#diamivy

Diamant & Ivy

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been drawing several different chibi heads to fit each one of Ivy's canon support options to make them all into a gif for the fic raffle I'm hosting, which you can find the link to here! Here's the final post of all 12 different chibi heads. Feel free to use these however you'd like, just please give me credit if you plan on using them.

Been a while since I yapped about diamivy... anyway!

I think their support really touches on two huge aspects of their characters: Diamant's sincerity and insecurity, Ivy's trust issues and valuing of genuine intent.

A VERY recurring theme in Diamant's bond supports is his insecurity. The uncertainty he faces in his future role as king, and whether he'll be a good ruler or not. And in Ivy's bond supports, the topic of trust comes up often. Namely her troubles with it, borne from her upbringing.

Their support is one of TWO instances where Diamant openly reveals his insecurity towards leadership/ruling to someone who isn't an emblem (the other person is Alear).

The man who feels he should show NO fear, no weakness, unloads to a woman who WAS his sworn enemy until a bit ago. The crown princess of Elusia, THE person he should not be revealing weakness to.

And this unexpected moment of sincerity from him directly plays on Ivy's trust. It starts with the gem he personally gives her, but there is hesitance.

She thinks that he may want something in return (hence her NEED to thank him, to not owe a debt), because growing up, Ivy has been made to believe that most relationships ARE transactional. People want things from you. Acts of kindness are not acts of sincerity. They have conditions.

And with the prince of BRODIA? There has to be a catch. She can't be beholden to him or his country.

Despite what people say ("oh they're instantly friends"), there IS an undercurrent of tension and distrust initially!

But it's covered by a layer of royal decorum and "rising above" feuds and heated emotions (which Alcryst's dynamic with Ivy directly - and interestingly - contrasts), and it's covered by a faint understanding of each other's circumstances.

And it's fully broken when Diamant reveals his deeper insecurities. Unexpected to her, and even unexpected to HIM ("sorry for unloading").

And Ivy's response to that? "I'm relieved you're a kind person"... though the localization changes it to, "I'm relieved you have the same concerns".

Both establish connection, but the original emphasizes his kind nature, which opens Ivy up to trusting his intent and vision, thus allowing her to have faith in it, as well.

This is what spurs her to make the necklace from his gem, to give him the tangible plan he NEEDED for a new connection to Elusia, not fueled by, or reliant on, war.

Ivy has always struggled to trust and open up to others, but when she sees their sentiment is genuine, and that their good intent is true (the Kagetsu support is a great example of this), this allows her to fully open up.

And this is what happens with Diamant.

He - unintentionally - makes himself vulnerable with her, a rare occurrence for him, and she puts aside her discomfort and tension to begin the path to trusting in him as a friend, and partner she can work alongside to restore and reform both their countries.

Diamant and Ivy not immediately jumping to lashing out and hatred? Is perfectly true to their characters, and imo is a more interesting angle on the usual "enemies to friends" formula.

Enemies by circumstance, but two people who actually connect really well with each other once they're able to peel back the layers.

To me, the resolution to the Brodia-Elusia war is still too recent for the countries to actually unite as one through Diamant and Ivy's marriage, and I think both of them would choose to focus on what is best for their kingdoms over personal romances

Whenever I picture them actually being a couple, the scenario is "a second chance with my first love"

Decades after ruling and passing on their thrones to their own children (or niece or nephew if you kept them single during that time period), they reunite and old feelings return to the surface