( 🦘 ) : does your muse stop moving when they're hurt? do they push harder?
Sylvain's feelings and reactions to things greatly depend on the situation he's in and how genuine he is willing to be in accordance with that situation. So when it comes to being hurt, it depends on the hurt. A serious physical hurt will draw out his capacity for self-defense. She's been hurt many times and felt that she couldn't protect herself. At war, he won't hold back unless it will somehow benefit him to; See: in threads like mine with @/openness where she spares enemy soldiers to deliver a message and make a statement. Sylvain is tactical--He is not one to give people openings that he could have otherwise prevented. He pushes harder when he has to and when no other option stands in the way, but Sylvain does stop moving for the same reasons.
She wants people to think that she's lazy. Sometimes she pretends to be a coward. When he was younger, he took the abuse from his brother because he didn't want to hurt him back and he understood him, in that sad sort of way that didn't help either of them at all. But even when she stands still, she has a way to "win"--in whatever form that may take, even a literal loss--in mind. Sylvain will do what he has to and if that means fighting and taking other lives to keep his own, he'll do it. It's not something he's necessarily proud of... but she knows what she's good at.
( 🐻 ) : what pushes your muse from gentleness into something dangerous?
This is interesting to consider for Sylvain because I think the answer is almost paradoxical on his part. He loathes superiority complexes and finds them disgusting, especially when they're aimed at putting down others or used to ingratiate others to the person putting themself on a pedestal. At the same time, Sylvain knows he is someone who benefits in many ways from people putting him up on a similar pedestal and try as he might to step down from that through his bad behavior and laziness, he can't fully escape it or the possibility that people who don't know him might think he believes he deserves that kind of treatment. Especially since he's been hurt by it in incredibly personal ways.
He isn't one to shy away from calling people out for their shit either. And he won't mess around when it regards people he cares deeply about. Most of Sylvain's relationships are defined by conflict and misunderstandings and whether or not the friendship / partnership can survive that, so when other people try to bring insults or arguments, etc. to people that Sylvain values, she can get nasty and mean. Once Sylvain has come to understand someone, even if they don't get along well, he values that understanding. It means a lot to her, even if she's not being understood in return. He won't go easy on anyone who bases their opinions of someone on perceptions or rumors.
