I chose the poolside as a place for TinnGun to open up and talk because it’s symbolism that Tinn is like water that always embraces and supports Gun, holding him and not letting him drown. – AU KORNPROM NIYOMSIL

Sylvain 🧡

1. I like him, even if he's by far my least favorite Blue Lion. I admittedly liked him far more in my Rorann/M!Byleth run than my Katrina/F!Byleth run (my goodness is that B support with Katrina horrid, Syl comes off so bad in that one). That said, I never saw his A support until said Katrina run, and it's a great apology for his behavior when he was younger. He's also one of the characters who most benefits from the timeskip, as it sobers him and lets him embrace the role of heir of Gautier in the way he always should have: as a way to change Faerghus.

2. My favorite ship for Sylvain is Sylgrid (daring today, aren't we?), but I do like Dorovain and Marivain (which should have happened in game, they work thematically together). You'd think I'd like Bernievain, but something just doesn't click for me. My favorite fic author is currently working on a Petravain fic, so that one will probably join the list, and maybe even surpass Sylgrid.

3. Felix. Sylvain may annoy him by being a skirt chaser, but that's been par for the course with them since they were kids. Unlike Dimitri and Ingrid (who IMO should not reconcile with Felix if Byleth isn't there to help them do so so I have no idea how Hopes manages to do this) Sylvain should always be able to stay friends with Felix regardless of route and game. No, their paired ending outside of AM does not exist, we all collectively hallucinated it 😭.

4. Dunno if this is unpopular, probably just a rare opinion, but Sylvain should always be friends with all the POC in Garreg Mach, including Claude (unless he's gunning for Ingrid, in which case he should LOATHE Claude if Claude is also interested in her). The fact that Sylvain supports Dedue despite being closer than most to victims of the Tragedy of Duscur shows how behind the facade exists a genuinely caring young man, and I think he'd extend that consideration to Cyril and Petra, and maybe Claude depending on other factors.

5. Apart from being able to marry Marianne (and getting over their shared Black Beast trauma together), I think Sylvain should get a bigger role in the Silver Snow route. That route is begging for bigger roles for cast members recruited from other houses considering the large Edie and Hubert shaped hole they leave in the story, and I don't like Seteth enough to have him be the main lord for the route. Having out of house recruits like Syl step up to help the traitor Beagles would help drive the story to unify Fodlan in a more natural way than that weird post-Grondor cutscene.