from @devilletting, hc request:
(for sylvain lol) what pet peeves does he have, if he has any? sylvain usually plays himself as Cool as a Cucumber but we know the truth
Sylvain hates pointless tradition. Sylvain hates righteous stubbornness. Sylvain hates meaningless sacrifice. Sylvain hates injustice. Not that he keeps any of that a secret--But those aren't exactly pet peeves. They're too big, right?
In his days at Garreg Mach, one of Sylvain's biggest pet peeves is the pretentious bigheadedness of some of his peers. He really doesn't believe at all in any kinds of superiority. Classmates who view themselves as above others for no other reason than their birth or their skill annoy the shit out of him. Sometimes he'd goad people into sparring with him just to shut them up. (Not that it made much of a material difference--Anyone could say it was his Crest that made him a better lancer than an opponent, that he was a natural and hadn't worked hard. Even if it wasn't true, he never tried to activate his Crest when practicing. And for a long time he threw half his fights just to seem more lazy.) Another of his pet peeves is connected to the Blue Lions; He hates when they can't move on from the past. He remembers times in childhood with his friends as fondly as he possibly can but wants so badly to get beyond that part of his life. They're somewhere new! They can be better than where they came from! But he often feels like none of the Lions have reached that same point and it's endlessly frustrating for him. It's not that Sylvain doesn't understand, hell, Miklan appears to haunt him like a living ghost so soon after they start classes at the monastery, but he does, despite it all, want to grow. He may not always show it or be motivated to work on it (depending on his circumstances), but he knows how his life will go after school ends: He'll return to Faerghus and eventually take up his father's title and his short stint of freedom will be over forever. Sylvain wants to make the most of it. It grinds his gears to watch everyone else, to his eyes, waste this bit of time they have.
He also hates when people chew gum really loudly but if he's the one doing it to annoy people then it's awesome. He also hates it when people are pushy with him about studying. It's always students or teachers that assume he doesn't care about class or doesn't try at all. They don't ask, they just make assumptions. Another thing that bothers him a lot.
Sylvain is really good at fumbling relationships and it's usually incredibly on purpose. However, some of his pet peeves in any kind of relationship are hero worship and people who don't listen. Yes, Sylvain is pretty terrible about being loyal to his partners and he knows it, so he doesn't exactly expect great treatment from the girls he tries to go out with, but if they hero worship anyone--him or otherwise--it's an immediate breakup / dismissal. He hates when people are put up on pedestals. He's seen it ruin people's lives for all of his own. He knows it's not really fair, that people want to believe in heroes and in being protected and in the only system they've ever known, but it still pisses him off. And when it comes to being listened to, Sylvain is actually pretty sensitive about being heard. He's used to being taken with only a quarter of the seriousness that others are and he knows it's because of the disposition he's taken up. This is just his personality! When people refuse to hear him out or interrupt him or put down his ideas, he has two reactions that he oscillates between--Sylvain is either going to talk the person's ear off until they regret ever speaking to him or he stops talking entirely, smiling all the while. The latter reaction is more obvious to people who know him well.
If nobody is going to hear him out, why bother? In the midst of the war, Sylvain knows when he needs to take action rather than rely on others to take his advice or hope they'll use their heads. He'll walk away and do what he thinks is right rather than stand around.
