Zugzwang is the name of a Reinsuba fic I wrote recently. It is set in an au where Subaru gets réincarner much earlier than before, and ends up being a servant of the Astrea manor. He kinda fixes the Astrea family. Anyways, I wanted to ramble a bit about the lore some more.
Subaru was Isekaid when he was in middle school. So like 11 years old ish, when he was well aware that he wasn’t living up to his father’s ideals and his act of being a jokester was starting to fall flat.
He was sent to the capital where he was forced to live in the slums for a few months. He died multiple times because he has a habit of sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong/ his inability to read the room. This was really traumatic for him but he refuses to acknowledge that.
After he finds himself in a particularly nasty situation with some slave traffickers, he gets killed in multiple loops but eventually runs into Kadomon, the Appa salesman. Kadomon sees this child who is starving and clearly freaking tf out and decides to give him shelter and food.
He ultimately uses his wife’s connections to help get Subaru hired as a servant for the Astrea manor, because children are expensive.
Wilhelm likes Subaru upon arrival, due to the look in his eyes. He’s a bit concerned why a child like that would have so much experience with death, but it also warns him more respect.
The vibes in the Astrea manor is awful.
Reinhard is the same age as Subaru in this au, so Subaru instantly tries to become his friend because he’s incredibly lonely + it’s Subaru.
Heinkel hates Subaru on sight, and Subaru kind of views Heinkel as a bum and is petty right back. Plus once he sees how Heinkel treats him, Subaru starts becoming Reinhard’s no.1 defender.
In one particularly unfortunate circumstance, Subaru steps in front of Reinhard when Heinkel attacks him, resulting in a death.
Carol and Grimm show Subaru the ropes around the manor. Subaru’s really desperate to prove himself, even despite his lack of relevant skills.
Subaru kind of forces Reinhard to like do normal kid things, and this is where he kickstarts the whole sleepover thing. He doesn’t fear horsing around with Reinhard either, much to the concern of everyone else.
Subaru still beefs with Julius in this au, it’s mostly one sided. It comes out of a place of insecurity and the worry that he’ll no longer be that important to Reinhard anymore now that Rein is talking to people Subaru thinks are better.
Subaru and Joshua hit it off despite this.
Reinhard, Julius, and Subaru all do get into plenty of hijinks together, also.
Through one of these hyjinks, they meet Fourier- Subaru and Fourier also get along really well. Though they don’t talk too much due to Subaru being an Astrea servant.
Fourier probably knows something’s up with Subaru… but can’t tell what. And Subaru won’t tell him.
Subaru’s friendship with the Sword Saint also makes him a target. I imagine there’s at least one instance of the council using Subaru as a bargaining chip to further ensure the sword saint’s loyalty.
Potentially more to come… but I ran out of energy so I’m ending the part 1 here. I’m a big fan of death of the author so feel free to ignore all everything I say if u want lol
