#ds!rem

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I have an absolutely diabolical scene planned for Rem’s “I am fine with being your second wife” scene in Dogshow btw.

Most I’ll say for now is that it involves Julius hearing that, thinking of the type of person Subaru is, and taking a moment to try and warn him that he, of all people, is absolutely unsuited for polyamory — only for his stern words to land a critical hit against Subaru’s self-esteem.

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It does kind of amaze me the degree to which AO3 readers apparently want every react fic to be nothing but glazing all their favorite characters lmao. Like I thought there’d be one or two mildly disappointed voices when I first started out, but the sheer volume and aggressiveness of that desire is something else.

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Anyway apparently the next Dogshow chapter is going to swerve into [Canon-Typical Depictions of Possible Incest] and I have no fucking clue how to feel about that. But like. I can’t just IGNORE something like—

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God I’m writing a whole bunch of Rem stuff for the Dogshow fic right now and—

This is gonna sound so backwards but. Rem does not get enough credit for the From Zero speech, actually. Not JUST because of what it does for Subaru — but because in that moment, for just one conversation, she actually manages to defy all of her worst traits at the same time to do what she knows is the right thing to do. That one moment legitimately only gets better and better.

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PFFFT HAHAHAHA THIS REALLY WAS THAT WHOLE SCENE WASN’T IT—?!

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The latest chapter (Arc 9 chapter 35) includes a piece of information that could be added into the arc 2 react. It's not really plot relevant and is more of background information, so don't read further if you count that as a spoiler:

Ram is the reason the maid uniforms are designed that way. She designed them so she could see Rem wearing something cute. Post gluttony, she doesn't remember the reason and makes excuses about how it's for increased mobility or something.

Every night, Subaru oils and polishes Rem's Morningstar. He even keeps a bottle of oil next to the stand for the morningstar. Ram, and I'm assuming the rest of Emilia camp, are aware that Subaru does this.

👁️👄👁️ Subaru does WHAT

…holy shit I wish I knew that a month ago—

(And damn. Was sure Roswaal designed the maid outfits like that because he wanted to lure in that teenage boy.)

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Here’s a passage from the next chapter out of context:

____

It was strange, perhaps, to have never seen herself in a mirror before. Stranger still, to only be familiar with her current body as it felt in her blue nightgown — or, perhaps, as it appeared in a maid dress. Rem hadn’t considered it before, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about what she looked like underneath…

With her ____ twin sister right there for comparison, identical in nearly every way, it was somewhat easier for Rem to start conceptualizing herself as a physical being with traits that could be named. Both of them were — slender, and perhaps they looked a little bit more youthful than they were. They had somewhat delicate builds, but they were also sturdy and fit. Did the two of them perhaps exercise regularly, or was it more a mark of their heritage? Either way…

But there were differences there, too. The hair was obvious, but their eyes, too, were different. Rem had never really thought about it before, but even putting aside the color… Rem’s eyes were a little bit gentler than Ram’s, somehow. She was a far more vicious person, but her eyes didn’t seem to reflect that reality very well at all.

—And also. Was it just her, or were Rem’s breasts…?

Ram blinked. “Rem?” she asked.

Rem froze as she realized that her twin sister had turned to catch her in the act of squeezing at her own chest, trying to get a feel for their approximate size beneath her nightgown. “Uh,” she said.

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Lowkey I'm looking forward to seeing everyones reactions to Rem borderline stalking Subaru after the fact more than the Torture scene itself because damn what a 180 lmao Her fingering his mouth while he sleeps scene will send waves Wilhelm will have a conniption (as a general thing I've always wondered, how could a healthy Rembaru relationship even happen post arc 2? I like them together but I cant actually imagine a way for them to be together and it NOT be kinda fucked at best lmao)

You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to WRITING that, lmao—

Honestly, I…don’t think Remsuba CAN be healthy post-Arc 2/pre-Arc 3. The way those two characters are during that time period (especially Rem) means that they’d end up enabling each other’s worst instincts indefinitely, with Rem pushing Subaru to follow even his most stupid and reckless plans no matter how horribly they’d go (ie. filling the bathtubs of the estate with mayonnaise, waking up her chronically disabled sister ahead of time when she knows that Ram needs to sleep, leaping out of a moving carriage in the middle of a highway, sneaking off to the Royal Selection Ceremony behind Emilia’s back, picking a fight with three different Royal Candidates with his dogshit negotiation skills) and Subaru doing absolutely nothing to push back against Rem’s codependency. Sloth:IF is actually kind of brilliant because — they ARE a happy couple, at least on the surface. But they’ve both stagnated, and neither of them are pushing each other to face their most difficult challenges in life. Remsuba here is at its best when it’s at least a little bit toxic tbh.

But HEALTHY Remsuba…aside from giving both of them (especially Rem) extensive therapy — honestly, I think amnesiac!Rem could actually get into a healthy relationship with Subaru at some point. If she’d just stop being such an asshole to him, they’d probably be okay together? But she WOULD need to stop being such an ass. She’s getting there, though.