This Weird Thing Called 'Home' ā Sylus' Roots & His Sense of Belonging (2)
FROM THE MOMENT WEāRE BORNā¦
"It was the last time Maman saw her father: beneath the durians, which the Vietnamese call sįŗ§u riĆŖng. Until that day, she had never thought about the name formed by those two words, which means literally āpersonal sorrows.ā One forgets perhaps that those sorrows, like their flesh, are sealed hermetically into compartments under a carapace bristling with thorns."
A good character design immediately communicates a handful of feelings and compels us to associate what we see with certain tropes. My long-time readers and online friends know that, despite its negative connotation, I use the word ātropeā in the most neutral sense. Because it is nothing but a narrative tool, and itās up to the creator how to implement it and what purpose it serves within the structure.
In that regard, Sylus represents the ārich, bad boyā archetype in the group. Heās a tall, imposing man, with glaring red eyes and a disarming gaze. When they meet for the first time, sheās first saved, then kidnapped by him and the two masked henchmen of his. She was unconscious for three whole days and then was forced to resonate with him, where at some point, Sylus even suggested scaring her by releasing THIS thing on her.
I just know sheād have gone viral if she ever took part in a worst first date interview. I just know it...
And with limited backstory or information, simply going off on the visual cues, Sylusā reaction to MC failing to resonate with him can only be read as angry, and he seems rather impatient, but I didnāt understand why he felt that way.
In Captivating Momentās 3rd chapter when, you know, MC and Sylus spar, then she takes a shower, finds a second set of clothes she wore that day prepared for her, and asks Sylus how he's found the time to do this. He responds with:
I wondered why a man of his caliber, and judging from the first main story arc, a man who thrives off of negotiations, mind games, and can foresee so many steps ahead, would get angry or impatient. Like, he even says on the main screen:
"Instead of controlling people i rather have the situation in the palm of my hand."
I was suspicious, but didnāt dwell on it for long at the time. Now that Iāve replayed the main story and have more of an understanding of his character as well as his past timelines, I can read his emotions for what they are; he was deeply frustrated, desperate and in pain. Before you go āGet to the point,ā and feed me to the Wanderers, because what the heck his being angry or frustrated have to do with his house, i ask you toā¦ trust the process, it will be related.
While I cannot say he āneverā said it, I could like find one instance he did, he almost never refers to the place heās staying with the twins and Mephy as āhomeā. Itās a base for Onychinus first and foremost, as in a military base. He does sometimes use the word āplaceā, though maybe up until the very recent cards where MC and Sylus are now an item, I donāt really remember him using the words home or house to refer to his place. He just refers to it as base.
It is revealed that he has so many armories or owns residences, in Captivating Moment, they first stay at a presidential suite that seems to be permanently available to him as one of the many places he stays at. And the suite must have looked so homely because the first question MC asks is āDonāt you live in the base?ā. So Sylusā response
And the suite having everything that Sylus cherishes, from boxing, to gaming, karaoke room, a separate room full of records and his antique instrument collection etc. further proves that this is truly a residence rather than a random expensive hotel room. It is also interesting that, as the player, we donāt have a full, concrete idea of the totality of the places he owns. The most fleshed out one is the base, but even that is rather vague, especially architectural plan-wise.
Beyond Cloudfall, the dragon myth, is chronologically the first story where we truly get into his sense of āhomeā, or lack thereof. To refresh your memory, in the second chapter when Sylus first brings MC to a different cave than the one they met when she was thrown into the Abyss, her first question is:
She's pulling the "Damn, you live like this?" card in every timeline lol.
But she assumes that because there are no blood stains around and itās better lit, so that must be the case. To which Sylus replies with:
His tone is neither sarcastic nor scornful or vulnerable, but it isnāt posed as a question that awaits an answer either. While we canāt really talk about a dwelling of sorts when it comes to dragons, they do have a place they exist, a place that is ātheirsā, which is the valley and the surrounding mountains with caves in Tarus City. Yet, it would be a stretch to call the cave Sylusā āhomeā.
Then we have Crimson Spirit, the fiend/vampire myth, where Sylus is summoned to MCās world from his āhomeā, the Underworld.
Throughout their timelines we will see role reversals like this between Sylus and MC; for example, in Beyond Cloudfall, it was MC who was forcibly removed from her home and thrown into Sylusā world, and now itās the opposite. Here, Sylusā relationship with the castle he lives in is yet again complicated, but compared to when he was a dragon, I'd argue itās in a better place. He does call this castle home, which can be seen as a progress, but it only feels that way because of the pipe organ.
I will get into this detail a bit more later on, but we know that Sylus came into this timeline with a melody in mind but had no recollection of where heād heard it. Though we know that itās the requiem MC sang for him to bless his death. It was the first object that felt familiar to him, hence he latched onto the castle as his home but he still isnāt as attached to the castle as he is to MC.
We have bits of info on MCās relationship with home as well. Previously, she was also conflicted when it came to Ivory Tower, but still reminisced about it fondly, at least partially. In Crimson Spirit, the manor she lives in as a countess is more like a āfakeā home, itās a facade with a forged lineage. Maybe you remember the portraits of her mother, grandmother, great grandmother and they're all based on her because she has no family or roots to speak of. Itās simply a place where she uses to conduct research on Sacredcore. So itās not like she thinks of this place as home; on the contrary, she keeps repeating that she isnāt a being thatās supposed to exist, that sheās an anomaly.
Both of these myths include a section in the narrative where Sylus and MC experience a ādomestic and happyā period or at least dream of it, because Iām still not convinced that they actually happened but maybe remained as their wish, but that's beyond the scope of this part so I'll leave it at this.
So, why are Sylusā feelings complicated when it comes to home and belonging? How does this complexity shape his character and relationship with MC?
Intro // Chapter 1 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 (Tarus City / The Underworld / N109 Zone / Khaosi) // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6
Note: If youād like to watch the video version:
