Application for Abraxas

[philancer]

OOC INFORMATION

Player Name: Rynn
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: chaneystarr@gmail, chaneystarr @ plurk, or PM this journal
Other Characters in Game: n/a

IC INFORMATION

Character Name: Sylvain Jose Gautier
Canon: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Canon Point: Just before the Battle of Gronder (Azure Moon, Ch. 17: Blood of the Eagle and Lion)
Age: 25
Background: Sylvain's Wiki Page

Arrival Scenario: Free Cities

Suitability:
Sylvain is no stranger to war, so being dropped into the middle of another looming conflict with three separate sides all vying for victory is, unfortunately, all too (ironically) familiar for him. It's practically Three Houses all over again, in fact. How he's going to take to this is something I'm going to have to see as it plays out because Sylvain is very passionate in general and while he prefers to avoid fighting if he can, he would fight for a cause he believes in. And if he does, he would leave a lot behind to support it with everything he has (as shown when he changes sides or is recruited by one of the other two factions in his own conflict back home). He was raised to be a knight, a lord, and a protector of the people and while he might treat those roles or the ideals they embody rather flippantly, he takes the "protector/defender" part of those identities seriously, despite his philandering ways. He's not afraid to fight, he just prefers to know what he's fighting for before committing himself, but if it's a cause he can support he can be deeply loyal and steadfast. How that will come into play with the unique blend of motives and politics in play in the game itself will be interesting to see.

While Sylvain only has a little experience and knowledge with magic, he at least is familiar with it, since many of his classmates and companions excelled in their pursuit of it and he's accustomed to adjusting his tactics around teammates with such abilities, as well as enemies aiming their spells in his direction. So while most of his interaction has been observing and avoiding it, he may take a deeper look at it now that his circumstances have changed. He never bothered with it before, as he felt adding more expectations onto the ones already weighing down his shoulders was more bother than it was worth, but he's shown to have a quick grasp and keen understanding of the workings of it when helping a fellow classmate understand complex magical theory, despite never having studied it himself.

Sylvain is often dismissed as shallow and a slack-off, more interested in skirt-chasing than dedicating himself to anything serious, but in fact, it's just been Sylvain's way of dealing with the position he's been forced into in his society since birth. He believes himself trapped and is coping with it as best as he knows how. To his benefit, he does take on that unwanted destiny with an optimistic and seemingly playful air that more than borders on indolent, but it's shown on multiple occasions to mask a quick mind, keen observation skills, and a tendency to bluntly cut right to the heart of the matter without getting distracted or diverted by any flashy disassembling or coy platitudes. How he will adapt his personality and outlook in a world where he's suddenly not defined by his name, his bloodline or his Crest will be an interesting thing to play out, because it's not a situation he's ever let himself imagine before. In some ways, despite his dislike of being conscripted into a conflict not his own, being dropped into this new world is practically a dream come true. A chance at the kind of life he only barely let himself dream of, even if he knew it was impossible.

And finally, at his heart, Sylvain is very much a people person. His years with his classmates and his Professor have softened some of that distance he always kept between himself and most of those around him. There were few he actually let get truly close to him when he was younger, but that has changed drastically in the years since he first came to the Officer's Academy. While he still knows there are a great many people out there too blinded by their own ambitions and greed, unwilling to look past the surface of anyone else, he's made a conscious effort not to be someone like that. And he's found he has a knack for seeing into the hearts of those around him, able to connect in ways and form friendships from both shared and contrasting experiences. He's stopped looking at everyone and assuming what they could get out of an interaction with him and just started enjoying the friendships and relationships that can form when he lets them. It's given him an appreciation of a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives he hadn't considered before and now, being surrounded by a much vaster array of people, that new dedication of knowing and understanding those around him can explore even more new avenues. When he lets himself, Sylvain can be an amazing listener and supportive friend and I'm looking forward to seeing how that manifests in the new connections he can make in this place and what new paths those connections may lead him down.

Powers:
Sylvain has been training to be a knight and a warrior all his life and has a range of experience in various weapons, hand-to-hand, and battle strategy and tactics, as well as a surprising understanding of magic. Although he's never pursued that course of study extensively, he has basic training in both Faith (healing) and Reason (offensive) magics. He excels at combat in teams or acting as support with fellow soldiers and is versatile and quick to adapt to unexpected circumstances.

He's coming in classed as a Paladin, meaning he prefers to fight mounted and with a lance, but he had training growing up classed as both a soldier and a cavalier. Which is the FE tactical way of saying he's trained in moving swiftly over longer distances, isn't slowed down by difficult terrain, has extensive practice with lance (mastery level), sword, and riding, and is adept at evading both ranged attacks (from archers, etc) and magical/spell attacks.

He also possesses the Crest of Gautier, an inheritance of his bloodline that allows him to wield the family relic, the Lance of Ruin. It occasionally also has the added effect of being able to increase his might/strength in a fight and the damage he creates when using certain attacks, although this isn't something he can control and seems to happen at random.

PERSONALITY QUESTIONS

Describe an important event in your character's life and how it impacted them.
This answer feels like cheating in a way, but if you want to pick the event that had the biggest impact on his everything, it was the discovery of his Crest. Which he, himself, would have been too young to remember happening but it shaped everything that was to follow for him and dictated so much of his life and his experiences. Being born into the noble House of Gautier, a Crest was a requirement to inherit the title and everything that came with it. Since House Gautier defended the northern border of Faerghus against the incursions of the warlike clans of Sreng, a Margrave with a Crest capable of wielding their ancient relic, the Lance of Ruin, was a necessity.

Sylvain's birth (and discovery of his possession of a minor crest in his bloodline) displaced his elder brother Miklan from his position and birthright, earning Sylvain the enduring resentment, jealousy, and hatred of his sibling. Sylvain recounts his brother abusing him badly while growing up, stating that Miklan even made several attempts on his life when he was a child. Despite this, Sylvain understands his brother's hatred, even going so far as to observe that "My mere existence stole everything from him" and "If Miklan had been the one born with the Crest, would my parents have still loved me or would they have discarded me as worthless, too?" Miklan is completely disinherited by the family when Sylvain is 17 and turns to lead a gang of bandits in spite, pillaging villages and wreaking havoc throughout Gautier and Faerghus. It leads to an eventual conflict between brothers that has a remorseless Miklan using the stolen Lance of Ruin without the protection of a Crest and transforming into a hideous monster. Sylvain is forced to slay the beast who was once his brother and ends up rewarded with the gift of the very lance that has always been his birthright.

He states that his parents doted on him and saw to it that his every want and need were met because of his Crest. Since Crest bloodlines are dwindling, it also meant he was in high demand when it came to marriage, especially since he's directly descended from one of the 10 Elites. He acknowledges that he has little choice but to be forced into an arranged marriage by his parents to continue that necessary bloodline. But rather than becoming spoiled by the attention, Sylvain in fact resents and hates his Crest, and the very idea of Crests in general. He states that "children are only accepted if they're born with one and the heads of noble families keep having kids until they get one with a Crest". He sees himself as a "trophy" at best and a "studhorse" at worst. He believes his Crest is the only reason people have any interest in him at all and states that "they don't love me, they love the potential rewards of loving me". One observation he makes is "I have no right to complain when I am surrounded by people who would give anything to bear a Crest but do not. Now women smile at me for the same reason my parents adored me...and my brother wanted me dead. And I have to meet them all with a smile and a wink because I have a Crest."

Which really brings to light his true feelings behind all his philandering and skirt chasing. He's not truly interested in the women at all, but seeing it as a game he's trapped into playing. He hates and disdains those who want to use him just to become nobility. It's a defense mechanism to instead use them, because if he controls the game, then he's less likely to be hurt by them if he does the hurting first. It seems almost compulsive on his end at points. Unlike Dorothea (who is flirting with an end goal of securing a marriage in mind), Sylvain just dabbles in it for the enjoyment of the chase or playing the game, because that's what's expected. He's never shown to be actually upset or remorseful when his dalliances end or fall through with the nameless girls he dabbles with, because none of them actually matter to him, as he believes he doesn't actually matter to them either.

His support with Byleth shows that he believes his entire worth was determined by his genetics, his Crest - not by any effort or achievement on his behalf. He spent his entire life being fawned over not because of who he was, his charms or his looks or his personality, his skills or his intellect - nothing that was actually him. His support conversations with Annette only back this up, when she shows surprise at his ability and natural aptitude for solving a complex magical equation and explaining it to her in a way that made sense. He conveys that he respects her for the effort she puts into the pursuit of her passions and acknowledges that he knows his habit of skating by will only get him so far. But it also reveals his understanding that he's been treated as "special" for so long that he actively portrays himself as more shallow and simple-minded than he actually is, just to avoid the weight of more expectations placed on him. The lower he keeps their expectations of him, the less he has to actually try.

It's interesting that in his support interactions with the other guys, it accentuates and shows more of his shallow, lazy, and womanizing side as his dominant personality, but it's his interactions with some of the female students around him that actually show less of this philandering and more of who he truly is and what his personality is when he's being genuine. Showing that he's truly looking for some real connections and relationships that see him for him and not just his Crest.

Does your character have a moral code, or other set of standards they try to live by?
I suppose this depends on what aspect of his life you're looking at. Most of the things his society would dictate as moral and worthwhile in his world - especially among the nobles - are things he despises with a vengeance. His disgust over the privileges and renown automatically given to a Crest bearer color many of his opinions and outlooks, as do those who go chasing after such things in greed and ambition, or those who resent and hate someone just because of some chance genetics.

But at his core, Sylvain has a very simple and straightforward way of looking at things. His approach is often "the simplest answer is often the correct one" and seems to believe that overthinking or obsessing over something just overcomplicates it. His conversations with Ashe, who is devoted to embodying the virtues and goodness of a perfect chivalrous knight, show his much-simplified view of what a knight should actually be. Obsessing over theoretical virtue and winning points for being "good" is useless; just be a good person and help whoever needs it, no matter their rank or position. The rest will follow naturally.

And despite his actions as a shallow womanizer (which, to be fair, he is very good at portraying himself as) he shows in several of his supports that he has a surprising amount of self-awareness and a tendency for deep introspection. He knows himself and what's more, he's adept at assessing his own mindset, why he is the way he is, why things are the way they are, and what to do about it if he wants to make a change or make it better. His conversations with Felix and Dorothea only emphasize this when he's confronted with his actions and the hurtful consequences they might have, and why he acts the way he does to those around him.

But despite a loose grasp of supposed "morality" (or at least a creatively interpreted one) Sylvain shows a deep loyalty and an easy willingness to help those around him. He urges Dimitri to step out of his shell and reach out to make new friendships for himself and loosen up a little. He sticks by Felix even when his friend rebuffs many attempts of protecting him and sticking by his side. He dismisses Dedue's concerns that being seen with him will somehow hurt Sylvain's reputation more and declares he doesn't care who misunderstands anything about him. He expresses support for Dedue and refutes the racist belief that the Duscans were at fault for the death of the king of Faerghus. One of the statements he makes that I like the most in this interaction is "A person can't be judged by the worst of their kind. Or where would any of us be?"

Whatever moral code Sylvain lives by, it's likely not as clearly defined as most of the "noble" knights of his kingdom and very likely painted in a lot of shades of grey. But it seems to work for him, giving him a mostly clear conscience when it comes to his own actions and decisions. At the very least, he's shown to be a person who follows his own advice and doesn't offer up platitudes for the sake of anyone else. He stands by what he says and does, no matter what others think (or misinterpret) about it.

What quality or qualities do they admire most?
It's hard to pick just one here because there are a few Sylvain expresses admiration and respect for over the course of some of his support conversations. He admires those that have discovered what they are passionate about and pursue that passion with their whole heart, putting all their effort into perfecting or achieving it. He admires those who have endured great hardships or injustices and can still come out smiling on the other side of it - or better/stronger for their experiences.

He expresses jealousy of Byleth in one of their early conversations because they grew up not knowing they had a Crest. He envied the freedom that granted them. But later, deepening conversations have him admiring Byleth greatly because despite having a unique and rare Crest of their own, they don't let it define them. Byleth seems to care very little about their Crest which, to someone like Sylvain, is a mind-boggling concept. He expresses that he wished he'd had the courage to try and escape when he was younger, leave behind House Gautier and anyone who knew he had a Crest, just to try living as himself. He apologizes for initially resenting Byleth for their freedom and thanks them for changing his perspective. "Before I met you, I'd gone my whole life not knowing there was another way for me to live. So from the bottom of my heart...I'm glad we met."

It's harder to define that as a quality to admire, but I definitely think it reshaped the way he saw a lot of things and his outlook going forward. Something and someone to aspire to be more like in his own life.

Do they have a part of themselves they dislike?
It seems pretty evident that underneath his casual flirtations and laidback indifference, Sylvain harbors a pretty deep sense of insecurity in its own right. It's more subtly implied than anything but it shows up in a few of his support conversations. The belief that he's nothing without his Crest, that he'd be no one had he been born without it. The only reason anyone gives him any attention is because of his genetics and inheritance. While he often brushes this off with a dismissive laugh or witty comment, the fact that it comes up at all hints pretty deeply that he worries those fears might actually be true or perhaps even believes it a little of himself - that the only worthwhile thing about him has nothing to do with him at all.

What's more, all the attention that's been showered on him since birth has just made him more cynical and scornful of this fact. It's shown in his lazy attitude regarding exerting himself with any real effort or applying himself to his studies or training, in his frequent deflection when anyone offers a genuine compliment in regards to his understated intelligence, his kind nature, or surprise at his intuitive understanding of the struggles and hardships of those around him. Then again, he's also the first to bring his personal failings and bad reputation front and center, as if to emphasize those prominent opinions are all there is to see here. And despite saying he has no care for other people's opinions of him, he's fully aware of just how bad his reputation is and the rumors that often float around about him. In one of his conversations with Dedue, he shares an accurate summary of them which ranges from "being terrible to girls, bringing terrible misfortune to anyone he dates, and how he's total trash and everyone should avoid him." He informs Dedue that "if I can't be respected, I can at least be well-informed" but when Dedue confesses he heard Sylvain described as "indefensibly worthless" even Sylvain admitted that particular one was harsh. Again, he brushes this off that he doesn't care what people think about him and that it's not easy to correct misunderstandings or change people's minds once they've made them up. But when Dedue states that he wishes people would see Sylvain as a person, as Sylvain has seen him as a person, Sylvain is the one to wistfully ponder if the world will ever see either of them that way.

There's likely a great deal about himself Sylvain doesn't like, things that he's always believed he "had" to be, rather than things he ever chose to be for himself. His many comments about being trapped in his fate point to his own feelings of helplessness and frustration. And the stark contrast in his interactions with many of the girls who become his close friends compared to how he treats those he believes are just after his Crest show two drastically different versions of Sylvain. But part of the interesting thing in his journey throughout the unfolding of the game is his discovery that there might be another way to be himself after all, and the chance to figure out who that truly is.

What is their sign, and why?
While at first I was really tempted to give him The Lovers because of his amorous reputation and his deep loyalty, I've instead decided on The Sun for him because at his core, this fits him far deeper. Despite having one of the darker backgrounds and perspectives on his fate, Sylvain still maintains a very cheerful and optimistic air, choosing instead to tackle life with a smile rather than let it crush him beneath its weight. He's always eager to step in and cheer someone up, ready to distract them from their troubles (or drag them into new troubles). And he is frequently accused of never taking things seriously or shirking in his training and duty, even though he is subtly far more on top of things than he ever lets on. I felt this Arcana depicted a much broader viewpoint of him and struck on more aspects of his core self than any of the other signs.

SAMPLES & ARRIVAL

Samples:
~ Sylvain's Top-level on the TDM
(Canon-centered threads specifically: Claude, Dimitri, Petra)
~ TDM Thread with Toko