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
53 notes
·
View notes
ngl I'm finding it so difficult to see all the cutesy mileapo content mixed in with all the kinnporsche filth I'm getting whiplash like oh ok you're gonna be super PG-13 on tour & I just have to forget about the dry humping & licking??
Me, an intellectual, watching cute mileapo content from KPWT: Wow this is so nice, so wholesome aha
Me, an unhinged heathen with permanent brainrot: hey guys remember when
133 notes
·
View notes
Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 15: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression
(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)
Yesterday's poll decided that The Adventurer should purchase some new shoes for himself while he's in the city...
~
It costs quite a bit of coin, but in the end he decides that having a new sturdy pair of boots will serve him well on his travels. After he's done in the shop, he rushes back to the local inn before nightfall, eventually settling into a somewhat restless sleep..
The next morning, he orders some cheap vegetable stew from a food stall, then lounges in a park as he has his breakfast, watching the squirrels weave through flowering trees and birds pecking about in the dewy grass.. When finished with his meal (and sufficiently recovered from the emotional turmoil of burning his tongue on the soup), he quickly sells his old pair of shoes to a sketchy pawn shop before finally getting back to his journey...
By his calculations, if he he walks all day, it should only be two more sleeps before he gets to his destination, so he sets out to travel as efficiently as possible. He doesn't have the money to rent a cart, or the skill to ride a borrowed horse, but, he does have some fancy new walking shoes and a renewed sense of purpose. No more meandering through fields looking for flowers, napping in the shade, or scanning the ground for cool rocks.. He's going to focus this time!
......After a few hours, he comes across a broken down carriage in the middle of the road, with few people surrounding it, seemingly stuck trying to repair a wheel or something. It's hard to discern from afar..
Maybe if he helps them, he could get a free ride.. or some coins.. or make a new lifelong friend! Who knows? Possibilities flood his mind, this is what adventuring is all about! Wandering into interesting situations and making the most out of them!! .. But, then he recalls his previous oath.. he's supposed to focus today and not allow himself to sidetracked.. And who says he has the skills to help anyway? It could always just be a waste of time... Hmm...
What should he do?
~
~
Additional Information
the adventurer's current main quest: follow his map to reach the abandoned castle ruins and see the rare animal specialist about the mysterious egg he has
15 notes
·
View notes
cont. from here / @gloryseized
Forgot. He forgot.
An isolated part of Link knows that isn't the right word for it. Realises, distantly, how unfair this maybe is of him — as though this is something Shion should think to remember for him when he only knows the bits and pieces of Link that are polished enough to be seen. As though Shion's the strange one for being some amount of normal about the moon. But this is how he puts it: I forgot, and the voice that would argue against the surge of hurt that spears through Link's veins is not loud.
( He's too cold with fear to care to strain his ears to listen for it. )
The world bleeds in cinders, ashes of red that curl up in the lungs breathing them in like wildfire fumes. Everything sways. Everything shudders. It's the trembling of an earth that cannot move away from the moon that seeks to consume it, and Link— braces himself, stumbles over himself, catches himself on too small hands and knees; is in two places at once without it registering that he's actually stuck, actually frozen, actually unmoved from where he's standing and sinking into a shell carved from echoes of another time and world.
The head won't shake. The fingers dart down, then up, then for the pouch they will not ungrip as nnnn clings to gritted teeth. It's a twitch of a sound he can't fully release while Tatl urges in an ear, the song! The song, play the song!
Link doesn't know what this is. He doesn't know what the moon wants. He doesn't know how to ask when all he can do is look up at Shion, heart pounding a horrified rhythm, and think of what he will lose to the ocarina he can trace beneath the leather separating it from his touch this time.
3 notes
·
View notes