#sylvaire

Okay so like,, I know I say this like every time I mention Sylvaire (or Tiana too for that matter) but like. I have seen the reading comprehension on this website and don't want it to be misconstrued and stuff. Also by writing it all down here maybe I'll be satisfied enough to stop feeling the need to explain it and can just point people to this post to know my intentions while writing him lmao. Like, Sylvaire as a character was written to somewhat represent my own abusers as a way for me to help process it, and I'm constantly paranoid that people will misread it as "characters are kind to this abuser throughout the beginning of the story because I the author condone his actions" and not "characters are kind to this abuser because he's very good at hiding his actions so people don't know he is one, and once people finally realize what he's done they all turn on him and he gets the justice that the author never got and is written this way specifically to help give them a bit of closure when they couldn't have it in real life"

But yeah like,, Sylvaire is absolutely irredeemable and I literally hate him so much, but like, the posts that I make that don't directly show that are sort of the point. Drawing him being an adorable nice little kid before he grew up into an abusive asshole is supposed to help show he CHOSE to be an abusive asshole, he wasn't raised to be one and it wasn't his "lycanthrope nature" (in fact both of his parents who were also lycanthropes were lovely and kind people so that throws that excuse right out the window), he started abusing people because he actively made the choice to hurt people for his own gain not just once but repeatedly. Any drawings of him being sweet with Kay and Vikki are supposed to show how good he is at manipulating people; he only started acting sweet so he could keep an eye on them and make sure they didn't find any evidence linking him to their kid's murder, and even when they got into a relationship it was one based on him manipulating them and making them blame themselves for his actions without them realizing he's doing it. Yeah it looks sweet to people who don't know what Sylvaire's intentions are, which is how it seems to Kay and Vikki because a major part of them being manipulated is them not knowing he's manipulating them. Like that's the whole point!! They and most others can't see through his bullshit because he's smart and charismatic and knows how to put on a nice act in front of people! He's only outright abusive to people who he knows he can keep silenced about it because if people know then his fake persona falls apart!

He claims he can't help how he acts and he blames it on his "tragic backstory" but we the audience are supposed to know that's horseshit because he had every option to get help and every chance to not be a shitty person and he had every opportunity to turn his life around and so many people offered him their help and support but he CHOSE not to do any of that because he knew that he could have more power over people if he hurt them and decided he wanted to abuse and extort people for riches and power and decided to repeatedly and happily take advantage of vulnerable people instead of working on bettering himself! And it's not even like turning his life around would be a sacrifice, his family are wealthy nobles, he explicitly DECIDES to hurt people because it makes him FEEL GOOD. That's what separates him from, say, Vicoros, who also had a horrible childhood and did a lot of shitty things because of it- the difference is that eventually he took a look at himself and decided "I'm not going to continue hurting people just because I'm hurt" and yeah he slips up sometimes because that happens, he still has issues with dealing with strong emotions through unhealthy means, he didn't just magically get better- but he made the choice to not actively hurt people when he didn't have to and he worked on bettering himself and finding ways to vent his anger issues in ways that don't directly cause other people harm whenever possible. Both of them have hurt people before, but one of them decided to stop the cycle of abuse as much as he could, while the other doubled down on it even when he had multiple options not to. And again, so so important to emphasize these were DECISIONS, not just things that happened. They CHOSE to do the things they did, for better or for worse.