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
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Since sulluvan visits her during the time skip, do they become friends at all?
i would imagine they do!!!! its kind of a weirdly developed friendship, the kind where sulluvan keeps bothering her about marrying him, and mochi finds it annoying but she cant completely cut him out because she needs to maintain a good working relationship, and all their run-ins do lead to a "friendship"
though they dont hang out like mochi would with coco/lime/oscar/taffy. if they were ever to go out anywhere, it would be a "date" (by sulluvans fault), and otherwise its him hanging around the cat cafe (pre-timeskip)/the bookshop (post-timeskip), with mochi just kind of letting him hang out
but the timeskip period is kind of uh.....special? its a time where mochi is particularly alone and its a time for her to navigate being a full-fledged witch, really also a time to get more confident in who she is and what she can do, and the only companionship she really gets besides pom and the merchant (though its very npc-like) is sulluvan coming to see her, bringing her little gifts, they play chess or little board games or something when she has downtime (he insists. she actually cant get rid of him, and she doesnt have anyone to hang out with, so she obliges)
(lime is absolutely livid when he finds out about this. "Oh so this asshole can see you all he wants, but I have to bend over backwards trying to find you?? I see how it is." kind of thing)
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the man who falls – secret origins (1989)
[ID: Two cropped comic pages of Bruce Wayne as a child after falling into a cave and being ambushed by a swarm of bats. There's multiple narration boxes over the pages:
Page One: a three panel sequence of Bruce being rescued by his father. In the first panel, Bruce is screaming with his eyes squeezed shut in fear. He has his fists clenched in front of him and is wearing a reddish pink turtleneck sweater. The narration says, ‘Again, he shrieked — not in terror, but in despair...’ In the second panel, Thomas Wayne is shown from behind in a low angle. He's wearing a red sweater similar to Bruce and is holding a flashlight as he jerks Bruce into him. Above them is bats surrounding them and the broken wood floors that Bruce fell through. The narration continues, ‘The arm curled around him, muffling his voice, and his cheek rubbed against the rough wool of his father's jacket... He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to be away from here—’. In the third panel, they're standing outside. The narration reads, ‘When he opened them, he was in the area behind the mansion, in the pale light of the autumn afternoon, and his father's words pounded at him—’. Thomas is kneeling down in front of Bruce in front of the hole he fell in. He's gripping the child's shoulders as he scolds him, “Idiot! I told you never, never to go off alone. Didn't I? Didn't I?” Martha Wayne is behind them with her hand on the side of her face as she looks at them with relief that Bruce is okay.
Page Two: Martha is defending Bruce as Bruce has his head down. Thomas is still squeezing Bruce's shoulders as Martha tells him, “Thomas, he's frightened.” Thomas replies, “He damn well ought to be. He could have been killed.” Martha replaces Thomas's spot in front of Bruce, kneeling to gently place a hand on his upper arm and using a handkerchief to wipe his forehead. Bruce is standing with his fist still clenched and grimacing as Thomas angrily says, “He's got to learn.” Bruce is shown in a low angle, looking up at his mother with wide eyes. The narration continues, ‘He listened to his father's boots crushing the dead grass, and when he could no longer hear them, he dared to ask:’ “Mommy, was I in hell?” Martha soothes, “No, baby, that was just some old cave. You're safe now,” as she hugs him. His cheek is pressed against hers and she has her eyes closed as Bruce still looks uncertain. END ID]
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