Family bonding

Screenshots of my favourite moments from Re:Zero Arc 5:

Julius: Hey Subaru, it’s been a while. Heard you became a real knight, congrats. Subaru: What a fake-ass response. Tell me how you really feel, Idiot.

It’s been a whole year and Subaru hasn’t gotten off the Julius hate train ONCE.

(Man enters room) (Whole room goes quiet) Subaru: Well who the hell is this guy? He’s totally killing the mood.

Subaru’s trend of terrible first impressions going strong.

I mean, I’ve been on Re: Zero tumblr. I’ve seen the “supple hips” screenshot. But getting to experience “supple hips” for myself was a wonderful experience. 10/10 can’t wait for Arc 5 to get animated so everyone can see Subaru admire Julius’s supple hips.

Also the fact that this happens right after Julius just thanked Subaru for being rude to his boss makes this even funnier.

Ley: I’m the Archbishop of Gluttony, I’m gonna eatchu Otto: Um- Um- Um- Counterpoint - Water Dragons! Water Dragons: [Water Dragons] Ley: What the- (Gets Water Dragon’ed)

“The average Re:Zero Arc contains 6 divorces” is actually just a statistical error. Re: Zero Arc 5, which contains over 50 divorces, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

I don’t know, something about using an evil power meant for killing to save the person you love by crushing the evil heart that’s directly linked to your loved one’s heart feels romantic. Or maybe it’s just me.

And then Emilia says she trusts “both of them” which means she recognizes that it’s Guese’s power that he’s using it to save her just like when Guese tried to save her and Fortuna back then that’s so sweet-

But you know, maybe it’s just me.

This is the funniest moment in the whole arc. Just… the image of Julius sidestepping Subaru’s spit and then immediately going into a bow is so funny to me. Who does that? Julius Juukulius, apparently.

Anyways, off to read Arc 6 now. All I know about it is that Subaru gets amnesia, there’s an IF route during this arc where Subaru becomes a serial killer, the gluttony siblings show up again, there’s a girl named Shuala, and Subaru and Julius get called boyfriends. I’ve got high hopes.

what is your opinion on the fact that tappei intended us to hate reinhard for killing theresia

hello!! :o im not sure if tappei really Intended for us to hate reinhard for that per say—i think more so tappei intends to show the astrea drama in general in a very nuanced manner (unless he proves me wrong and does weird stuff to develop them later on wjfnd but ill stand by this atm because theres a lot of textual evidence i think!!)

the arc 5 astrea drama is the very first time we learn about Any of that, and the way we learn it is interesting. this is AFTER getting attached to reinhard and wilhelm, who prior to arc 5 were established to be good well meaning and respectable people. then heinkel comes in claiming they both did shitty stuff, and of course heinkel makes the worst impression of all time, is shitty himself, AND interrupted wilhelm and reinhards reunion, so we’re not inclined to side with heinkel here. but the more we learn about the astrea family conflict, the more we realize, alongside subaru, that 1. wilhelm is not as great as he seems to be (its like learning that a close family member or friend has done some terrible stuff!! the common reaction to it is to feel Disappointed or Sad or maybe a little angry!!) and subaru also learns that 2. the entire situation is not black and white. it takes a heavy emotional toll on wilhelm, heinkel, and reinhard.

it’s also interesting that we dont Always learn info about it directly from the family members themselves—theresias dead of course and doesnt say much when she briefly comes back (more on this later), reinhard becomes more subdued around his family (which has gotta be a trauma response in an attempt to minimize the conflict), heinkel and wilhelm are unreliable narrators driven by their emotions. we learn some of the bulk of the drama from JULIUS, an outsider, but someone with ties to reinhard personally and the knights. so we’re also getting unreliable info about someone like heinkel (whos got a reputation thats honestly shittier than even his behavior, which i pity him for), and someone like reinhard is extremely hard to read (we just know that hes. you know. Traumatized. and Sad.)

i DO think though that throughout all of this we’re supposed to sympathize with EVERY astrea family member. every single one. we’re meant to understand each of their actions, because they all contribute to the family dysfunction unwillingly or consciously.

we’re given the reasoning behind almost all of their actions in the conflict. wilhelm lashed out because of grief, and hes spent years regretting what he did and not knowing how to fix things. heinkel’s an alcoholic from stress, trauma, and self-hatred, and post-arc 5 we see more of his psyche (which is shown in a very honest sympathetic light as well, hinting at heinkel getting future development and most likely a redemption arc). heinkel then lashes out (which is a Sad pattern in this family given wilhelm also does that... and its implied that heinkel is also like this Because of wilhelm's influence) to deal with all of this too (and because he Genuinely thinks those things now. hes a sad bitter man). we also know from side stories that heinkel used to be a good man who truly loved reinhard, and we do know that heinkel still loves louanna and has spent YEARS searching for a cure. as for reinhard, he was a CHILD (five when it first started!!) throughout almost all of this conflict, and hes the youngest member of his family and still young even as he’s grown up now. and he certainly didnt Intend to kill his own grandma when he was five, and he definitely deals with the guilt of all that years later. he shuts down around his family in the present, for one. and two—reinhard was failed by his family members, who have been ADULTS for the entire conflict and are his father and grandfather respectively. if anything, reinhard has the least blame here. he was a child!! a child thats been conditioned into serving the kingdom at All Costs to himself!! heinkel and wilhelms grief is understandable but it should not cost them their literal child!! they were the ones with the responsibility to pull themselves together and they failed to do that!!

but then reinhard kills theresia.

the thing with reinhard killing theresia is that reinhard was very much not wrong for that. tappei takes the time to show corpse soldier theresia going after heinkel and wilhelm—both of which are too weak in this moment physically and emotionally to stop theresia, WHO IS THEIR MOTHER AND WIFE RESPECTIVELY. and iirc wilhelm was also injured by her. heinkel pisses himself in fear while begging for her to stop—or something along those lines. its Terrifying. and it shows theresia, as she was in that moment, is a threat!! what else was reinhard going to do?? if he doesnt apprehend theresia, shes going to kill the rest of their family T^T

yeah so. reinhard kills theresia. afterwards, heinkel and wilhelm give reinhard shit for it but again, they were going to DIE if reinhard hadnt stepped in. and its clear that reinhard is saddened by what he had to do, even as he says that the corpse soldier theresia ISNT THERESIA. and reinhard is technically kind of right!! that was a corpse soldier!! she was both theresia (her last words to wilhelm are proof of this) and Not Theresia (she already died years ago!! this was a reanimated corpse!!).

its wilhelm and heinkel that misinterpret reinhard’s demeanor as him Not Caring. because he does care, but reinhard has always had an uncanny personality—likely partly because of trauma (remember how i said he shuts down a bit around his family? common trauma response) and partly because of reinhard’s endless divine protections giving him a very. Unique. perspective on everything. so reinhard has difficulty with connecting with others because of all of that. hes Really hard to read, especially in a complicated situation like this where its basically a lose-lose for everyone involved. wilhelm and heinkel are blinded by their grief and fear and anger and because reinhard 1. killed theresia, 2. said that that Wasnt Theresia, and 3. said he didnt regret killing theresia and 4. said that he did the right thing (which is probably because, again, what else could he do, theresia was going to kill heinkel and wilhelm)... yeah so wilhelm and heinkel read reinhard as being cold and unfeeling and callous so they both completely give up on reinhard in this moment. the coffin is. metaphorically and literally closed here, reinhard killing theresia (again. for the second time. if youre heinkel and wilhelm) was the very last nail.

and ultimately like. again, tappei gives us All the narrative tools to understand each member of the astrea family in this conflict. tappei also even notes the detail (iirc. in like a qna somewhere. if someone can find it or whatever please feel free to add!!) of theresia, on her death bed in arc 5, had nothing to say to reinhard and heinkel. its kind of. weird. when she makes SURE that wilhelm knows that she loves him but she doesnt even bother with her son and grandson - and heinkel does note that she looked at them "hatefully" (which. heinkel is an unreliable narrator, but its interesting for tappei to include that detail because heinkel also goes "she looked at us like That, who else could that be but mother?"). so uh. astrea family dynamics are complicated, have likely always been complicated even before everything went wrong with them, and tappei also gives us theresias full backstory in her pov in arc 5. AND he shows that the corpse soldier was still. Theresia. in the end. its extremely complicated. tappei takes the time to show that with every detail.

so anyway. yeah i feel like we're meant to sympathize with everyone in the astrea family. theyre all people with their own flaws, theyve all contributed in some way to the conflict whether they like it or not, they all have various degrees of blame, if you really want to go into whos the Most Guilty for all the dysfunction. even poor louanna contributed indirectly via falling into a coma T^T

but i dont think tappei means for us to like hate any of them. just because tappei Always shows how complicated the situation is. tappei is Always sympathetic to all astrea members as much as tappei also often calls them out for their flaws (heinkel is the most obvious example, tappei also does it with theresia and wilhelm a bit, and reinhard is shown to be a bit stilted in social situations with a habit of stomping on other peoples boundaries sometimes without realizing or because he thinks its for the other persons good, etc). and as much as i love making jokes at wilhelms expense because he did fuck up quite a Lot with his family (same with heinkel... and im a little sus of theresia but she Did care about heinkel in the past, we know that from her named chapter)...

like. i can understand where someone like wilhelm is coming from. do i hate him for lashing out at his five year old grandson and helping turn his son against his grandson? oh yeah. yeah. but i can Understand why he did it and i feel bad for him, which i think was more so tappei's goal here. so the audience can hate any of these characters if you so feel like it, but tappei means for us to deeply deeply get where they're coming from and why they did what they did. so maybe its more so that we're not supposed to hate these characters, maybe we're just supposed to hate Their Actions and wish that things didnt turn out that way. because it couldve been better at any turn - wilhelm couldve just not lashed out and blamed reinhard when he was five, heinkel couldve also pulled himself together, louanna didnt have to go into a coma, theresia didnt have to die twice, etc etc. but thats the point of it all i think. it turned for the worse but all we can do is try to think about How it turned out this way. and i pity all of them, really.

plus, reinhard, wilhelm, heinkel are 1000% getting some kind of further development with this, i'd say. and rezero is Repeatedly about forgiveness and growth, so yeah. i absolutely dont think we're supposed to fully hate any of them. if anything, im rooting for their growth before its. you know. Too Late. but yeah thats just my extremely long opinion/feelings on all of this, people are totally free to disagree of course :o !! hope that answers your question though!!

Subaru and Heinkel: two contendors for the title of Tappei's Webkinz Milk Cat

Just really like Groovy Gumlet

Other than the fact his name is that and he's cute with an outie, he just cares a lot and is actually very personable and isn't so prideful to not admit when he needs help

In the EX Novel 4, he got angry with the knights because he thought they killed Balleroy, and wasn't afraid to admit Balleroy was one of his friends. He, along the lines of this, goes "F*** you, you're worried for your friend? How do you think I feel when you killed one of mine?!"

He befriended Moguro after accidentally thinking he was an inanimate hunk of metal, and doesn't mind his mechanical way of talk ("Groovy, run, outmatched." for example, to say they should run, and he probably won't misunderstand it)

In arc 8, when he's cornered and about to die from not eating or drinking anything for days, one of his worries is if any of his subordinates survived. He hoped it'd be the case. And this was in the middle of being surrounded by a bunch of zombies, so it lagged his reaction

"At the very least, it'd be nice if some of his subordinates survived." Or something along those lines

And right before that, he thought of his second-in-command. I was thinking that Groovy feels lonely without anyone, fending for himself like this. Even if his circumstances suck, it'd be better if he had someone on his side

Plus, he's a hyena demihuman. Hyenas are extremely social animals, and have complex hierarchies, so him being a general with his own army is just perfect for him

He's not afraid of stating his opinions of people, like when he said Balleroy was a bit flashy and too friendly, but still a good guy

And he goes to Chisha for help in dealing with Cecilus, just to complain and scream on his couch

And he's an optimist! He hopes Chisha can control Cecilus, he hopes he and Moguro can handle Reinhard if they get some help, the entire time he's being chased, he's hoping for other things like a breather and food.. that sounds more like desperation, but it's also narrated as a

"small breather would be somewhat helpful.

Having faith in that, he ran, ran, and ran――"

He's clinging to nice little things, even as he's being chased, because wouldn't that be nice to have?

When he smelled living people, he really ran in shouting and hoping for their help to fend off the zombies together too. But before he did, he was afraid of dragging them into his problems, because even in his pushed-to-the-brink state, he didn't want to endanger anyone.

He didn't think of using them as a diversion or anything. He's actually really nice.

If the life he smelled could fight, he'd hope for assistance, and if not, maybe he could get something in his system with the smallest reprieve. He didn't think that the people would be dangerous to him, or attack him immediately; which they did.

And when he just got two drunkards, he got angry because why are they doing this? Why are they the only ones alive now, and they're like this? But angry as he was, and exhausted, he still only passed out when in the company of others. Maybe it was from the long strain, or he finally relaxed even a little bit to be around others (even if those "others" contemplated killing him)

Happy birthday Rein!!! Hopefully the world starts being nicer to u this year </3

(alternate expression and color scheme under the cut)

A loop where Subaru has to save Heinkel's life would be hilarious not because of Subaru struggling with wanting to save him (mostly because it wouldn't be a struggle at all - he'd very much immediately agree to save him no questions asked), but because he'd struggle getting everyone else to want to help because this is Heinkel Von Astrea - world's worst™ coworker and the same man who they all know chose holding a dragon king candidate at swordpoint over actually doing his damn job. Half of the negotiations would be having to convince the rest not to off the man themselves

Going insane over the Astreas again. Wilhelm who wanted to be a sword because the sword was all he had being forced into being human by the people around him, and finding his reason to even so hold onto the sword in protecting Theresia. Heinkel trying so hard to even just understand what being a sword means but being unable to, then finding a reason to hold it even so to protect Louanna and Reinhardt, and then losing sight of even that reason but still not letting go of the sword because it's all he has left. Reinhard taking up the sword in order to protect Heinkel and Louanna and his family from the Kingdom and at this point not knowing anything but how to be a sword.

Vote for the best dad by whatever metric you want just pick your favorite

Savage five-year-old son beat up low self-esteem father with comatose wife

Tag yourself

Going to start reading Re:Zero arc 7/8 Here’s what I know going in:

It takes place in Vollachia. 

Rem is awake! But she doesn’t have her memories, so she isn’t hero-worshiping Subaru anymore. (Good for her) (Also probably good for Subaru in the long run)

Vincent Vollachia is there and has gay subtext with Chisa Gold.

Cecilus Segmunt and the other divine generals make appearances

Subaru and Cecilus becomes besties?

Cecilus has a dad and he sucks? I think? His name is Rowan?

Pricilla and Al are present. (Huge win. Love those two)

Subaru crossdresses, and there’s a whole lot of gender stuff going on. (I have thoughts about this, but I’ll wait until I actually read it for myself before I try to articulate those thoughts)

Halibel shows up.

Sphinx shows up and has an army of undead. (this is probably a bad thing)

Subaru dies a few thousand times in rapid succession. (I have feeling about this, but like the crossdressing, I will wait until I read it for myself before I write about said feelings) 

Subaru is turned into a child for an extended period of time. 

Subaru forms an organization called the Pleiades? (Not very original. There’s already a watchtower called that) 

There are two siblings named Medium and Flop O’Connel. I know nothing else about who these people are.

Subaru adopts amnesiac Louis and names her Spica. Julius and Otto don’t approve of this, and Otto doesn’t approve of Julius.

Emilia camp sneaks into Vollachia to save Subaru. (Yay friendship!) 

Heinkel Astrea is there? 

Garfiel fights a dragon?

There’s a guy called Todd, he’s a werewolf, and he brutally kills Subaru a bunch of times. Also according to that one poll that tumblr user Liquidstar made he’s objectively correct about everything. (shrimp) 

I have no idea how relevant each piece of information will be, or in what order any of these events will occur, but I’m going to find out soon!

What do you think would’ve happened if Heinkel had been the one to fall into a coma instead of Louanna? I just think the potential of that is very juicy because like that completely changes the Astrea family dynamics!

oh i ADORE this idea so much!!! arghhh i love astrea family dynamics so much and i really really like each member - though of course i hope we learn more about louanna soon!!! im so curious about her and everyone in the family BUT her is at least decently fleshed out already!! but yes okay this idea is great and also Everyone in these reddit threads have brainstormed all kinds of ideas for Other Astrea Members Falling Comatose (heinkel, reinhard, theresia, or wilhelm) far far better than i could so if anyone seeing this hasnt seen those i highly recommend reading!! super fun ideas going on <3

but yeah my quick two cents on heinkel specifically going comatose is that, like people have mentioned in those threads that stuff would happen differently. marcos doesnt rejoin the royal guard, reinhard probably doesnt get the dp of mind changing, wilhelm might die to the whale instead since heinkel isnt around to get sent on a suicide mission and wilhelm Would Not Back Down from that, etc etc. or did theresia get sent to kill the whale right away while wilhelm like in canon went to deal with the royal family?? that sort of thing.

i think ultimately we dont 100% know what would happen on the louanna side of things just because. we dont know anything about how she was as a person hah so hard to predict!! but i think things would probablyy turn out a little better given everything i just mentioned. and also the bar for how canon went is super low anyway aljsdfl. but yeah i mean louanna seems like she might cope a little better (i mean. shes Probablyy not the type to fall into alcoholism right haha). or she might Also Cope Badly, depending on how you wanna interpret this. and depending on how louanna turns out to be as a person. and Someone is still gonna die to the whale probably. so things are Not That Great and also heinkel being comatose means he wont be head of the house. louanna in this situation either way would need to take charge - both in the sense that uh, in the end it'll just be her and one of reinhard's grandparents left around, and also in the sense that she is reinhards only parent left now. and also reinhard Might get a bit more pressure to hurry into the royal guard sooner. he'll get compared to his comatose MIA dad im sure :(( esp since heinkel is. frozen in time.

theres Always something chilling about how in canon, long term sleeping beauty syndrome victims are just. Stuck. in time. forever frozen. never aging a single day from the moment they were gone. thats Haunting. thats like living with a ghost thats still there. and in this au itd be heinkel!! heinkel whos still at his prime and hasnt truly had a permanent failure yet (losing his mom to the whale, losing louanna to a coma, etc etc), and of course like canon heinkel, louannas left to pick up the pieces which is always really sad to me :(( she and heinkel were young too when all of this started to go wrong T^T like Still Adults, of course, but still young!! like shes 21 and hes 22 T^TT wild stuff.

also i do agree with people who said that louanna might just wack reinhard over the head for kidnapping felt like that. 1000%.

anyway!!! astrea family drama still goes Wrong i think somehow, in another font, if heinkel or anyone else is the one that gets put into a coma :(( it might be better or worse depending on what happens!! and depending on who gets comatose and who Dies!! but yes i think everything goes a bit wrong either way :(( they can never win T^T but itd shift dynamics around every time which is the fun part!!

Reinhard? I have SO many Feelings about this man and I’d like to hear yours

Sexuality Headcanon: I normally imagine him Bi, but my interpretations of him are super flexible. He's like Subaru to me in terms of being LGBT all at once.

A ship I have with said character: Reinemisuba is pretty good - a good friend of mine got me into it, and I'm very excited to beta for it. I like ReinJuli a lot too! ReguRein is also really, comically, funny.

A BROTP I have with said character: Cecilus and Rein is a funny dynamic. I don't mind it romantically but it's really funny how Cecilus crashes at Julius' place for a week just so he can fight this guy. They're literally the red hair/blue hair dynamic I've seen memed tons, except both of them could (and have at least in Cecilus' case) kill thousands without much effort at all.

A NOTP I have with said character: Rein/Felt! That's his little sister trying to undo Astrea Family Trauma as best she can.

A random headcanon: Subaru sometimes likes to teach Rein about different hobbies back on Earth, and it exponentially grows his blessings list with obscure little hobbies like flower pressing or arranging.

General Opinion over said character: What a poor little meow meow of a character. I love him to pieces, from his appearence in ex 4 to some of the felt side stories. I need to read more of them to have a much stronger appreciation, but exposure to my mutual's love of him has definitely put him very high up on my list of faves.

He's a hardcore people pleaser and it's so transparent when it comes to Subaru. There's so much I could go into solely about his relationship with Heinkel - this is a reminder to myself to finish Once Upon a Time In Lugunica - and how good of a father figure Heinkel was before it all went wrong >:( but this does raise the question regarding Heinkel's personality and Gluttony - if he got Rem Situation and woke up, would he be alcoholic Heinkel, or would he be back to the proper father days since he'd have no memories?

...Does Reinhard remember gluttony victims? I can't actually remember if he does or doesn't...

Either way, adore this boy to pieces. Would love to write him more one day, but I need to finish all my WIPs and the Felt SS to do so first.

Subaru got transported with modern-age knowledge that no one understands, like when he expected a cute magical summoning girl, Excalibur, a harem, general tropes, and Mario

But, imagine speaking like this THE WHOLE TIME, UNIRONICALLY

"Mood."

"☆Nothing in life matters!☆"

"I would have two nickels."

"Look. I enjoy getting dicked down as much as the next person-"

"YEET!!!!"

"Who are you wearing today?"

"Well, I've seen seven murders, and all of them were today."

"Well, boys. Looks like we've yeeed our last haw."

Doesn't even have to be phrases like that, it can literally just be references to stuff they cannot comprehend

*in tears and in need of tools* "I really need a Home Depot right now..."

"CATBOY, I CHOOSE YOU!!!"

"Ride 'em, cowboy!" *gets berated over somehow insulting a demi-human group*

"Julius, where is the bank? ... No, not a riverbank. A bank. For money. ... What do you mean, you don't know what that is?"

It doesn't even have to be Subaru, just anyone who happened to be transported in Subaru's place (or with him, depends on your fic/fantasy/idea)

It's just chaos, and

*concerned, confused noises from everyone*

No one understands what's being said, but they kinda grasp the feeling of it. Andthey'retooafraidtoaskanywayso-