Pavel Yudin and Karin Sauer from the horror game, Fear and Hunger: Termina, have (fortunately? unfortunately?) invaded my brain and I have no issues making it everyone else's problem! While they are both my favorite characters, I also coincidentally ship them! Which is always convienent~

Parallels

While working on my Everyone Lives AU comic, I realized that Pav and Karin had a lot of parallels, which eventually got me to shipping them! Some of them are kinda silly, but others make me insane with how well they work that I constantly wonder how I'm the only one who really sees it wwwww

Karin deals with Kaiser from the outside, loudly opposing him and rallying others to see her point of view, while Pav deals with Kaiser from the inside, quietly planning revenge

Karin was ripped away from her family, involuntarily being raised outside her home country. Pav, meanwhile, had his family ripped away from him and voluntarily left his home country for revenge

One of Karin's major character traits is that she is believed—Pav is the one person who readily confirms what she's saying is true (backhandedly, of course)

They both state that they want to work alone

They both have pistols as their main weapon

Karin is looking for a scoop, and even comments in-game that the scoop in Prehevil got bigger. Pav's favorite food? Ice cream. I rest my case.

Headcanons

In thinking about them so heavily, I've of course developed a ton of headcanons for what I think their relationship would be like.

While during Termina, Karin was obsessed with Pav (or rather, Bremen pigs as a whole), Pav would be obsessed with Karin afterwards, due to her "goodness" and her ability to accomplish far more than he did without giving up her ideals and morals (adding in my own parallels :3c)

Speaking of adding my own parallels, I've decided that Pav grew up poor to contrast Karin coming from a rich family~

If they both lived through Termina, there would be no fucking way Karin doesn't interview him for an article. She got him in her grasp and squeezed everything she could out of him...then got him stuck on her :3c

Karin drinks her coffee black and watches in horror when Pav adds a cup of sugar to his coffee at least.

Pav, filled with guilt for joining an army he hates for nothing, would fall into some sucidal ideation, which contrasts heavily with Karin's endless soul self-preservation

In addition to the last point, Karin would chastise Pav's suicidal tendencies, because "What the hell is that supposed to do? You fucked up, so go fix it! Dying would be a cop-out."

His idea of "fixing it" is following Karin around and "helping" her, much to her chagrin :3c

Pav was raised with Alll-mer ideals and spent a year in an Alll-mer orphanage before running away to join the Bremen army. Because of this, though not to the same extent as Marina, and not at all religious, he has Catholic-adjacent thoughts, which furthers his guilt.

Karin has gone through many lovers and even received a marriage proposal once (she rejected). She recently decided that she wasn't worth loving and she's still unsure if it's her fault for being so disagreeable or everyone else's fault for expecting her to change after they get together, like some sort of "prize".

Enemies to Lovers

Pav and Karin are my favorite version of enemies to lovers! I personally don't like the kind of the trope where they are polar opposites with opposite ideals that are forced to work together, because I just don't find it very believable or even fun to read about. I much prefer it where the pair are actually somewhat similar to the other, but the reason they're enemies is because of circumstance. A misunderstanding, a long-needed talk, being forced to be pit against the other, etc. Which Pav and Karin more than fulfill! As shown in the Parallel section, the two really are pretty similar! But the reason they're enemies is not because they're not on the same side, but because they think they're not on the same side. Karin sees Pav and immediately assumes he's the bad guy, because he's part of the Bremen army. Pav sees Karin as someone in his way of reaching his goal and is willing to kill her to get by (is it truly enemies to lovers if they don't try to kill each other at least once?). If they sat down and had an honest chat with each other for five seconds, they would realize they had the same goal and perhaps would be willing to work together.

But, like...why would they do that? :3c

I personally think it's pinnacle for enemies to lovers to be that the worst person you know is who understands you the most and it's just so well-written in Pav and Karin. Which, no, I don't think it was intentional, which makes it even crazier. They just work that well together naturally.

Pav's Family and Friends

Anna Yudin - Pav's mother. Tainted soul. Her husband left when Pav was still a baby because he felt he could make more money without them. Due to her having been raised to be a wife, she had no other skills to make money that people in her village couldn't find elsewhere, so she turned to sex work to care for her family. She had two more kids after Pav, both with different fathers. She enjoyed sex work, but knew that she shouldn't, and from being shamed by the people of her village and her oldest daughter, she accepted that she was a vile person and that it was her fault her husband left. Because of this, she constantly raised her kids to be "good people" and never be wicked like her. She has no concept of saving money, using any extra she had to buy nice things for her kids.

Katya Yudin - Pav's older sister. Suffocated soul. Since Pav's mother worked nights and slept in late, Katya ended up raising Pav and the younger siblings herself. Of all of his family, Katya is who Pav has the most memory of. She taught Pav a lot of "feminine skills" so that he could help around the house, such as basic cleaning chores, cooking and baking, and sewing. She had a lot of thoughts on politics, but generally kept them to herself, as she knew speaking up would just put a spotlight on her and her family's shame. While she loved her mother, she also felt frustrated that she couldn't find any other kind of work or that she constantly spent money on "frivolous things" when they could hardly afford to eat. She died at the age of sixteen.

Ivan Yudin - Pav's younger brother. Enlightened soul. The first child born of a different father, Ivan often escaped to books to avoid hearing what people had to say about him. Even at a young age, he wished to one day go to a nice school and become someone important to create a whole new identity. Pav would often say things he knows are not true just to get on Ivan's nerves. He died at the age of ten.

Vasilisa Yudin - Pav's younger sister. Stagnant soul. Pav has the least amount of memories about her. The only thing he can really remember is that she was sick with pneumonia and he had to carry her out to the night air to clear her sinuses. He's unsure if she ever got better. She wasn't even a year old when she died. Her body was unrecognizable.

Leysa Barkova - Pav's best friend growing up. He has no memory of her. The only kid in the village who was poorer than Pav, the two were fast friends. Both being genderqueer, they often would sneak in the woods to switch clothes "just for fun". They thought they would likely marry, simply because it would be the easiest thing to do, but neither had any romantic interest in the other. She died at the age of twelve.

Karin's Family and Friends

Elsa Sauer Karin's mother. Dominating soul. Elsa has a mind for money, not in the way where she really wants to make money, but she can easily understand it. Because of this, she helped her husband, Hubert, with his publishing company and, by the time Karin was born, they became new money. Becoming so busy that she couldn't mother at all, they hired a nanny to take care of the children, which they heavily regret, due to, yes, the nanny kidnapping Karin, but also them never getting to know her. Elsa paid every single penny of the ransom in hopes of getting Karin back one day. When Hubert died and Elsa struggled for money trying to replace their things from the fire, she blackmailed Maxwell Mohr to marry her so she can keep paying the ransom. The two heavily do not like each other, but have fallen into a routine that allows them to live peacefully. After getting Karin back, Elsa is determined to reconnect with her daughter and let her know that she's loved and protected. Perhaps too determined.

Klaus Sauer Karin's oldest brother. Shepherding soul. Karin loved Klaus growing up and heavily looked up to him. He would often be the only one she would listen to (though that was still pretty rare). He read to Karin a lot, as it was the one thing that kept her sitting still and out of trouble. When she was kidnapped, Klaus felt a heavy amount of guilt, feeling that he should have been more responsible and looked after her better, being the oldest brother. While he was also frustrated with his parents not knowing their daughter, he knew they were busy and took the brunt of the guilt himself. When Karin came back and made it clear she didn't want any pity or protecting, Klaus started distancing himself from her, as he knew he wouldn't be able to not want to protect her.

Kristopher Sauer Karin's older brother. Latent soul. Karin often bullied Kris to go along with her shenanigans as a kid, only for them to backfire immensely. Their favorite game was tag, which often ended up with someone getting a broken bone. Kris fell into a depression when Karin was kidnapped and didn't understand why, as the years went by, his family kept paying the ransom. He was convinced that she was dead and that they were being scammed. When Karin came back, Kris felt guilty for having any of those thoughts. That, in addition to Karin's clear disdain for her family's worry for her, had Kris eventually distance himself from Karin, thinking that she wanted nothing to do with someone who lost so much faith in her.

Dalia - Karin's nanny. She kidnapped Karin at the age of seven and raised her as her own. She tried to love Karin like a mother, but Karin proved to be a difficult child, one that was far too smart for her own good. Karin never let go that Dalia had kidnapped her and would bring it up constantly. Even so, when Karin got sick or had a bad day at school, it was always Dalia who was there to comfort her. Dalia was frustrated with Karin's increasing interest in politics, wanting to live quietly, but she knew that forbidding Karin from anything made her want to do it even more, so she supported her when she could. She worried constantly about when Karin would turn eighteen and what she would do for money—Jettaiah was not kind to the poor, which is why she had kidnapped Karin in the first place. Once Karin got back home earlier than planned, Dalia went into hiding. Karin has no clue where she could be and doesn't care. That woman isn't worth her time.

Sahar - Karin's best friend growing up in Jettaiah. They two were school chums and would often spend their time after school at each other's house. Sahar's family didn't like how outspoken Karin was, however, fearing it would get their family in trouble, so they eventually only hung out at Karin's place. They both got into politics together, participating in peaceful protests. While they were rarely directly bullied (because Karin always fought back), girls would often talk about them when they thought they couldn't hear. The two were once curious what it's like to be kissed and Karin's fix was for them to kiss each other. This ended with Sahar being Karin's bisexual awakening (though she was never romantically interested in her), while Sahar got confirmation that she's straight. Sahar never really believed Karin's story that she was kidnapped, as even that felt too far-fetched, so she was careful to avoid the topic, as denying it often made them fall into an argument. During a peaceful protest, Sahar was being beat by the authorities and Karin stole a gun to shoot them and save her, which resulted in her being shot as well. While they chatted a few times over the phone afterwards, they fell out of contact when Karin went home.

Louis - Karin's mentor. A First War veteran from Lusem, Louis eventually settled in Jettaiah. He was previously shot in the brain and cared for by the (magical) doctors there. While alive, he does have a permanent affliction where his hands will sometimes spasm. With the locals, he helped organize protests for better life and creating a larger middle-class for the area. He was quick to notice a spark in Karin and guided her in anyway he could. Karin had a crush on him, but only spoke of it to Sahar, knowing he was far too old for her even then. Louis did, however, go out of his way to teach Karin different skills, such as using a gun, and encouraged her to continue speaking out confidently. While he didn't believe her story of her being kidnapped at first, he did notice a sadness and lonliness in her and started interacting with Dalia with disdain. He allowed Karin to borrow his coat often for a variety of reasons. When he found out she was sexually assaulted by a fellow protest coordinator, he gave her his coat to wear home and stated he would take care of it. She never knew what he meant by that, as the next day, when she went to give it back, was when the peaceful protest of that day was shut down by the authorities and Louis was beat to death. She ended up with an unhealthy connection to the coat and started wearing it even when it's inappropriate for the weather.