Your characters often carry great sweetness, and Var is no exception. The mountain, both symbolically and literally, represents the point where social masks are no longer needed. It is also the place where one's true essence can emerge, overflowing with unresolved issues. Bora acts as a mirror to Var’s needs, reflecting his most frustrated and disconnected self. Paradoxically, his basic needs — safety and sustenance — had been relatively successfully met. However, in the absence of fulfillment, stemming from a condition misaligned with his values, passions, and purpose, all his energy turned against himself. Thus emerged the bitterness of failing to meet expectations imposed by something he did not choose.
Var feels he cannot be fully accepted or loved, and his potential is redirected into becoming the ideal machine: productive, strong, and independent. But Var, at his core, is kind, communicative, and naturally dependent. When this nature emerges, not consciously, but as a genuine blossoming, suffering becomes inevitable due to the lack of empathy, acceptance, and understanding. Even so, and with Bora as an unattainable ideal, Var’s instinct is to engage, to speak, to bring what is foreign closer. Even though his awareness tells him he cannot; even though his memory reminds him he should not; even though his mission forbids it, this genuine desire, connected to his essence, drives him to accept, even if he is not accepted, and to share, even when he is alone. In front of Bora, in his most authentic state, they are just two people trying to make something simple, but with profound social implications, work.
Bora forces Var to confront his pain and return to fundamental questions: “Who am I?” In the absence of answers, Bora demonstrates he is not limited by labels or expectations, and Var begins to become what he genuinely desires: something that requires neither permission nor conformity to labels. The crisis accompanies this transformation process, as Bora represents the central challenge of change: to accept a position and fight for it, even if he dislikes it. There was nowhere left to run or ways to deviate — only the choice to become something new or reinforce the identity he had built.
On the other hand, Bora saw in Var the embodiment of repressed desires, something that transcended his quiet nature. Var was not merely an affectionate being but an individual willing to adapt, given the opportunity to grow from his imperfections and limitations. These same limitations also haunted Bora, restricting his humanity and identity. However, Var, as a figure of power — the "hunter," the one who decides who lives and who dies — chose to understand. When he understood and had to choose again, he wished to be understood. And, in being understood, Bora made the decision for Var. Otherwise, he would have remained forever bound to the same chains. Thus, a misunderstood sacrifice and avoidable suffering transformed Var into something different. He ceased to be the hunter and became just a person living on the mountain.
There's an old song that I really like that reminded me of Var's dilemmas. Thank you very much for sharing your game, it was a nice experience.