#btz!vincent

[sufferu]

BTZ just got so much funnier oh my god

Subaru, hugging his beloved pet alone in his room: They’re gonna kill my rabbit. I messed up, they found my pet, they’re gonna kill my pet. Stupid, stupid, stupid, why do I always mess things up, I don’t want to lose my—!

Meanwhile—

Wilhelm: I can’t believe I’m arguing to keep the Sin Archbishop of Greed alive right now, but Subaru already named that fucking rabbit and I don’t have the heart to take it away from him

Julius: Subaru named that horrible rabbit Mister Fluffermittens, I can’t tell him that we have to kill Mister Fluffermittens

Olbart: Look, the Sin Archbishop is functionally harmless now, so surely we can let Subaru keep Mister Fluffermittens, right?

Anastasia: Can’t we get him any other pet??

Wilhelm: He already named it. He’s attached. It’s too late.

Rem: How did this even happen??

Vincent, to his own useless Generals: How the FUCK did you guys mess up this badly, you had ONE JOB—!

[sufferu]

Funny thing you just brought up for BTZ, I like the idea that there are some in the cast struggling to adjust to the new timeline. Otto making an ass of himself and Beatrice floundering to get Subaru to make a contract with her again only for it to blow up in her face sounds like comedy cold lmao.

PS: Would you ever consider having Zarestia appear in the story and take a liking to Subaru? Perhaps she's or other Sprits are tempted to make a contract with him only for Beatrice to act like a complete nutjob each time Subaru tries to make a contract with any Spirit other then her and tries to prevent it - making Subaru even more terrified of this apparently 400 year old Eldritch loli

I’m pretty sure that damn near every single one of these characters is gonna have their dignity completely trashed by the time BTZ is over lmao. The only reason it looks like Subaru’s getting the brunt of the bad fortune in BTZ I is because it’s from his POV. In BTZ II — especially the later chapters — it actually starts to come off like Subaru’s the only person here who even remotely has his shit together. I keep saying that BTZ II is a comedy, but maybe I haven’t emphasized yet just how much that EVERYONE ELSE is the punchline, with Subaru being the straight man to everyone else constantly ramming themselves into walls.

Otto is near-constantly making himself look like a fucking lunatic, Wilhelm refuses to stop bullying Julius at every opportunity, none of the Astreas know what “healthy communication” looks like and that keeps leading to both undersharing AND oversharing while they keep encouraging each other like “yeah that seems like normal behavior :)” and nobody knows how to correct them, Emilia is flying by the seat of her pants and trying to do everything at once like the world’s most pathetic wet cat, Rem keeps on ending up in situations that are actively going against her goal of being less impulsive, Vincent is an utter mess desperately trying to maintain his “imposing Emperor” facade, Cecilus is everyone’s worst nightmare at once, and Aldebaran is currently the world’s angriest ten-year-old intent on committing as many felonies as he can out of pure spite.

Then there is Subaru, who is dutifully sticking to a routine in swordsmanship (and slowly getting better, too), teaching Mimi how to sew, making dolls for Meili, showing what looks like an extraordinary amount of patience even when everyone around him feels like they keep making absolute fools of themselves, and just generally seeming like the most sane person in the room at all times. Despite how often they seem to have to save him from certain death, it often feels like he is the one thing in their lives that is not currently on fire.

[sufferu]

I realize this might be self explanatory and the point of BTZ already, but does there come a point that the cast realizes they have flaws to - the same if not greater then Subaru's and aim to fix it?

Doesn't seem fair that Subaru is the only one expected to change?

Aka: Felix fear of death? Emilia's naivete? ect...

Something important to note about BTZ is that none of them are actually trying to change Subaru in basically any way, shape, or form: as far as they’re all concerned, he is already a perfectly good kid who just needs some security and space to grow into his own. Legit the only thing they are really pushing back on here is the idea that he should be putting himself in danger for anyone else’s sake, because 1) they’re all traumatized from watching Subaru Gets Eviscerated Repeatedly: The Real-Life Snuff Film and 2) the world will literally end if he dies apparently. Everything else is just like — “Yeah, we can help him learn to read.” “Learning how to use a sword for self-defense purposes probably isn’t a bad idea. I can spend two hours training him every morning, sure.” “I hate that it apparently has to be THIS rabbit, but if Subaru wants to keep the rabbit then Subaru gets to keep the rabbit, and I am going to do my damn best to hide how much of a menace this thing is from everyone else just to make sure that happens.” “Hey Subaru likes sewing right? Why don’t we get him these rare fabrics as a souvenir?” “Subaru looks a little downer than usual, I’ll ask the staff to make one of his favorite meals for dinner tonight.” Like they are GENUINELY trying, they just keep running headfirst into various walls while Subaru stares on as the unfortunate straight man to all their clownery.

Nah, most of the intentional character growth is on their own ends. Like, Wilhelm is actually making an effort to reconnect with Reinhard and Reinhard trying to connect more with the people around him, even if both of them are so emotionally stunted that they’re kinda just fumbling around blind here. Emilia is trying to take on more responsibility without relying on Subaru quite so much, and is also gonna eventually start putting more thought into what SHE wants, as opposed to what’s expected of her (ie. the Royal Selection). Julius is making an effort to be less uptight and more playful and approachable — and not just with Subaru, because he also remembers just how much of an impact Subaru’s more playful and easygoing nature was able to have on the world around him. Garfiel considers himself Subaru’s senior, now, and as such he is trying to be the kind of older brother figure that Subaru once was for him — assisted by Mimi, who is of much the same mindset (and also keeps trying to force Subaru into calling her “Onee-chan”). Rem is making an effort to be less impulsive and think things through more, and when she eventually starts reconnecting with Subaru she tries to be more honest with him about what kind of a person she is (as opposed to putting on a show of being the kind of girl that she knows he would like). Ram is trying to be gentler, especially with Subaru, who she apparently hurt really badly (even if she knows he wants to forgive her for it).

Of course, not EVERYONE is actively trying to better themselves. Otto just got WAAAY worse, for example, and is now up to all his old hijinks turned up to eleven in the worst Mission Impossible parody of all time. Vincent is just cranky that Subaru won’t pick fights with him anymore and is trying to hide the fact that he keeps sulking about it. Cecilus is Cecilus and is thus immune to character development. There’s a lot going on.

(And then on the Aldebaran end of things — basically all the Vollachians (even CECILUS) are going “Damn we fucked up” and trying to make up for it by treating this extremely irate ten-year-old like a Vollachian Prince (which. He essentially is, at this point).)

[sufferu]

I think your main selling point for BTZ should be elsa and regulus shenanigans at this point (it is high praise)

Imma be honest those types of shenanigans are basically the entire tone of BTZ II. Like those two are obvious but there’s also:

Otto, currently convinced that he and Patrasche are the only ones who went back in time and acting as the Worst Spy Ever while everyone else places bets on when he’ll finally figure it out

Reinhard and Wilhelm, newly reconciled and genuinely attempting to act like emotionally functional adults, which appears to be an exercise in futility

Julius, who is currently getting bullied by Wilhelm at every opportunity and (related) has been forced into the role Subaru’s unofficial personal guard dog

Emilia, flying by the seat of her pants as she attempts to do everything at once while looking like the most pathetic wet cat in existence. The Bowel Hunter is her new knight somehow

Garfiel, who has decided that he IS, in fact, an adult now due to having technically lived for 17 years, and has thus decided that Subaru will now be HIS little brother figure

Mimi, who — much like Garfiel — is going to get Subaru to start calling her “Onee-chan” if it kills her

Vincent, who is openly sulking at Subaru behaving himself around him instead of picking fights

Aldebaran, who is now the world’s angriest ten year old

Cecilus, who has decided that he, too, wants a new little brother (poor Aldebaran)

Ricardo, who is waging a one-man war against Subaru’s increasingly convoluted attempts to sneak into the Iron Fang so that he can “prove himself” on the battlefield and losing his mind a little in the process

And more to come!

[sufferu]

In Back to Zero If, what are subaru's friends in Vollachia thoughts of him and his experiences?

Terror, outrage, anguish. Natchuki Subawu is everything they absolutely cannot let happen this time around. Even the Vollachians are on board with that. — Perhaps ESPECIALLY the Vollachians, even, because that was a little TOO personal as far as they’re concerned. (Vincent was going through a character arc about how Dying For Your Goals Is A Bad Thing at THAT SAME TIME Subaru was doing all that bullshit, like WHAT THE FUCK???)

[sufferu]

For some reason, I really want to see how subaru would interact with vincent. Just imagine the emperor of Vollachia himself just show up at your doorstep lmaoo. Subaru would be so confused and terrified.

Their interactions are very funny because Vincent remembers a VERY different Subaru. By the time this man shows up, Subaru is desperately trying to right his wrong from the Royal Selection Ceremony by acting like a good and proper citizen, and as such tries very hard to be properly cordial to this Emperor of Vollachia that shows up one day. Vincent, meanwhile, remembers the time Subaru fucking BIT him and will not admit how disappointed he is that that version of Subaru…doesn’t seem to be here.

Subaru: What did I do this time?? I swear I thought I was doing everything right! I was proper, I used his title, I bowed my head, I-I even tried to do that thing Julius does with his hands across his chest whenever he’s talking to one of the Candidates… Why do I mess everything up?

Vincent, glowering: I’m not mad that I don’t have that stupid nickname stuck to me anymore. I’m not mad that he didn’t insult me on impulse. I’m not mad that Subaru BOWED to me. I’m NOT.

[sufferu]

BTZ. I’m curious to know just what arguments Vincent will make to drag Subaru off to vollachia, for the royal candidates and for Subaru alone. His country is a violent place after all. On top of that, from what subaru was thinking in your most recent ficlet from his pov, it sounds like Vincent didn’t really bother with convincing him.

BTZ Vollachia question: have you decided on how many of the other divine generals have been sent back?

BTZ theater: how did that work? Was the room they were sent to just like, really fucking big with a screen matching accordingly? I bet it was real funny to watch Subaru stumbling around on his first day just for him to be fucking slaughtered lmao

So far, the Vollachians that have been sent back in time include the Pleiades Battalion, Flop, Medium, the Shudrak, Cecilus, Olbart, and Vincent. Might add some more faces later but that’s it for now. And — yeah, Vincent kind of showed up and DEMANDED that they give him Subaru as opposed to like. Negotiating for him. He’s mainly leaning on Subaru’s well-being being a matter of concern for ALL of the nations, not just Lugunica, but he doesn’t really have a great argument beyond that and he kinda knows it.

And yeah the BTZ theater isn’t gonna get much explanation here, but basically it’s Dogshow but really big, really long, and Subaru himself was left out of the event entirely. I am aware of how absolutely ridiculous that scene sounds but we’re just gonna move on lmao—

[sufferu]

Poor BTZ!Al :(

Will he at least have people that care for him and want him to stop being the way he is for selfless (or at least selfish but they do care about him) reasons?

Yes, and I hope y’all find the answer to this as hysterical as I do:

The Vollachians.

A huge reason why Al is Like This is because he spent fuck knows how long getting slaughtered over and over again in the Land of Wolves, with special emphasis on Giununhive. And — look, it’s one thing to kill someone. Vollachia is used to killing people, everyone’s gonna have very little issue with that. It’s another thing entirely to trap someone in the Infinite Death Loop Of Nightmares. At a certain point even that lot has to start thinking “Geez. I think we might need to take responsibility for this.” —Especially because, unlike the Arc 9 shenanigans, a lot of what the Vollachians did to him (including the Giununhive folks, who are all RIGHT THERE) never actually got erased.

Unfortunately, these are also the ABSOLUTE LAST PEOPLE Aldebaran would EVER want to figure out his Authority. Shenanigans ensue.

Also, Cecilus has been watching Reinhard and decided that he, too, would like a new little brother. So there’s that.