#anon Please youre gonna make me cry about riven again

[floralovebot]

Speaking of Helia quiting RF whenever he makes a mistake, I think Riven wouldn't go for higher military education. I think that ever since he got into RF that was the goal. They teach him to fight, he's good at fighting, he uses that to go to a great military academy and he's set for life because graduating military college guarantees you a place in service. And other benefits.

Only, he realizes in the senior year that he doesn't really /want/ to work in military. He sends out the early application and is of course accepted early, but he's not happy. It isn't that he's a pacifist, it's that he dislikes authority and

And I think he'd decide, like 2 weeks before the entrance exam, that he wants to be an architect. He crams like a madman for 2 weeks (refuses to let anyone see what he's working on in case he fails) and 3 weeks from taking the exam and seconding the application he gets his acceptance letter to the elite academy of Architecture and Practical Arts. Which is the same school Helia ends up going to, only a different course.

He never, never finds out that Stella got a whiff about his application because the head of admission is Solarian and has in her youth been a designer that took measurements for kid Stella's first real formal gown. Since the woman follows the news, she calls and ask whether to push the admission. Because it is an elite, classist school and they judge not only academic prowess but also background, and Riven is painfully common. He doesn't even have a wholesome poor boy background, it's all gritty. So, Stella tells her to push it, and the woman on her own initiative gives him benefits alongside his scholarship and room on campus, so he doesn't have to buy supplies and books out of his own pocket (which he wouldn't be able to afford). He gets best ofthe best there, even the teachers are instructed to treat him like they'd treat nobility.

Only he never, ever finds out Stella pushed for him because Stella knows he would have refused the help, even tho she didn't push him in, she just removed the unfair obstacles. Stella doesn't tell anyone, not even Bloom. Especially not Bloom, girl can't keep a secret even in the dark.

OH INTERESTING!!! I've never thought about riven as an architect but honestly, I'm loving it! and you're right, Riven would never accept help for that kind of thing. He would assume Stella thinks he can't do it and that she's trying to load her privilege over him (even though he would also know better at that point cause they're friends but the fear is still there). I love the idea of Stella using her privilege for good too! It would be a really nice comparison to how Sky tried to "help" Riven in the beginning and it completely matches her.

Rest under the cut since this is a little long!

I completely agree with Riven not wanting to go further up the chain in the military! I've had a lot of thoughts about his life after RF and while I have a lot of trouble trying to think about what he would do, I've never thought that he would actually stick around. He's skilled and he totally could, but there would be so many issues with it and it would be horrible for his mental health. The problems with authority (which have gotten better at that point but aren't completely gone, the classism he would have to deal with, the strict structure of everything, not to mention the corruption of morals! Even though he likes RF, he would hate going further up the ranks because he would have to deal with those problems tenfold.

I like to imagine that Riven figured this out after he left in S6. While I genuinely think that should've happened earlier in the show and not last an entire season, I actually love the idea of him leaving to figure out what his purpose in life is and what he actually wants out of it. Because up until this point, all of that was just wishful thinking. He wasn't in a position to chase after his dreams, only think about them. And I think he would be really hard on himself and try to stop himself from dreaming because he wouldn't want to get his hopes up. But now, he has a group of friends, he's one of the best specialists in the entire school, and he's making more money than child him could even imagine (he's not rich but I do think they're comfortable at this point)! I like to think that Riven would get confronted with what he wants to do with life a lot during his little trip.

Personally, I love imagining him a chef! I have this little headcanon that before RF, he used to work at this little hole in wall ramen shop and that the old owner and head chef absolutely loved him and taught him everything they knew. And that later in life, the owner would pass and Riven would get contacted and told that they passed the shop onto him. I think being able to be his own boss would do wonders for him and it would let him be able to hire people who really need the job (aka him all those years back) and make enough money to help others in need. I think he would also like the challenge of sort of bringing the shop back to life! And it gets popular enough that it's just the little hot spot that everyone has to go to and Riven gets so much love and gets to meet all these new people who love his food and what he's done. I just think he deserves some love :')