artbyfinnbrown

[artbyfinnbrown]

it's cold outside

[artbyfinnbrown]

it's cold… do the spirits freeze?

[artbyfinnbrown]

yeah…i won't finish it

[artbyfinnbrown]

I wrote a little addition to this AU, for anyone who happens to be a fan of Otto and/or Roswaal.

royal candidate mixup (a fic snippet)

hello,,, i wrote this spontaneously in like thirty minutes the other day for an idea me and some friends were cooking up,,, eventually id like to make this a full fic but for now theres just this draft so you all can have it ig :3

----

Emilia gently presses the insignia into the merchant’s hands again—Otto Suwen, he said his name was?—and as soon as she does, the gem in the center of it begins to glow red. Vivid red. The light matches the bow at the front of his cloak, and when the red fades in over his face, it contorts into complete and utter horror.  

“Is—is something the matter?” Emilia blurts out, hasty and stammering, before she flinches back and tries to compose herself. Focus. She’s a knight who just found one of the new Royal Candidates for the throne, and said candidate must be very disoriented at the thought of being thrust into the spotlight. It was already bad enough that she found him being mugged in an alleyway this morning! The poor boy; she would have been so scared as well. “I understand if you’re nervous,” Emilia says softly, “and I assure you that I’ll reaaally do my best to he—“

“No, no, no,” Otto rambles, his breaths quickening, the insignia threatening to drop from his hands. Beside him, his ground dragon makes a saddened little coo, but he pays her no mind, his fingers reaching up to his hair to tug at it. “N-No, I can’t possibly be a Royal Candidate! You—“ He looks back at Emilia, eyes wild. “You said that if the gem glows red, then I’ve been chosen, yes? But—but this must be some sort of sham, a sick and twisted joke! I’m no one important! I’m only a humble traveling merchant, I—I’m supposed to be on my way to getting my own store, and I can’t possibly be in charge of—“ A nervous laugh bubbles out of him. “Of an entire country, this is absurd—“

“Otto-sama,” Emilia murmurs, and she tries to reach out to him, but he recoils away from her. 

It stings for a moment; before, when he profusely thanked her for helping him away from those muggers, he didn’t even care one bit about her being the half-devil. He blushed and smiled and complimented her for her kindness as if he’s never seen all that much kindness before, as if it was as valuable as gold, and now, all Emilia has done has made him stressed beyond relief after she managed one good deed for the day. What kind of knight is she? Who is she to—

Otto’s eyes roll to the back of his head, and he crumples to the floor. 

[artbyfinnbrown]

[artbyfinnbrown]

[artbyfinnbrown]

i think subaru is interesting as a protagonist because of the way he gets fleshed out over the story. i mean, its fairly common to reveal character backstories to have their actions leading up to this point make more sense, but for an isekai protagonist in particular i just think the way its done is so interesting.

you start the story with pretty much 0 context about who this kid is. and this is typical genre convention, you assume that you dont need context because its an isekai. the story doesnt really have to establish anything beyond that hes just some nerdy kid. thats how it usually goes right? hes not MEANT to have a backstory, hes meant for the viewer to project upon. and that works for a while but

by arc 2 his very specific character quirks start to pop up, and you also start to see that hes trying VERY HARD to play a role in his head. a very specific role that hes chosen out. and this eventually comes to a head in arc 3, especially after the julius fight and falling-out with emilia. and thats when you see him at his lowest with actual deeply rooted FLAWS. ones he was desperately trying to run from to play the isekai hero role. and then you get the "from zero" speech which is such a turning point for his entire character.

but you still haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what makes him tick. the story doesn't give you his actual backstory until arc 4, with the trial's glimpse into his family and school life. and everything about him makes sense. not that it didnt make sense before but holy crap... hes a character. hes not a just self insert. hes got a lot of really specific fucked up shit going on in his head. he has a family, he had friends, he went to school, he was a teenager... he was a guy! a person! and now you really get who that person is and why hes Like This

and it seems like thats it. from here on out its just about development, arc 5 doesnt really dive deep into any more of his backstory, and arc 6 is all about REGRESSION for him. his memories literally go back to the exact point they were when the story started. though this time we have a lot more context.

that's all you need to know right? i mean by this point the story is seven arcs in, what other possible revelations could there be about the protagonist that would put his entire story arc until this point into a whole new context-

NATSUMI SCHWARTZ

[artbyfinnbrown]

royal candidate mixup (a fic snippet)

hello,,, i wrote this spontaneously in like thirty minutes the other day for an idea me and some friends were cooking up,,, eventually id like to make this a full fic but for now theres just this draft so you all can have it ig :3

----

Emilia gently presses the insignia into the merchant’s hands again—Otto Suwen, he said his name was?—and as soon as she does, the gem in the center of it begins to glow red. Vivid red. The light matches the bow at the front of his cloak, and when the red fades in over his face, it contorts into complete and utter horror.  

“Is—is something the matter?” Emilia blurts out, hasty and stammering, before she flinches back and tries to compose herself. Focus. She’s a knight who just found one of the new Royal Candidates for the throne, and said candidate must be very disoriented at the thought of being thrust into the spotlight. It was already bad enough that she found him being mugged in an alleyway this morning! The poor boy; she would have been so scared as well. “I understand if you’re nervous,” Emilia says softly, “and I assure you that I’ll reaaally do my best to he—“

“No, no, no,” Otto rambles, his breaths quickening, the insignia threatening to drop from his hands. Beside him, his ground dragon makes a saddened little coo, but he pays her no mind, his fingers reaching up to his hair to tug at it. “N-No, I can’t possibly be a Royal Candidate! You—“ He looks back at Emilia, eyes wild. “You said that if the gem glows red, then I’ve been chosen, yes? But—but this must be some sort of sham, a sick and twisted joke! I’m no one important! I’m only a humble traveling merchant, I—I’m supposed to be on my way to getting my own store, and I can’t possibly be in charge of—“ A nervous laugh bubbles out of him. “Of an entire country, this is absurd—“

“Otto-sama,” Emilia murmurs, and she tries to reach out to him, but he recoils away from her. 

It stings for a moment; before, when he profusely thanked her for helping him away from those muggers, he didn’t even care one bit about her being the half-devil. He blushed and smiled and complimented her for her kindness as if he’s never seen all that much kindness before, as if it was as valuable as gold, and now, all Emilia has done has made him stressed beyond relief after she managed one good deed for the day. What kind of knight is she? Who is she to—

Otto’s eyes roll to the back of his head, and he crumples to the floor. 

[artbyfinnbrown]

being OCpilled is so fucking mortifying honestly. like oh... yeah..... heres my guy. i invented him. i can't think about anything else except for him this week. but he isn't cool or anything. he actually sucks. im just ill.

[artbyfinnbrown]

clutches head...... my ocs...

[artbyfinnbrown]

Yang Sword 『Volakia』

[artbyfinnbrown]

[artbyfinnbrown]

Does he still look like Julius or did I mischaracterize him so bad that he's so far away from the canon design? Be honest please

[artbyfinnbrown]

There is a lot of focus put on Subaru's willingness to sacrifice himself for the people he cares about. What a lot less focus is put on is the fact that he isn't actually that big of an outlier when it comes to having a self-sacrificing attitude. Lots of characters in Re:Zero have people that they are willing to sacrifice anything to protect.

In fact, one of the best examples of this are the people closest to Subaru, the Emilia camp:

Beatrice would die for Subaru.

Rem would die for her sister or for Subaru.

Ram would die for her sister, and thought she likely would never admit it, she would put her life at risk for most, if not all, of the rest of the Emilia camp as well.

Garfiel would die for the Emilia camp, because he's the shield, and shields are meant to stop other people from getting hurt.

Otto would die for the Emilia camp, because they're the first people that aren't his family and beast that are actually close to him.

Emilia would die for Subaru, the Emilia camp, and most people that she knows, due to a combination of her kindness and all of the negative feelings she holds toward herself.

Everyone in the Emilia camp simultaneously cares for their friends so much and has too low of an opinion of themselves, making them all very willing to help each other even if it is at great personal cost to themselves.

[artbyfinnbrown]

Garfiel Tinsel becomes ten times as funny a character when you realize he's the fantasy world equivalent of a kid who's really into reading classic literature.

[artbyfinnbrown]

If you ever feel bad about your life.... remember that at least you're not Subaru Natsuki

[artbyfinnbrown]

What's your thoughts on Garfield

i really really like garfiel!! its been a while since ive read arc 5-6 though so like specific plot details get a little murky in my brain (....also arc 7-8's chaotic plotline sometimes too HAH), but yeah like. garfiel and his family add to like those familial relationship themes in rezero i think, and im Invested in their family drama. and yknow i do like garfiel a lot on his own. dudes like a shounen protagonist in the best way possible i think? like i like that hes introduced as a somewhat unpredictable minor antagonist in arc 4 - i remember being interested when reading arc 4 wn (this was before s2 came out HAH) bc it was like. whys garf acting like this from loop to loop. whats going on with him. AND THEN HIS BACKSTORY REVEAL AND THE TRIAL AND THE REVEAL THAT HES SO YOUNG HAH... its perfect. explains his behavior perfectly. and my fondness for him was cemented in that exact moment.

so like garfiel isnt a rezero character that i obsessively go insane over atm (......thats reserved for subaru emilia reinhard otto heinkel i suppose......) but i really like him a lot. i like how he has like. slight misogynistic moments that he gets called out for LMAO T^TT but hes such a sweetheart with the elderly in sanctuary - hes a mamas boy...... and hes pretty earnest and determined at heart. and he likes to READ... HES A BOOKWORM... hes. such a teenage boy. the teenage boy of all time. that i cannot help but feel fond of him, and hes grown even kinder by arc 8 with all the connections hes made... like i absolutely lovee his arc 8 development. its amazing, and i cant wait to see where he goes from here!!! garfiel's arc 8 chapter with the theatre dream is one of my favorite arc 8 moments of all time!!!! and im terrified of whatll happen thatll cause garfiel's line in emilia's third trial :,))))) but very excited. and also i like the garfiel-heinkel dynamic okay sue me (dont sue me literally im a college student). and i think its really fucking funny that they were both cats in garfiel's theatre dream okay.

also ofc i love the three idiots (subaru otto garfiel) dynamic. absolutely hilarious. and as an older sibling myself to a little brother its very relatable LMAO. but also that moment in gluttony if... where the three of them come to a head bc subarus Like That :(((( man............. but on a lighter note the three idiots ss were very fun reads for me!!! <3

AND OK i want to get more garfiel frederica stuff too. like ofc i want to learn more about frederica and im kind of disappointed that we have to wait so long for that if tappeis word of god stuff on that is true :,) and a tinyyy bit disappointed that frederica didnt get to experience the stuff in arc 5 about her and garfiel's mom and new extended family and stuff :<< but i did enjoy the post-arc 4 wn garfiel frederica bonding :,))) and i did actually consider making a fanfic about garfiel and frederica's mom bc her story is just really, really sad - and if i did do that, id do a lot of research into garfiel, frederica, and their family!! which id love to do i just have limited time bc Real Life HAH so maybe someday!!!

in conclusion i absolutely love garfiel. im on the garfiel defense squad. id die for garfiel. garfiel??? little brother material. absolutely great. spectacular. i love him. i support his endeavors. hes amazing hes soooooooo cool hes - *gets shot*