...A lot of my ideas are ReinSuba lol, but I have some other ideas up my sleeve that I'm thinking about.
1/18/26: Currently, I'm reading the light novels/web novels/side stories before getting into writing more ambitiously, as I've decided to stop just being an anime-only. This series in particular has a loooot of content and will often drop pieces of world-building and character details in the most unexpected of places.
See below for my AUs and certain tags. Click on the links for a masterpost of each or just search by tags. I only have so many fics out at the moment, but there are other outlines and concepts on these, though for some more than others.
My AUs:
"Heart on Trial" AU: (ReinSuba Felt Camp/Soulmates) In Arc 1, Subaru gets revealed as Reinhard's soulmate and gets taken to the Astrea residence alongside Felt. In which Subaru dies, goes through a bisexual awakening, and begins to learn that being bound by Fate to the Sword Saint has...consequences, not necessarily in that order. Still outlining future arcs before I really get into it. (#heart on trial au)
"Buried" AU: (ReinSuba Omegaverse) Post-Arc 4, the Emilia and Felt Camps get into a close alliance to combat the Witch Cult and help the victims of Gluttony. Reinhard is a mild alpha whose instincts are suppressed by his Divine Protections. Subaru was turned into an omega upon being isekaied and is struggling with the changes. The two get steadily closer and neither of them are ready for what follows. Heavily inspired by a number of ideas from @sufferu as well as active discussions with others. (#buried au)
"Wildest Dreams" AU: (ReinSuba Soulmates/Childhood Friends) Subaru and Reinhard are soulmates that grow up being able to visit each other in their dreams. Told all his life that "Haruo" wasn't real, Subaru's life changes forever when he's isekaied to a parallel world and is able to met his friend face to face for the first time. (#wildest dreams au)
"Otherworldly" AU: (ReinSuba Reverse Isekai/Dandadan-Inspired) Reinhard is isekaied to Japan. Trying to help him get home, Subaru's entire world is thrown upside down when supernatural forces take issue with him and his nerfed otherworldly companion. At least permadeath isn't an issue—at least for him. (#otherwordly au)
"As Above, So Below" AU: (ReinSuba Magnus Archives Crossover) In a world where nothing is what it seems and dark forces poke at the crevices of reality and reason, Forsenics student Subaru is desperate to find his missing friend Emilia, former archivist of the Magnus Institute. In a moment of compassion and naivety, he frees a monster from his shackles, setting in motion a series of events that may bring him closer to his goal as much as it could condemn him. (#as above so below au)
See also:
#resource for useful info on reading/writing for Re:Zero or fanfiction in general
#rezero thoughts for many misc topics, discussions, and joke posts
Honestly, I really love Ram, but I don’t like how after episode 8 so many people rushed to defend and justify her rude behavior toward Subaru.
They explain it away with her sisterly feelings for Rem, but every single time I just remember how Ram suggested leaving her to die back in season 2... After that, any display of care she shows toward Rem just feels wrong to me. I kind of wish she remembered that loop. I wonder if she would treat Subaru differently then?
I just found it kind of funny that anime onlies either treated her as some sort of unforgivable devil for this or saying that she was acting ooc, and this behavior was actually pretty light compared to what she's done before or what she's gonna do in the future.
As in, her killing Subaru in cold blood for Rem's sake in the torture loop of arc 2, and then later abandoning Rem in a failed loop of arc 4 should've been enough for people to expect this, I thought? She was always shown to be incredibly flawed, so this should've really surprised no one. The outrage seemed quite over the top for me.
She made it very clear throughout the entirety of season 4 that she only came there for Rem and Rem alone, too. Heck, the cave loop was foreshadowing this kind of treatment from her.
I think it's fine to explain why she behaves like this, but yeah, it's definitely not a justification nor her just being "a little mean". I personally defended her on twitter for the sole reason that I saw multiple users being extremely misogynistic and weird towards her.
Tough time in the re:zero fandom to not agree with a character's actions but also not entertain vile shit said about them. Nuance exists, people. You can find a character's behavior irritating and rightfully criticize it while simultaneously understanding them and not wish weird things upon them for it.
Cool Ram art in a style I love and a neat discussion that I enjoyed reading here. Lmaooo I can't wait to crack her open like a walnut and psychoanalyze her.
As an anime-only who is now slowly working through the novels and side stories, it definitely was an unpleasant surprise to see how deep her fronts go. And her reactions to Subaru's issues were so damn disdainful and angered me greatly (Her reaction to his breakdown the most horrible by far). Her also downright accusing him of faking his amnesia, when she would be well aware that he wouldn't do something like that, was shocking to me too. I wasn't expecting that kind of outright denial and desperation from her. Coupling that with what she let slip under the effects of the miasma (Yes, colored with unstable contempt but still telling in what she latched onto in her mindless hatred.), her alarming lack of self-preservation, and whatever dissociative break there is between "The Ram that Remembers" and "The Ram that Doesn't," she's got a lot going on. There's an irritationality there underneath all her fronts, and I think it's going to be especially important to pay attention to what she chooses to say, chooses not to say, and how through all of the gravity of their situation, she's going to fall back on her number one priority: Rem. It doesn't mean she doesn't care about anything else...but that's the thing about priorities: They are limits. And can reveal some things we would rather not want to know.
But I wanted to really also address the distasteful takes I've heard about with Ram as well.
As someone that really doesn't know what to expect for the future, I anticipate a lot of problems. Problems that I hope she will get called out for, but I doubt it with how things seem to be going...And while I understand more of what I think is going on from her backstory, what is ominously implied in Rem being ripped out of it, and her obvious goals, I would still like to make the disclaimers that 1) Understanding does not excuse the parts of her that are downright horrible. 2) People are allowed to be nuanced and not be the barest bones accumulation of their actions with regards to nothing else below the surface. 3) It really doesn't take much to know there's something complicated going on. And we should be able to dislike a character without caving to ruthlessly brainless and demeaning epithets.
To be more heavy-handed to those people here: God forbid someone get well-deserved heat sent their way without devolving into "Anything goes then!" on what you say. How cleanly you carry your righteous bitterness or hatred will definitely say more about you as a real person than what you believe to be justified for with a fictional character. Brutal honesty is one thing. Lack of standards is another.
Still can't get over this. The body horror to reflect an inner sense of self-dissociation and wrongness. To break out of that perceived prison is to break yourself, whatever "yourself" might be now. Would it even be worth the tears to cry over? Can you grieve yourself when, just by existing, you're the one that killed him?
Did this template thing for the funs. My taste is very vanilla lmao (made by @/joshuajuukulius on twtter. Im prettu sure they have a tumblr as well but im sorry I forgot what acc that is 😭)
This was fun thank you lol. Surprisingly kind of difficult in spots? For reference, my top 5 characters are:
1. Subaru
2. Ram
3. Reinhard
4. Felt
5. Garfiel
Extra thoughts below:
Can't think of who I would put as a guilty favorite really...
I can unironically put Rem in underrated, overrated, and overhated actually💀
Beako was runner-up for fav design and "didn't expect to like" (I usually don't like the ancient child archetype in anime. I don't think I have to explain why.).
Patrasche also belongs in "underrated," but Crusch takes that for me by far lmao. I would like to see her do things please...Her personality pre-amnesia and her current situation are very interesting.
I guess Priscilla fits the least fav spot? Reading her is a bit of a chore at times lol. She 25% entertains me and 75% annoys me.
AND MORE REINHARD PLEASE. LET HIM HAVE NICE THINGS AND NOT JUST BE AROUND TO DO BIG FIGHTS. HE CRAVES THE SLICE OF LIFE EXPERIENCE TRUST ME.
The side stories made me appreciate Felt a lot more. I love her way of thinking and how her crass, spitfire personality meshes well with her surprisingly pragmatic and mature side.
Exactly what it says on the tin lol. I was asked about some recs, and I feel like this would be a nice thing to keep track of and add to over time. I also just want to give these fics more love lol. Please go give the authors some appreciation!
Also note:
A lot of the authors here have more than one fic that fits in this category, so please look at ALL their other stuff so you don't miss out. If I listed everything, then I'd be here all day lmao.
Some of the platonic fics are still marked with the "/" in the fic tags too because they COULD be read that way.
PLATONIC:
"Re:Viled—Starting Life With The Cursed Saint From Zero" by xtenn8: Reinhard is the widely hated Cursed Saint, quiet and resigned to his fate. Heinkel is a controlled mastermind, and Subaru, Rom, and Felt get trapped in his web. Tagged as slowburn friendship and found family.
"When Your Friends Finally Get Tired Of Your Family Drama" by Only_Slightly_Obsessed (A_Stressed_Cupcake): Knight squad calls out Wilhelm's behavior toward Reinhard.
"Decompression" by Only_Slightly_Obsessed (A_Stressed_Cupcake): Second part of a 2-part collection. Read "Peer Pressure" first to get the context. The second part just has more Reinhard. Several people get tortured! And the aftermath of that.
"On the Cusp of Tomorrow" by Avaricious_Trash: Reinhard notes Subaru's suspicious behavior and ends up learning about RBD.
"Breezy" by Turcoverdin: Reinhard dies for a moment and ends up in a strange place with...Subaru?
"Fate's Promise" by petalil: Platonic soulmate AU where Rein, Ferris, Subaru, and Julius are all soulmates and have the power to appear as time-traveling ghosts up to a certain point.
"(k)night(s) out" by NightsMistress: Subaru nearly dies but then gets to hang out with friends yay!
"Heavy Endings Burn Bright As Flames" by PricklyLamb: Subaru has some complicated feelings about Reinhard being able to die
ROMANTIC:
"Fate, Worse Than Death" by Turacoverdin: A popular fic for a reason! And has a great grasp of Rein and Subaru's particular habits and idosyncrasies. A chance DP acquisition spirals into Reinhard learning more about his friend than he ever would've imagined. Suffering abound and Subaru deals with the Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known.
"The Demon Who Wasn't" by Snor2: Reinhard is the least demonic demon out there, and these two idiots have no clue what they're doing (You can skip chapter 2 if those tags are not your cup of tea).
"32" by Honcamaron: A fantastic introspective fic of Subaru wondering about if he wants to take his and Reinhard's ambiguous relationship to the next level and if Reinhard even wants him (He does, you idiot).
"Covert" by Harperd: Moments between Rein and Subaru after they confess to each other at the start of Arc 5 (They write a TON of these two. Check out their other fics)
"my sin, my pride" by an anonymous author: This nameless author has a TON of romantic stories of sizable length for these two, and this one in particular deals with Subaru being isekaied as the Archbishop of Pride...and immediately giving up any evil by getting into a marriage deal with Reinhard. Please check out their collection this is under called "grocery list." Also trends more towards writing SubaRein than ReinSuba.
"Prideful Cinderella" by Pinkshuchan: Pride brings back Natsumi Schwartz to infiltrate a ball and meet Emilia. He instead ends up spending an unexpected amount of time with the Sword Saint (Hasn't been continued for a while, but I very much still enjoyed what was there!)
"Meant to be a Graveyard" by Zeivira: FemBaru is taken by Regulus instead of Emilia and Reinhard intervenes, catching a glimpse of some concerning behvior.
"What If the Stars Could Dance? Would You Dance With Me Instead?" by RavenCentauri: Reinhard has a stressful conversation and gets some well-deserved affection from his mutual crush.
"First sight" by ame_81: Adorable modern AU young love. Reinhard meets Subaru and struggles with understanding what exactly he feels about him as time goes on.
Exactly what it says on the tin lol. I was asked about some recs, and I feel like this would be a nice thing to keep track of and add to over time. I also just want to give these fics more love lol. Please go give the authors some appreciation!
Also note:
A lot of the authors here have more than one fic that fits in this category, so please look at ALL their other stuff so you don't miss out. If I listed everything, then I'd be here all day lmao.
Some of the platonic fics are still marked with the "/" in the fic tags too because they COULD be read that way.
PLATONIC:
"Re:Viled—Starting Life With The Cursed Saint From Zero" by xtenn8: Reinhard is the widely hated Cursed Saint, quiet and resigned to his fate. Heinkel is a controlled mastermind, and Subaru, Rom, and Felt get trapped in his web. Tagged as slowburn friendship and found family.
"When Your Friends Finally Get Tired Of Your Family Drama" by Only_Slightly_Obsessed (A_Stressed_Cupcake): Knight squad calls out Wilhelm's behavior toward Reinhard.
"Decompression" by Only_Slightly_Obsessed (A_Stressed_Cupcake): Second part of a 2-part collection. Read "Peer Pressure" first to get the context. The second part just has more Reinhard. Several people get tortured! And the aftermath of that.
"On the Cusp of Tomorrow" by Avaricious_Trash: Reinhard notes Subaru's suspicious behavior and ends up learning about RBD.
"Breezy" by Turcoverdin: Reinhard dies for a moment and ends up in a strange place with...Subaru?
"Fate's Promise" by petalil: Platonic soulmate AU where Rein, Ferris, Subaru, and Julius are all soulmates and have the power to appear as time-traveling ghosts up to a certain point.
"(k)night(s) out" by NightsMistress: Subaru nearly dies but then gets to hang out with friends yay!
"Heavy Endings Burn Bright As Flames" by PricklyLamb: Subaru has some complicated feelings about Reinhard being able to die
ROMANTIC:
"Fate, Worse Than Death" by Turacoverdin: A popular fic for a reason! And has a great grasp of Rein and Subaru's particular habits and idosyncrasies. A chance DP acquisition spirals into Reinhard learning more about his friend than he ever would've imagined. Suffering abound and Subaru deals with the Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known.
"The Demon Who Wasn't" by Snor2: Reinhard is the least demonic demon out there, and these two idiots have no clue what they're doing (You can skip chapter 2 if those tags are not your cup of tea).
"32" by Honcamaron: A fantastic introspective fic of Subaru wondering about if he wants to take his and Reinhard's ambiguous relationship to the next level and if Reinhard even wants him (He does, you idiot).
"Covert" by Harperd: Moments between Rein and Subaru after they confess to each other at the start of Arc 5 (They write a TON of these two. Check out their other fics)
"my sin, my pride" by an anonymous author: This nameless author has a TON of romantic stories of sizable length for these two, and this one in particular deals with Subaru being isekaied as the Archbishop of Pride...and immediately giving up any evil by getting into a marriage deal with Reinhard. Please check out their collection this is under called "grocery list." Also trends more towards writing SubaRein than ReinSuba.
"Prideful Cinderella" by Pinkshuchan: Pride brings back Natsumi Schwartz to infiltrate a ball and meet Emilia. He instead ends up spending an unexpected amount of time with the Sword Saint (Hasn't been continued for a while, but I very much still enjoyed what was there!)
"Meant to be a Graveyard" by Zeivira: FemBaru is taken by Regulus instead of Emilia and Reinhard intervenes, catching a glimpse of some concerning behvior.
"What If the Stars Could Dance? Would You Dance With Me Instead?" by RavenCentauri: Reinhard has a stressful conversation and gets some well-deserved affection from his mutual crush.
"First sight" by ame_81: Adorable modern AU young love. Reinhard meets Subaru and struggles with understanding what exactly he feels about him as time goes on.
Reinhard entered Subaru's mind using a divine protection he had received exactly one minute ago. In his dream, it was dark, with neat rows of lights above the street. The lights didn't flicker like candles or lanterns, nor were they a warm yellow. Instead, they were a strangely sterile white.
Instead of having gravel for carriages and paved stones for pedestrians, this road had perfectly even squares of white for pedestrians and a perfectly even strip of black, divided by white lines, for carriages.
Subaru was walking with a bag in one hand—the same bag he had when Reinhard first met him. "Subaru," he said evenly. The trap may have messed with his memories; it was designed to keep someone inert, trapped in a dream of their past.
"Sup, dude," Subaru said awkwardly. It was unlikely he remembered him, he even threw in a little wave.
Reinhard smiled, trying not to spook him. “I knew you came from a distant land, yet this landscape is truly surprising,” he said as he walked closer. All he had to do was grab Subaru and activate the return spell, that was, if he could get close enough. Subaru had always had a second sense for people's intentions, especially if they were intentions towards himself.
Subaru only nodded, not really reacting. "Yeah, uh, welcome to Japan." Then, as Reinhard came into the light, his eyes scanned up and down, lingering first on his hair, then his eyes, then the sword still at his hip.
“Are you here to take me to another world in desperate need of a hero?” he bounced a little, excited.
“Yes,” Reinhard smiled, his prediction skills were always truly impressive. “Well, technically to take you back–”
“Let's go,” Subaru said, speaking over Reinhard for a moment.
“I was warned that the spell may have affected your memory, so if you have any questions–”
“Nope, let's do it,” Subaru said, stretching. “Well, actually, what super sick trope do I fall into? Mad powers? Crazy magic weapons? Gun sword? Please tell me I have a gun sword.”
“Gun… sword?” Reinhard repeated, regarding Subaru for a moment. What even was a gun? “Sorry, no. You primarily use a whip.”
Subaru made a face. “Oh, nasty. I don't like, own people, do I?”
With a tilt of his head, Reinhard said, “Slavery has been outlawed for centuries.”
“Perfect, so it'll just be a happy little romp? A silly little fluff series? Slice of life?” Reinhard shrugged; he knew all of those words just not in that order. “What do I have to do?”
Reinhard took his hand.
Back in the real world, Subaru groaned, hands over his face. He sat up, pointing an accusatory finger at Reinhard, "For your information, Rein-rein, this world is not a fluff fest."
"Sorry," he said, standing and offering Subaru a hand up. "I had no clue what you were talking about.”
My theory: his bangs are a fully-fledged part of his body, with their own nerves and blood vessels, like a kitten's tail. That's why they stand up when he's wandering around and doing stuff, and fall down when he dies.
I HAVE SEVERAL. I'm Very Not Normal about how much I love these kinds of headcanons anytime anywhere.
First off, any time I try to write Reinhard, he's almost always demi aroace (and pan). If he isn't, he's gonna be somewhere else on those spectrums.
I see Felt as strictly aromantic and romance-repulsed. Crusch is somewhere on the aro spectrum. Emilia is somewhere on the aro and ace spectrums. I haven't quite put together what microlabels I would give those two. Sometimes, I like to go more into the specifics and others times I just like leaving it more undefined in that regard.
I don't particularly headcanon these for Subaru, but I do see him as having a grayace kind of vibe if I'm in the mood for exploring that. I usually just have him in my head as bi but with probably a below-average libido that makes him seem ace, and therefore, have an easier compatibility with an ace person in a relationship (I tend to not care for consistently frequent sexual content in relationships I'm reading and writing anyway. Just a personal preference really. Plus, it's easier for me to understand). Julius also has the feel of a potential aroace headcanon (Gives off aego aroace vibes to me. This romantic-ass nerd lol).
I also greatly enjoy the potential for queerplatonic pairings! Like in whatever the fuck was going on with Crusch, Ferris, and Fourier lol. And I'm always tempted to make queerplatonic ReinSuba (My Otherworldly AU in particular is where I have this urge the most), and usually, if the AU supports it, I plan for Subaru to pursue a romantic partnership with Rein and a queerplatonic partnership with Emilia.
Also available as a PDF here.
This thing is 13,000 words. The PDF is recommended.
Intro: What is Metatext?
Metatext is everything we fanfic authors post along with our story that is not the story itself: title, tags, summary, author’s notes, even the rating.
It is how we communicate to potential readers what they’re signing themselves up for if they choose to read our story, how we let them make informed decisions regarding which fics they want to read, how we get their interest and, frequently, how they find our story in the first place. A lot of metatext acts as a consent mechanism for readers, it’s the informed part of informed consent.
Since most of us who write fanfic also read it, we understand how important this is! But, for the most part, no one ever teaches us how to use metatext; we have to pick it up by osmosis. That makes it hard to learn how to use it well, we all suck at it when we first start out, and some of us may go years without learning particular conventions that seem obvious to others in our community. This creates frustration for everybody.
Enter this guide!
This is meant to be a sort of handbook for fic writers, particularly those of us who post on Archive of Our Own, laying out and explaining the established metatext conventions already in use in our community so we (and our readers!) are all on the same page. It will also provide some best-practices tips.
The point is to give all of us the tools to communicate with our audience as clearly and effectively as possible, so the people who want to read a story like ours can find it and recognize it as what they’re looking for, those who don’t want to read a story like ours can easily tell it’s not their cup of tea and avoid it, nobody gets hurt, and everybody has fun—including us!
Now that we know what we’re talking about, let’s get on with the guide! The following content sections appear in the order one is expected to provide each kind of metatext when posting a fic on Ao3, but first….
A cute little reinsuba animation, i wasnt really planning on posting this here but i might aswell ^^ Its been a good while since my last post anyway, im still alive!!!
Subaru’s knowledge of constellations and real world mythology is such a cool trait for him to have. Bro is solving puzzles in another world because he has highly specific knowledge about stars.
“Subaru doesnt deserve rem” “rem deserves so much better” My brother in christ. One of the main messages of arc 3 of rz is that nobody automatically “deserves” intimacy, sympathy, and respect from others. You gain those things by changing yourself, by being nice, and by building relationships with others! This is a very obvious tenant of the story! Anime onlies can pick this up! NOBODY DESERVES ANYONE. GAHHHH DID YOU EVEN WATCH SEASON 1?? LET ALONE 2 OR 3?? THERES A VILLAIN THAT IS LITERALLY MOCKING THIS KIND OF RHETORIC??
Not to mention the fact that you could "do everything right" and maybe even have a mutual attraction occuring, but that doesn't mean that a relationship will be pursued. Positive qualities and closeness increase the chance for romantic feelings and the decision to act on them, but that doesn't guarantee it will happen. You often can't control when and how these things develop at all, and they may even happen in arbitrary ways or never be acted on.
You know, the thing is, I actually REALLY like slow burn romances where the main characters are constantly struggling with their feelings towards one another until they finally realize their pining is mutual. Especially if they’re platonically intimate with each other for ages before they get together. Especially if you’ve got secret identities or something in the mix, I will eat it up.
And then I get bored almost immediately after they get together. For me the PINING is the good stuff, and everything after that — the actual romance — is. Eh. Which is very funny, because most people I’ve seen talk about romance like the stuff AFTER the characters get together. Wonder if that’s just another notch in the scoreboard of me being aromantic lol.
TLDR: Romance in media spiraling into a core reason on why I like ReinSuba in Re:Zero
Considering that conflict and building up to something is the heart of a story, I think one of the best ways to go about this, and ultimately get what everyone wants, is to show the romance continuing to slowly build as it becomes official. Let it be the start of a new arc of growth instead of the fully satisfying end result.
Though perhaps that's just my biased love for idiots that don't know what they're doing trying to pursue a romance. Hence also how the platonic aspect is well-grounded usually before romantic feelings start to trickle in. I tend to be uninterested in relationships that don't show they can have platonic chemistry before they get together. Friendship is often treated as an obstacle in romance, but to me, it's the foundation, the true depth, of why a romance becomes good. It's one of the reasons why I almost solely read queer romances, which have a higher percentage of just allowing people to become comfortable friends first. To this day, people are still so weird about guys and girls being friends that it's not uncommon for them to undercut this invaluable build-up to me and leave me unsatisfied.
So to my point. Yes, all roads lead back to ReinSuba for me. I am simply a rat in a maze that knows the exit and refuses to leave lmao.
ReinSuba at its best is platonic fastburn/romantic slowburn. They're both so lonely and goddamn hungry for friends that in fics that allow them more time together, I see them really latching onto each other and becoming "best friends" and then working up to a more effortless, confident platonic intimacy as they just learn over time how to actually be best friends. Please remember: they're idiots that struggle with understanding themselves and others. It's the frustration and the fun.
And so for adding a romantic angle.
Growing up aroace taught me that I had no idea what I was "supposed to be feeling" at all. I had to learn how romantic stuff felt through media. Mostly reading. I still learn stuff about the allo perspective every day that's supposed to be super obvious because it just...doesn't come naturally to me. Given too that I like to headcanon Reinhard, a socially sheltered person with a hyperfixation on his job and "purpose" (with no hobbies like reading), as demi aroace, yeah, that boy has no clue what he's doing.
Couple that with Subaru, who probably knows too much about that kind of stuff but lives it vicariously through media (YMMV on seeing him somewhere on the aro and ace spectrums too. I usually just see him as bi, but there's a potential there!), you have a recipe for two socially stunted but emotionally sweet and earnest idiots trying to figure out something as basic as holding hands let alone other intimate activities.
And you can have them struggle and fumble and learn at any one point of their realized romance. Let them make mistakes. Let them be embarassed or interpret each other signals incorrectly. It not only makes the dynamic endearingly human, but it also means that getting together is only half the battle. There's more fun to be had in the romantic tension as a result. More "story" to be had yay.
These two barely know how to approach platonic intimacy. They definitely would not know how to make out correctly AT ALL lmao.
