "Then have you also made a lot of similar attempts in the past too...?" and imagines a young Vyn in Svart. Instead of questioning Vyn, Rosa rephrases her question to ask if the kitten knows the spot it chose to hide in wasn't the best for it. Vyn then says the kitten had no better choice, but it thankfully met Rosa in the end to avoid its cruel fate.

It becomes quite clear that this kitten is supposed to represent Vyn. A kitten who fought for survival and had no choice but to sit alone until it succumbed to death, up until Rosa comes in and saves the kitten.

This card story was also paired with the release of Vyn's first sweet chapter, which simultaneously makes another similar implication. Vyn has to treat a patient who nearly jumped from a building to commit suicide, but she does not comply with Vyn. Towards the end of the sweet chapter, the woman reveals to Rosa that her reluctance to work with Vyn had nothing to do with him personally, but because when speaking with him, she felt that Vyn spoke to her like he related too much to her own circumstances. Hearing this made Rosa panic, and hurriedly run to be by Vyn's side.

It can't be by any coincidence that these two instances were released at the same time, and they raise a red flag with the state of Vyn's mental health. Both stories implicate that Vyn himself has dealt with suicidal thoughts to some degree, and judging by Rosa's reactions, she seems to have come to that conclusion as well.

There's also a lot of other behaviors that Vyn has the tendency to exhibit in stories that key in he's not entirely mentally well.

Vyn is also rather self-destructive and anxious; he frequently fidgets, his palms get cold and clammy, and there have been a number of instances where Vyn's breathing was described as being uneven and erratic when he panics. He also doesn't seem to care whenever he's injured, refusing medical attention and accepting injuries without flinching or complaining. Not only that, but he has also intentionally harmed himself in game.

There were at least three occurrences I can think of where Vyn hurt himself knowingly out of guilt or in order to seek comfort and validation:

One of the more well-known instances was when Vyn pepper sprayed himself in the eyes because he was ashamed of his own actions towards Rosa, intentionally punishing himself.

In "Hungering Desire", Vyn had also expressed that he wished to get sick to experience being taken care of. As sweet as the sentiment was to desire Rosa's care, it really can't be said it was all that healthy of him to desire sickness for the sake of seeking comfort, especially when coupled with the implications of the kitten later on in the card story.

In Main Story Ch. 11 Part 2, Vyn exhibits self-destructive behavior yet again to a much more dangerous degree, going so far as to drinking tea that he knew was poisoned (by someone else) with insecticide after being called out by Rosa, having to get his stomach pumped at the hospital.

And most recently in the CN Server, we actually have an explicit story of Vyn being suicidal in The Last Dragonbreath, this card even making parallels to another card in Tears of Themis's present timeline. He's afraid of losing control and believes he should die, ultimately making Rosa kill him. Vyn also rips out his own dragon scales without much of a reaction, similar to how he behaves canonically with his injuries.

The parallel card in question is actually his Top-Up SSR, "Aromatic Dream". This card was quite possibly one of the most explicit instances where Vyn's suicidal ideation and thoughts show through. He experiences insomnia for a couple of days after dealing with a case where a friend of his killed himself after feeling as though he was losing control of himself, even though he seemed alright and was in a happy relationship. Vyn mentions his fear of going "mad" during his relationship with Rosa, revealing that his insomnia arose because he was afraid of repeating the same fate as his friend whose circumstances felt similar to his own (i.e. killing himself too).

All of these scenarios in game are just the ones that I have seen thus far, and it's entirely possible that there are more stories or that I might have missed any hints in earlier cards. They don't appear in the most explicit fashion, which can make it difficult to catch with everything else that happens in Vyn's stories, but it happens far too often to merely be coincidental.

Though Vyn expresses that he's gotten better after studying psychology himself, with the abusive environment he grew up in and the way he behaves in the present, it's not difficult to imagine how his mental health must have been from his child to teen years.