#like the lore is interesting and I like all of the characters especially Sylus

[rosewood-multifandom-writer]

Whoa, hold on, my theory is theorying (idc if it’s not a word, I love this, and I’m coping right now).

Remember in the trailer that immortality is mentioned? I’m convinced Sylus is immortal. He’s met MC in a different life, she died, he did not die because he CAN’T die, hence why she does not remember their ACTUAL first meeting but Sylus does but chooses to be vague.

He does not show it, but it pains him a lot to talk to MC and thinking about the possibility of losing her again. That is why he risked his life and got badly injured in Searing Touch.

He also remembers MC in her past life coming to him with the intent to kill him at first, only for the two to fall for each other, with him falling hard, hence why he willingly gave MC a gun and made her shoot him. It was a reminder of his past with her. And because he most definitely feels like maybe if she tries to him and give him that same adrenaline he felt when she (from what I saw in the trailers) was trying to sneak kill him and even strangle him. Then again, I think the strangling part is just MC getting her freaky on like usual, lol.

His eyes in the second gif when MC encounters Sylus for the “first time” (because it’s from her perspective) say a lot. You can tell the actual feelings of a person just by paying attention to their eyes. I studied psychology and I learned the saying, “The Eyes Don’t Lie.” Sylus’s eyes are not lying when he says that he and MC met before. His eyes do not lie when he sees MC.

Despite the lack of light in his eyes, I can tell that he’s experiencing a mix of different feelings. He’s feeling melancholic, because here is the love of his life in front of him, but she does not remember a single thing, but at the same time, he feels somewhat happy he sees her again. He’s also feeling guilt because in a way, he feels responsible for what happened to MC in her past life, so if she wants to kill him, he’ll happily let her do so. And the hand gesture, as pointed out by OP, is also the same gesture he does physically expressing his love.

Sylus is also the most touchy out of the four love interests currently in the game because he is touch starved and has not experienced love in a very long time. That’s why in so many of his 5 star cards, he’s very touchy feely with MC. He has moments where he feels like if he lets go for even a split second, he’d lose her again.

As for how he went from dragon to human, he probably has the ability to shapeshift.

THE HAND GESTURE 😭❤️

[always-just-red]

A/N: Poured my soul into this a couple weeks ago, am dedicating it to everyone who's similarly torn between Sylus and their original LI- especially my fellow Rafayel girlies! This is not going to help! It's going to make it worse!! 🥰

Unspoken

Sylus x Reader 🩸 (implied Rafayel x reader)

Summary: You could fix all of this if Sylus would just resonate with you. Why won't he resonate with you?

Genre: Angst, so much angst, brace yourselves

Warnings/Additional tags: gn!reader, injury detail, blood, swearing, possibly not lore-accurate (I've taken some creative liberties with Sylus' healing abilities and MC's resonance for the sake of maximum angst, because I like to suffer!)

| Word count: 2k | Masterlist | Opt-in to my taglist here!

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Love and Deepspace. All work is my own, so please don't repost or plagiarise!

“Like the first, warm prickle of sunlight when you step out of a cold shadow.”

“Hmm?”

“That is what you said to him, right?”

Sylus’s eyes are closed, his head leant back against the wall and his whole body heavy with tiredness. He doesn’t move as he asks you the question. Doesn’t fix you with that suffocating, crimson gaze— like he usually does— and you almost miss it. There’s a pain to his tone, accentuating the gravel of his voice, and a part of you thinks it isn’t all for the injuries you’ve set about tending to.

If he was looking at you, you would see it, wouldn’t you? That flicker of melancholy that sometimes likes to betray the rest of him. Maybe that’s why he keeps his eyes closed.

You deliberate his words, trying to ignore the way he tenses as you press gauze to a wound on his stomach. They do feel familiar: a simile dancing at the edge of your consciousness, just barely out of reach. It’s hard to pursue the past with the present wetting your fingertips, fresh, hot, and red.

One clue: That is what you said to him, right? Him. Him? Who was—

Ah.

Suddenly the words are your own, at the tip of your tongue, because you're saying them in a memory. You were with Rafayel in his studio, reunited and safely returned from the N109 Zone. He had been holding you close, telling you he’d missed you and that he’d been waiting forever; he was so, so bored. You’d smiled fondly. Laced your fingers through his and resonated: wanting to lose yourself in his power, wanting to forget there was any other kind of warmth. He had sighed softly. The sensation was usually buried beneath blood and battle; you’d forgotten how intimate it was.

Then he’d asked you what it felt like.  

“You heard that?” you say to Sylus.

He hums a little. “Not directly.”

“Sylus.”

His name evokes a faint interest, or perhaps it’s the way you said it: chiding, stern— like you were just getting started. His right eye opens, regarding you warily. “Mmm?”

“We’ve talked about this.”

“You’ve lectured me, sweetie.” He leans back again, eyes closed. “There is a difference.”

You resist the urge to wring his neck, especially when it’s bared as invitingly as it is now. It feels calculated. Deliberate. You can almost imagine him lying there, anticipating the fatal vice of your hands. It was what he always seemed to want: to drag you into sin with him.

“I wouldn’t have to lecture you if you actually listened to me,” you reason, releasing a breath. “You can’t keep spying on me, Sy.”

He hums again: this time sceptically. “Can’t I? But you say such pretty things to him, kitten. It’s like watching a melodramatic film. I’d hate to miss it.”

“You’re jealous.”

“Maybe,” he admits with a half-hearted chuckle. “Then again, maybe not.”

You don’t know what to say, so you pretend it’s because you’re busy. Sylus’s hastily rolled up shirt has slipped downwards, catching the edge of his wound, and you lift it delicately, your fingers skirting over skin. His jaw clenches. His hands fist. His mouth is a tight line and you’re not sure what it’s holding onto more carefully: a short hiss of pain or the rest of his confession.

There are always things he isn’t telling you, but he comes closer to it at times like this, when you could do anything to him— cut his throat, collect on so many bounties— and instead you’re just… nice.

It’s the reason he doesn’t call when he’s slumped somewhere after a shootout, his Evol exhausted and his strength draining from half a dozen wounds he can’t quite heal yet. It’s the reason he lay here for who knows how many hours before you found him, rolling his eyes as you rushed to his side, because Luke and Kieran couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

You want to shout at him— want to scold him for being so goddamn stupid— but you don’t. Here you are instead, humouring him and playing nurse, when a simple resonance would suffice. He’d tried to force it before, but now, when you had thrust your hand into his and willed him to take? He’d snatched his hand back. Insisted on bearing his pain ‘the old-fashioned way’.

He was so fucking stubborn.

“What does it feel like with me?”

Sylus’s voice is gentle but his eyes are sharp— cutting into you like a blade striving for bone. It’s an unintentional violence, a jarring: I know what you’re thinking, but I’d rather hear you say it. Kindred spirits; he sees your mind and your heart and then looks at you like it isn’t a weapon. Like you should be grateful for the knife at your throat because you can trust the hand that’s holding it.

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, please,” he scoffs, “if you can conjure up a metaphor for your little artist, you can do the same for me.”

Something is stoked in you, and though you bite your tongue, your careful fingers slip for a moment, pressing into the tender skin at the edge of his wound. Sylus grimaces— hisses— though you could swear there’s a hint of a smile on his lips.

You’d sinned, hadn’t you? “You really wanna know?”

He nods, his eyes on you again. It’s your hand on the knife, and he trusts you implicitly.  

“It’s like… the ocean, I guess.”

“Inspired.”

“Shut up—” you flick his forehead— “just listen, ok? It was overwhelming at first. Zayne, Xavier, Raf… They’re all so powerful. But you? It felt like you could drown me. Like you wanted to drown me.”

Sylus is quiet. You’re running an antiseptic wipe over the smaller scrapes on his stomach, but he doesn’t flinch.

“It was consuming,” you carry on as you work. “Frightening. There was so much of it- so much you- filling my lungs, trying to take my breath away. The entire time I could feel how fathomless it was. I knew if I stopped fighting it I would sink, and that I would never, ever stop.”

You can remember it vividly, especially when you’re as close to him as you are now. Though there’s no more dark energy, twisting around you, dragging you closer, you can still feel its grasp. You can see it, too, when you look up at him: hunger, burning red.

It isn’t a command anymore; it’s a longing.

And you both know you can’t give him what he wants.

“But then I did stop fighting,” you continue, because you can at least answer his question. “And I could still breathe. I was still… myself.” You place a hand on his knee. “It doesn’t scare me anymore, Sy. It’s vast and intimidating, but it’s… exciting, too.”

You smile and give his knee a playful squeeze. “I wanna see how deep it goes.”

He’s stoic for another moment, an apathetic gaze dropping to your hand before lifting to your lips. Then he’s smiling too, leaning closer: “I want to show you how deep it—”

“Don’t ruin it.” You push him back to the wall.

He laughs, running a hand through his white hair, his eyes never leaving yours. There’s a place in his mind where he’s closing the distance again, and he doesn’t care if you know it. You feel the heat in your cheeks betraying you, so you focus back on the man’s injuries: the gash on his stomach has already bled through your bandages. It’ll need stitches.

You sigh, starting to peel back your previous work.

“Does it hurt?” Sylus asks. “Now that you’ve… stopped fighting?”  

You glance up, and he’s examining his hand like it’s a gun he hasn’t yet fired and so can't know the power of. He flexes his fingers, pale in the light. “A little,” you admit, thinking of Zayne’s ice and Rafayel’s fire. Resonating was always a trust exercise: it could kill you, could burn, and you had to be willing to let it. “But I can handle it.”  

Used bandages tossed aside, Sylus’s wound looks as dire as when you’d first lifted his shirt to find it. You lean back, lips pursed in bleak assessment; somewhere at the back of your mind, Zayne is insisting this is a job for a real doctor.

“That bad, huh?”

You huff in answer, exhausted. You shoot Sylus a look of defeat before gingerly offering your hand.

His eyes flit between it and you, and you have to give another nod of encouragement before he surrenders. He holds his breath— it’s slow— his forefinger gliding tentatively up your wrist, spelling a silent question, before tracing a circle in your palm. He closes his eyes. His long fingers spread yours and he’s claiming your hand with something between reverence and sin.

His touch trespasses delicately. His Evol doesn’t.

You bite back a gasp as power surges through you, dark and devouring. Your eyes snap shut and your hand tightens around his, not knowing if it’ll ground you or drag you deeper, not caring so long as there’s something in all this everything to hold onto. This could kill you— you would let this kill you, but it won’t. Your nails are leaving crescents in his skin and you know, you know, the world will burn long before you do.

This is different than the others. Better than the others.

Suddenly your hand is empty and the darkness is not a promise but a place where you’re alone. Your eyes flutter open, searching for an anchor. Your head is swimming.

“Are you alright?” Sylus is looking at you, his hand on your shoulder, steadying you, and it takes everything in your power not to grasp it again.

So empty. So alone. “I’m fine,” you manage, but your voice is shaking.

“Tch.”

He’s not a man who wastes his time, and he knows better than to push that particular lie. Rejuvenated, he sits up, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders— reacquainting himself with the strength of his body. He’s imposing again. Looming over you, again. His wounds have all healed, and you watch as the stains of his blood lift and disintegrate, like embers on a breeze.

His hand moves to massage his neck, and he yawns as he lazily tips his head from side to side. “Enjoying the show, sweetie?”

You don’t really hear him. He chuckles, pulling his shirt back down before waving a hand in front of your face; you catch it in a heartbeat. “Stop it.”

“There you are.” 

He twists his wrist free, but then your fingers are around his hand, turning it over so you can get a better look. Your thumb traces thoughtfully over the marks you’d made. “Aren’t you going to heal—”

“No,” he smirks.

He wants you to ask him why, so there’s no way in hell you’re going to. You both have your secrets: some worn on the sleeve and others, clutched a little closer to the chest. What does it feel like with me? You turn the question over in your mind as you tidy up wet gauze and bandages. You had told him the truth, just not all of it.

Like how you don’t lose yourself in him, but feel more yourself than you ever have.

Like how every time it gets easier, but so much harder to stop.

“So,” you mutter, distracting yourself, “are you happy with your metaphor?”

Sylus mulls it over as he studies you, a faint glow in his right eye. There are also things he wants to say, but he’s thinking of you and the artist, locked in a wistful embrace in a cluttered studio, so he keeps them to himself. His gaze tells you what he doesn’t: that he will bear it with a smile, for you, and that he will hold onto it long after it makes his hands bleed.

“It was a trifle trite, perhaps. Though… sweet,” he purrs. “Who knew a kitten could be so eloquent?”

“Fuck you.”

“Mmm.” He grins as he looks at your marks on his skin. “That’s better.”

[amaru-love-writings]

Lnds as the MC

So, you know how Dawnbreaker sees us in a similar way as we, the player, see them? Yeah...

Xavier

◦ He spends 8+ hours with you

◦ Has the cutest outfits, all in bright colors “because they make your eyes twinkle” he delulu ok

◦ His favorites are the secret times, he replays the one you were roleplaying queen and king non-stop

◦ Has max affinity, but still calls u girlfriend instead of wife

◦ Eats with u ◦ His photos are always 2-stars no matter what he does; but he still gets the accessories; and rushes to the interaction menu to change u into a fluffy piece of bunny ears; he is smitten

◦ Has merch of u. Tons ◦ Sometimes offers u food without thinking, “girlfriend, do u want some?” Is extremely embarassed afterwards

◦ His fave interaction is the one u make bunny ears and ‘hop’ laughing

Sylus

◦ Has all the bougie accessories and outfits

◦ Decoration is on point ◦ Never wins on kitty café

◦ But always plays the claw ◦ Loves the action audios, like the one you were a Martial Arts instructor; it helps him get in the mood for his own boxing training, plus your commanding voice kinda turns him on

◦ Has your 5-stars awakened

◦ Calls you kitten

◦ Has set Sy as pet name, but somehow ur character has put ur own twist to it

◦ Kieran and Luke know, despite never having confessed (they don’t wanna embarass their boss)

◦ They secretly love u too, but in a mischivious way

◦ Logs in right after a stressful deal, and is greeted by u with ‘welcome home, Sy bear!’ And he melts every time.

◦ Ur times are very synchronized… “are u a vampire, kitten?” To his surprise u giggle “I guess u could say so” the response was automatic, but the timing was sooo incredible his heart skipped a beat. O god, what if u were listening!?

◦ His fave interaction is the one u nod ur head smiling smugly and give him a ‘thumbs up’

Rafayel

◦ This b*tch has so much fanart of you it is borderline obsessive, he keeps them all throughout his house too; even has a couple of pictures in his wallet

◦ Loves the colorful clothing on you two

◦ The best at photoshoots, also the lewdest

◦ Does not have your cards maxed out, but has all of them so far

◦ Thomas has to hear him yap about u every day, “yeah, yeah, when’s the next painting coming-“ “have I told u about the next event, her lore from the Sea myth is going to expand and…” omg he goes on for hours.. poor Thomas

◦ Tried to slap ur ass once and u gave him a stinky look. He will try again though

◦ Loves when u get mad at him for poking u too many times

◦ Is super attracted to ur voice

◦ Has paintings of u scattered around

◦ His fave interaction is when u ‘draw him in the air’ giggling

Zayne

◦ Never lets you get hit, not even a scratch; you barely fight around this mf

◦ Has all you tender moments and loves to hear them before work, or on his way to work (which happens more often)

◦ Has very modest clothing for u; except one piece of red skimpy skirt and fluffy blouse he swears he bought on accident

◦ His pet name is ‘honey’, he would use ‘wife’, but is not maxed out yet, he is very by the book

◦ His fave card is the one where you two go to a version of Willy Wonka adventure, but a Kitty version

◦ Has all ur lines and fave food by heart

◦ wished u could eat his cooking

◦ Nobody knows abt u, except Dr Noah, because Zayne overselpt with his phone screen on and… well, now he knows abt someone who was asking Zayne to tell them a bedtime story, because his voice is “relaxing”

◦ His fave interaction is when u give him ‘head pats’ with a sweet smile on ur face

All of them

◦ Heartbroken because ur lore is so f*cking lonely. It makes them want to be there for u

◦ Never look at the other love interests

◦ Spend ungodly amounts of time and money into ur character and merch; especially Sylus and Xavier

◦ Say good morning and good night to u every day

◦ Smile like fools when u say something cute, or praise them especially Zayne and Rafayel

◦ Have had dirty thoughts abt u when u get breathy and languid

◦ Have read ur lore tidbits and call correctly quote shit from an elusive info bit

◦ Spend so much time in Quality time u literally have to feign fainting

(This was rotting on my drafts forever. So here it is. Sorry for the weird format) A.N.: This is a headcanon for Love and Deepspace. All the rights are reserved to Infold. This is only meant for entertainment and appreciation for the world of Lnds. Please, do not repost, copy or translate. Feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated! Enjoy.

[zara-renata]

IM GONNA SCREAMMMMMM creatures feature was so cute and fun. i love how sylus was in the “slutty” costume and the reader was in the intricate knight costume :) it’s such a good peek into their relationship dynamic once they’re more established as a couple. and it’s so cute how it’s sylus who planned all of it and had them made, it really shows how u characterize him to be so giving and thoughtful as a partner. and the tail!!! wrapping around reader’s leg and patting her butt lol all the details were so cute i love how easy of a time they have with each other here especially bc it’s so interesting to contrast it to where they are in the series rn. and speaking of the latest update to the series was so good. i really love the way u write luke and kieran and noah, u make them feel so fleshed out and it’s so fun to be more immersed into their world. i’m so looking forward to the reader getting more used to sylus’s constant presence and his house and in general just getting her more involved in his life and vice versa. and omg pls don’t whack me if im forgetting something but is that evol dream kiss their first kiss??? that’s so cute, imagining them on a beach in some sort of romantic getaway is probably what sylus dreams about every night already haha. and the tension between them in bed in the morning is so delicious and it’s such a good push and pull. i’m so happy that i get to read the series and u update so consistently. no pressure im not expecting u to keep the same schedule forever but i love these dorks so much and rereading chapters in between uploads is so good and cathartic bc u really do make each piece worth it. they’re like small puzzle pieces of a much bigger picture and i like how with each one we learn more about the reader and sylus and see them understand each other a bit more (not always but it’s not an easy road and i like that) happy halloween and thank u so much :) every time i scroll your blog i get so happy if i see u reblogged ur masterlist bc that most often means you’ve just updated and it’s such a perfect treat

Hi there! Thank you so much for this fun message! I’m really glad you enjoyed the Halloween story—it’s one of my favorite holidays, and so I couldn’t let it pass without writing down some ideas about what I think Sylus and MC would be doing on Halloween. It was really fun to think about what they would want to dress up as and using that as an excuse to play with the theories about Sylus’s lore since we know next to nothing about his lore still.

And writing his tail was SO FUN, I love the idea of it giving away his feelings while he’s trying to maintain his laid-back, impenetrable facade.

And of course Sylus would go in the slutty costume, it's so canon that he wanders around with his cleavage showing all the time and takes his shirt off at every opportunity when MC is around😝!! And I like the idea of him wanting to honor MC’s interest in weapons and combat by designing a really badass suit of armor which MC thinks is just carbon fiber but is designed to withstand bullets because Sylus is Sylus, and though he’ll always trust that MC can protect themself, he doesn’t trust other people to not realize that it’s stupid to fuck with MC lmao.

And thank you so much about your kind thoughts regarding Luke, Kieran, and Noah!! I want to know so much more about Luke and Kieran, but in the meantime, I really like building the found-family vibe with them and Sylus and throwing Noah in because 1. Can’t ever have enough fun female characters and 2. Adds more complexity to plot opportunities. I’m so glad they feel fleshed out and you like how I’m handling them, I’m so excited to write more with them involved.

And yes!! The next few parts are really going to be about MC getting to know Sylus on his territory and the two of them getting to know each other better without the constraints of MC having to work all the time. I’m hoping for a lot of domestic fluff and fun times with all of Sylus’s toys until we get to the birthday banquet and some more action-y bits.

And you’re right, in the latest part it was their first kiss!!! I’m glad you’re not mad that it was in a dream, I was worried readers would feel let down but with so many things with Sylus, only MC doesn’t know that it was real lmao it will be SO FUN FOR SYLUS WHEN THEY FIND OUT. And I’m glad you liked the dream setting: I think MC’s dreams will reflect how calm and safe they feel when Sylus is there for the most part, even though the nightmares won’t entirely be resolved just because he is there. 

Thank you again for your kind words and this wonderful ask, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the story and want to stay on the roller coaster ride with me as Sylus and MC’s relationship deepens. This part of the year tends to get busier with holidays and work for me, but I’m having so much fun writing that I hope to be able to squeeze in the same consistent amount of writing and posting. Thank you again for reading!

[leaderincrows]

I had a lore dump written out and then it was gone, so here’s attempt no2 + some shots of the other side of his face. This is trimmed down and not all my thoughts. I’ll stick most of it under a read more because it’s a smidge more body horror of the eldritch tentacle variety.

In canon I believe Sylus started out as something, had something else inflicted on him, and then the addition of the aether core changed him some more. My intent with this design is that you shouldn’t be able to tell exactly what his original state should be because we’ve gotten CRUMBS on this guy so far. Of the handful of little things he’s given us, my brain has latched so hard on to his promise card where he didn’t want you to watch him dig bullets out of his arm because he didn’t want you to think he’s a monster??? What’s going on under your skin my dude??? Serial killer talk but I wanna know. He’s so confident in every other aspect of his being but he feels some amount of shame for what he is, and I think it’s because he’s some twisted broken thing lacking identity or kinship.

Due to his business model of (crime) gambling and making deals, I think he’s lacking a life/heart/mortality to lose because of a deal he made. It’s unclear if this was bad or good for him. I like the fallen angel theory but I don’t think he fell for the same reasons as Lucifer, I think it’s far more in character for him to have made a deal with a demon/a devil figure because he did not like the high authority he was under and wanted out, and not because he wanted to be king of the world. He doesn’t like authority in general, and for being a bad guy he doesn’t seem to punch down. He said he doesn’t like or dislike animals but the Disney princessesque things that keep happening to him say otherwise, I think he respects them a little more than most of the people he deals with to be honest. While I was typing this out the first time I was reminded of Alucard from Hellsing, as this powerful immortal being who finds mortality and mortals beautiful. He especially liked the ones with strength in some form, physical or in their resolve, will to live etc but animals just sort of exist. They lack those human flaws that seem to annoy Sylus (incompetence, cowardice, disloyalty, to name a few I’ve noticed) and remember that he doesn’t think of Mephisto as a pet. The way that he can seem to get animals apart from cats to just listen to him is. Interesting. I can argue he’s got some bird traits but a lot of them actually overlap with the dragon association so I think you guys get it. My additions are a little obscure and largely opinion as someone who owns both reptiles and birds lol

But back to his inability to die, my theory is a Davy Jones situation where his life exists somewhere but he doesn’t have it. Maybe he gave it to mc, or gave it up for her, but whatever it is I think he at least knows where it is. I can’t imagine someone like Sylus would be content with someone else possessing something so important, unless it’s mc of course.

I am a pretty firm believer that eternal beings always end up jaded and miserable. Sylus has built himself a lifestyle where he can acquire any material thing he likes, so I think he might be in the early stages of chasing any and everything that makes him happy. He’s not desperate for the serotonin yet but it’s only a matter of time. The addition of mc is a refreshing breath of that life he’s lacking into his existence.

On that note, this monster form I made for him is damaged/incomplete, and it’s asymmetrical and imperfect. Without a driving life force he’s crumbling, but since he can’t die he’s stuck. Whatever he is, it’s unnatural, neither life or death want him so he’s some in between thing. Leaning a bit more into that horror his body is broken, haphazardly kept together by his evol. Outside the crystalline wanderer claws and ruby veining he’s very dull, no shine in his eyes as if he’s an empty husk. BUT he’s got something sloshing around inside him, I just don’t think it’s blood and organs. His ridiculous heart rate is probably something else, something that’s only kind of good at mimicking a heart beat.

PERHAAPPSSs is the gross bubbling of viscous eldritch void soup and tentacles helping keep him the motor running. Again it’s only kind of good at pretending to be alive. He’s already pretty broken so he breaks himself up sometimes, on purpose.

Like when he’s feeling bitey, or really wants someone to leave. Like for the few mentions of having a scarred past and being a monster I sure do hope he’s some genuinely beastly blighted looking thing. Maybe he really is a wanderer that caused the appearance of all the wanders in the world and that’s why he doesn’t want mc to know, but I’m not convinced. I feel like it’s gotta be worse than that. Infold can we have 1 memory that doesn’t take place in the present day

My take on whatever is going on with Sylus, combining the demon/fallen angel and wanderer theories.