#louanna astrea

[suffarustuffaru]

HEY HEY HEY!!! its finally time to unveil 1 of my zine pieces for @tpfbotd zine!!!! this one u might remember if uve been following me for a while as ive shared two wips of it but im so excited to finally show it!! its been an honor getting to be part of the zine so pls check it out !!! <3 🥰

[miguksae]

[j2x3e]

Old sketch

[alma-rita]

Day 26: WIP - The Good Ending

-> And I will follow up on my word... @j2x3e and @miguksae

-> Not yet finished, but yeh, I will be doing this

-> Boi, I made a bit of a mistake in the drawing process, thought it would not take a long time, but good thing not super.

[perakstaz]

One idea about Louanna Astrea.... What if she's blind? (Became that way or always was, doesn't matter) This thought came to me because of the fact that almost all artists draw her with her eyes closed (Which makes sense, since we don't know their color. We don't, do we? Or am I missing something?) And her main characterization as a character in the story is that she's, well, ill.

Definitely going to use that in one of the fics planned for the coming months. It'll be one of the small details.

It's funny how I use completely different versions of her in each of my fanfics. She's different every time 🤣

Anyway, just because she's blind doesn't make her weak. All of Louanna's senses are developed to the very high level (including the sixth sense of the inhabitants of the rz world). So she could safely walk around an unfamiliar city with the same ease as sighted people. Her spatial awareness is better than Heinkel even. And he is trained knight.

She usually keeps her eyes closed because A) why would she open them? B) people might get nervous at the sight of her misty gray eyes that stare into nothing (Heinkel was never bothered by this).

But if she's talking about something important and/or wants to lend weight to her words, she opens her eyes. Just to show the seriousness of her intentions. (Her eyes were always open when she told her husband and son that she loved them)

If she woke up in the main story, she would never open her eyes in front of Wilhelm.

She is on good terms with Grimm. She reads the sounds of his movements, smell, and general mood (via the 6th sense) and thus can understand what he is trying to "say".

She is literate, but has terrible handwriting. Loves to have books read aloud to her. Surprisingly good at cooking.

[zeivira]

@suffarusstuff‘s post about Russell made me think of this

[mishy-mashy]

You are correct! But, if I may add,

My main point earlier was: marriage + kids ≠ happy ending

Their happily ever after isn't as happy because their wife is gone, but the way they approach it afterwards is what turns it into a tragedy. The life they had was one they built with said wife. They still had a family, financial resources, and the influential Astrea name, but in their pursuit of their wife (whether in memory or literally please-come-back), they instead holed themselves up to devote themselves to that one purpose

Wilhelm and Theresia aren't saints, and like you said, were messed up before marriage. Wilhelm's family knew he was obssessed with the sword, and in the demihuman war, Theresia didn't join back when her uncle or all her brothers died, but only when Wilhelm was in danger. In this situation, she was the Subaru: the key point that saved the whole thing from disaster by being in the right place at the right time, but only appeared because the one she liked was at stake (early-Subaru?)

But, I'll disagree in that Theresia would be a good mediator. She's rather weak-willed. When Heinkel said he would become Sword Saint like her as an itty bitty kid, she said nothing except "be patient", despite already knowing this kid could never be that, and probably wasn't the one to ever tell him that. She never disagreed with Wilhelm when he thought Heinkel was a genius, and just didn't comment on that part

When trying to convince the previous Blue to go back to his wife and child in a roundabout way, she's confused when he actually decides to stay away from them, because she believed in family or something, but doesn't press more. She wasn't that close to this guy either, he just helped her dad, and still tried butting in her nose

(His wife wanted him as a sperm donor and it's EXTREMELY implied this was the Roswaal of their time [wiki says she's unknown] because even the kid is Roswaal, and it's said Roswaal tried incorporating Blue's bloodline)

And right BEFORE Theresia encounters the previous Blue in this encounter, she's running around town being a public nuisance, but no one bothers to call her out for it because she's so pretty that it's like watching a movie, with two girls frolicking. No one calls her out for bad behavior, except maybe when Veltol told her to be a lady, but in that case, Wilhelm was involved and her father is someone who gets kicked around easily

And as I mentioned earlier, Theresia when she's alive and still Sword Saint, is notably absent whenever Heinkel had problems. The same goes for Wilhelm. She only really appeared when Heinkel didn't want to fight the White Whale, and took his place, but that's more of a public problem rather than a personal one

Theresia was the kind of person, even before she joined the war, to just hope things go in a way she likes and expects. She wasn't a mediator, and if she ever was, it wasn't as a good one

Meanwhile, we don't know what Louanna is like at all. Maybe she's the personification of the old belief that "the greater your character, the greater your beauty", but Heinkel becoming a bad parent wasn't spurred by her absence, because he still tried. It was his own desperation that led to his downspiral

We can see in the side story of Heinkel trying to get a job that he doesn't follow Wilhelm in the ways of having a family. When Heinkel's wife becomes pretty much MIA, he doesn't blame anyone, turn to revenge, or turn away from his family—he stays, tries to cure her, and raises his son in the meantime

When the chance his son could be taken away from him appears, he becomes desperate and clings to him, begging they don't take him away. I don't know if Wilhelm ever showed Heinkel love like this, because the guy was pretty ruthless and stupid when it came to children

... Yeah, that line sums up a lot. Wilhelm is terrible with kids and puts expectations more fit for an adult on them.

He gave Heinkel a real sword at two years old, and he blamed a 5-year old Reinhard that's barely aware of the world for something genetic that he can't decide. He doesn't know the limits of children, nor does he approach them normally, and the youngest person he ever seems to get along with was Subaru: an adult by their standards, a hero, and the reason he could get revenge for Theresia

Reinhard, other than trying to please the world, could be trying to avoid being like the rest of them by decidedly not wanting to fall in love, because they get crazy when they do, and he's seen the aftermath

So in summary;

Yes, Wilhelm and Theresia are messes on their own and before meeting, and those problems didn't go away after getting married

No, Theresia would be a bad middle-ground, and Louanna is an unknown

Heinkel did not follow Wilhelm's way of treating his family, and didn't immediately slink into a quest for the rest of his life

They still had the opportunity to be happy and move on without their wife, but decided to pursue her instead, and that reliance and focus is what made them a tragedy

That opinion that every happy ending involves getting married and having kids and it's happily ever after? This does NOT apply to the Astrea family AT ALL.

Case Study #1: Wilhelm and Theresia

They marry and have a kid, go through that typical line of a happy end... but in reality, Wilhelm loves his wife too much, and it's a problem

(especially after said wife dies and he blames everyone else in his family and Oh, Look! Family Drama!™)

Happily ever after? He's estranged himself from the Astreas now, blames his own grandson, and goes on a long journey of revenge. His son's become an alcoholic, his daughter-in-law is dead to the world, and he just left the Astrea family to be handled by the mess that is Heinkel

Wilhelm was so obsessed with his wife, thought his kid might've been a genius (he was not), and when his wife was gone, he was pretty quick to turn around and leave

And where was he before Theresia even died? Where was Theresia, too? When Heinkel couldn't get a job, when Louanna became a Sleeping Beauty, or when people broke into the Astrea manor?

Reinhard was five when Theresia died. These events all happened before that, and they're... enjoying retirement, I guess?

Case #2: Louanna and Heinkel

First off, they married young. Well, to us, it's young, but remember, the age they can start getting married is 15. They're in something like a medieval period. Being around 18 or 19 is totally plausible to get married for them. As we've seen with Priscilla, age gaps aren't a problem either

Heinkel has a beautiful wife and has a kid, and all is well for exactly two years. Then his wife is Gluttony-ed, and everything goes downhill from then on

Heinkel...

... has little talent for the sword, yet is stuck between two generations of Sword Saints (his mother and his son)

... doesn't qualify for the "van" in his name

... can't even get a proper job on his own

... almost loses Reinhard when he's FOUR

... is searching for a cure for his wife that involves killing the dragon that protects their kingdom

... has not kept his wife's state under wraps so nearly everyone knows and can gossip

... verbally abuses even those who try to help him and then regrets it when it's too late

... lost to his own 5-year old kid in a sword duel despite training his whole life himself

... is aware that national laws have been made to restrict his son

... has a job for the sake of appearances with no actual responsibility

... 's job is being done for him by someone about half his age and is otherwise just a knight (Julius)

Heinkel grew up with two heroes for parents, realized he could never match up to even the family general standard, but he does get a beautiful wife and son... and then his wife disappears in what might've the peak of his marriage, and his son has all the talent in the world—something Heinkel might've dreamed of having

Case 3: Reinhard.

Reinhard is obviously expected to marry and have a child to continue the Divine Protection, but that too is just another responsibility he's burdened with.

He's someone with so many Divine Protections that he can see the reality of what each is like. What if he doesn't want his kid to go through having the one that brings so much family expectation (Sword Master)?

Does Reinhard even lose that blessing if it's passed on? Does he just keep his copy and the next one has it too?

Would Reinhard actually feel relieved because his own child now shoulders the responsibilities he had to deal with over the Divine Protection?

Does Reinhard even have a proper understanding of how to express love, or what parental love looks like, if the two cases above are his main examples?

It's been stated that Reinhard would marry whoever the world chose. He isn't going to choose, and especially not for love. Reinhard's just an existence trying to please everyone and live up to their expectations because there's too much at stake that it's impossible to do otherwise

Example: what if he doesn't do right and everyone is dissapointed or leaves?

What even happened during the shady relationship Reinhard and Heinkel apparently had when Reinhard was younger?

In fact, the Astrea family problems started AFTER they got married. Except Reinhard, but that's because he already has to deal with the problems from the marriages of those before him, and they still haven't been solved or even ignored

[xxdiana77xx]

Subaru Astrea AU :]

Fanweek Day 6: Alternate Universe / Absence /  “No one would blame you.”

Turns out drawing kids is hard lol

The colored digital one is something i drew today, while the rest is stuff i sketched during the past school year. The designs differ cause i couldn't decide on the hairstyle or eyecolor!

This is an AU that has been on my mind for a long time now :]

I am not good at sharing my thoughts, but i will try!

In this AU Subaru reincarnates as Reinhard's brother which means he also partakes in the wonderfull astrea family dynamics. while Reinhard hides away/covers when heinkel or whilhelm are near, subaru lashes out or argues instead when feeling cornered. Some random thoughts i have on this AU!

1. Subaru's outlook on the situation:

Subaru reincarnated in this cool magic isekai world ,in a sword saint family, its a wonderful start to his isekai adventure!

Except...

He Looks more like Heinkel or Whilhelm instead of getting pretty, ikemen looks from Louanna (unlike Reinhard, his brother is lucky!) Unfair

He will definitely be the sword saint tho! Thats how isekai's work!

He... was not, Reinhard is.

Grandma is dead

Mom is asleep

2. He keeps his hair long cause Theresia thought he looked like mini Wilhelm and found it adorable so she asked him too, after her death he felt conflicted because he wanted to respect her wish, but hated looking like Wilhelm.

3. When the family dynamics turned worse he started acting like kenichi and naoko in hopes of being able to provide reinhard with love a family should have.

4. When wilhelm sees him after a long time, his eyes now look like someone who died and wilhelm is worried but too awkward to ask, and concious of how much hostility subaru shows him.

5.felt likes reinhard more in this Au because he is more ecpressive thanks to subaru (subaru and reinhard made a promise to rely more on eachother and stop hiding their pain)

6. The red hair are a dominant trait so subaru not getting them is seen as weird or a bad omen. (he got them from wilhelm) i also thought about his eye color staying the same or being heterochromic which would further his image as something strange

I have a lot of thoughts but i have no idea how to put them into comprehensible words lol

I hope i at least showed a bit of how fun this Au can be!

[thecolourpurple123]

Sympathy for the Damned is still one of my favorite re zero fics. The way you and pidgie wrote Heinkel and Joshua there just broke my heart, and while that's precisely why we like sad fics (the more it hurts, the better the fic is) i keep wondering if there is a way to make the ending "happier."

Let's imagine that Subaru does loop and meets the appa man again. Does he get to save everyone as he promised he would? I feel it would lead Subaru to a very "Greed If" scenario.

Dunno. What do you think? How would you make the ending happier?

Well, realistically speaking, it would start out closer to Pride IF than anything. Subaru would probably rush ahead to the loot house out of a sense of manic guilt, and imo the TonChinKan trio would mug and beat the shit out of him the moment he steps foot into the slums (given the fact that they were following him for awhile and that Pride IF has him kill them every time, I imagine they would be an obstacle he can't just ignore, hence why I think they'd follow him to the slums).

They probably wouldn't kill him, just take all his stuff, but Subaru would resist enough due to his frantic headspace that they'd leave him unconscious similar to the very first loop, except he has no one to heal him. So he wakes up hours later, too late to save Emilia, and then bumbles over in the direction of the loot house in denial about his failure. It starts to get cold and snowy, Subaru gets flash frozen by Puck, end of loop.

Next loop, Subaru would notice the TonChinKan trio trailing him. This time, he turns around to confront them directly. He hands them his belongings to their utter confusion and runs off to the slums. Need to save Emilia before all else and he doesn't have time to waste on them. This time, he considers going to Emilia first on her way to the loot house, but remembering the loop where he called her Satella, decides against it. He has to be the hero to save her, and he has learned from experience that he can't avoid the loot house. It's fate that she gets there. But it can't be fate that she dies there.

So he presses onward for several unsuccessful loops, starting each time with effectively bribing his muggers to leave him alone. He tries manipulating/working with Felt, he tries negotiating with Rom and Felt, he tries and tries and fails over and over. Each time is especially painful because he learns more about these people, grows attached to them, sees the quirks of their personalities and the depths of their bonds and no matter how much foresight he has there's no beating Elsa.

He does not consider any option besides pushing forward, refusing to ever turn back like he once did and create a world so wretched, but each time he dies takes a toll on him. He mutters those names he learned at the end of Sympathy each time he dies and comes back. Julius Joshua Juukulius Louanna Heinkel Astrea. He adds Felt and Rom to the list, and eventually Emilia after learning her name through the loops.

Eventually, he does it loud enough that Kadomon is like "wtf bro why are you saying the names of a bunch of nobles??" and Subaru is like "do you know where any of them are???" Kadomon is obv hesitant to give this random weirdo stranger kid info, so Subaru hones in on one person. Not the drunk mercenary or his wife, not the noble guy who tried saving his life, but Joshua's brother. The Finest Knight.

Kadomon is like "Idk man, have you tried asking a guard? Worst case you can try the barracks on the other side of town maybe? But what business do you have with someone like that anyw---" "WHERE IS THAT BARRACKS" and Subaru asks that in a near shout loud enough to make Kadomon flinch. Kadomon gives him directions, despite his reservations, and Subaru runs off.

Subaru runs straight past the TonChinKan trio trailing him, keeps to the main roads as he heads toward the barracks, and he's feverishly saying those names on loop in his mind over and over. Julius's name comes out of his mouth. He mutters it as he goes until he's out of breath, he can't keep up. For them, for those people, he needs to give everything he has to save them. And everything he has isn't enough, has never been enough, so the only choice left is to seek out another hero. Someone with the right role in this twisted fucked up fantasy world to do what Subaru can't. No one can survive the goddamn ice nuke that happens after everyone's dead, but maybe the Finest Knight can do something about Elsa. Elsa is terrifying, death incarnate, but the ice is a calamity. It is the end of the world and even Elsa herself can't escape it. Which means she can be beaten. There must be someone who can beat her too, even if Subaru is too pathetic to do it himself.

In his mad dash, he collapses, pushing his body too far past his limits. From the ground, his eyes dart to the sky. The sun. He knows exactly at which height it must be for him to be too late, for the ice to be inevitable. But looking up it's blocked out. Someone is standing over him, their head in front of the sun, the light wreathing their hair like an angel's halo.

"My maiden's informed me you were calling my name," Julius says, and Subaru scrambles up to stand. He stares at Julius while breathing heavy. A knight... the regalia, the sword, the floating orbs of light like the spirits Emilia showed him so very long ago... this guy must be the hero. Subaru is in awe of Julius until Julius asks him what's the matter. Subaru hastily and formally explains the situation. They have to get to the loot house. Elsa is there, the bowel hunter. Julius does not stop to question the information due to how serious and certain Subaru is, and agrees to go along.

From there, Julius will help drive Elsa back (TonChinKan never attack because Subaru is right next to a knight). With In to increase his speed and perceptions and Nes to decrease Elsa's, no one gets hurt. Subaru did it at last, but he doesn't feel safe. He's dreading the ice. Fears that it will come. Everyone starts to question how Subaru knew about Elsa, and Subaru tries to admit the truth only to get stopped by the taboo. Subaru tries to push through it until Julius is like stop that dude you're clearly hurting yourself.

From there, Subaru's reward from Emilia is to have her stay with him until the next day. He wants to make sure she's safe from the ice, if nothing else. Julius suggests taking them to the knights barracks. No safer place in the capital besides the castle itself and Julius has to report this to Marcos anyway. They take a brief detour to meet Ram otw, who accepts Emilia's insistence to stay one more day.

And thus ends arc one with everyone saved. Subaru is substantially more fucked up mentally, in a position where he idolizes Julius massively and has no presumptions of staying with Emilia beyond keeping her safe from the ice nuke, and is struggling to process everything that's happened in his first moment of true calm since the start of his isekai adventure. He would probably go on to stay at the Juukulius estate for a time (Julius offers) while they try to figure out wtf is wrong with him physically that he can't explain himself, and Emilia would return to the Mathers Estate a day later having not died.

Naturally, this would put Subaru in a position where he would encounter Joshua as his host, and they would be on the same page about how amazing and perfect Julius is. It would nearly be a Cecilus-Joshua kind of dynamic where Subaru gets some levity by indulging in stories and literary habits with Joshua while both praising Julius highly at every turn. And of course, they both understand how worthless they are in comparison.

Could also easily lead into Heinkel content long-term, but that's far beyond the scope of Sympathy's premise and this ask both. Hope this satisfies your curiosity, Zei!

[c0rle0nis]

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.

[liquidstar]

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

[suffarustuffaru]

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!!

[miguksae]

[j2x3e]

Yes, that random green-haired girl from ep 1 is related to the servants from Astreas. Plum is going to be the Witch from the Kingdom and cause another Great Calamity, calling it now.

[alma-rita]

Day 27: GOOD ENDINGGG THAT WILL HAPPEN/ Relief for Reinhard~~

-> @j2x3e, @miguksae, It is done...! (gonna deliver in Twitter too) -> I am going to believe so hard-- and hey, there are incentives/hints that DO lead towards this good end (I'm cheering for you, Subaru, Felt!!! Please save him!!!)

-> Happy Reinhard is always best Reinhard!

-> It truly is now my mission to make my beloved fictional other be happyyyy

-> And yay, wrong signature used, LMAO. But hey, it is still close to Alma, so Al is okay, haha

Sauces/References used:

BG: https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-akqhg

Poseit

https://x.com/inunekokawaE/status/1088433407615356930/photo/2

[zeivira]

What reaching your 20s feels like: