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perfectmatch2025-06-29 10:17 am
marriagebroker) wrote in perfectmatch2025-06-29 10:17 am
Entry tags:
tl;cr meme
post your character, people reply, give them the deets. you know how this goes.
post your character, people reply, give them the deets. you know how this goes.
BONUS
But pondering last night about why Edamura wound up falling for Rom as he did (and Rom thinking Edamura might be slightly insane for genuinely liking him HAHA) made me realize that a) he has never told Rom why ICly (MAYBE HE WILL GET AROUND TO IT THE MORE HE LEARNS TO COMMUNICATE HIS FEELINGS) and b) in their week four talking head WWX was like. Would Edamura have fallen for literally anyone who was kind to him?? And I definitely don't think that is true, considering how many people were nice to him that he wound up not having romantic inclinations for. While I think Rom's kindness (specifically the omamori) certainly helped soften Edamura to the idea of falling in love, I don't think it was that alone that did it. I expanded already on his timeline of "wow this guy is obnoxious" to "wow this guy is lonely" to "wow I desperately want to carve out a spot for myself in his life to be there for him" above so I won't get into that again, BUT RATHER babble more about who Rom is as a person and why Edamura found himself drawn to him.
I said before that Edamura's actual type is people who push him out of his comfort zone! People who challenge him, and don't let him get away with pretending to be some ordinary everyday guy who vanishes into the crevices of society. This isn't just his type, but also the kind of person he needs most in his life to prevent himself from growing stagnant. He would, in fact, languish in obscurity without this kind of push! He is VAGUELY AWARE of this fact but likes to pretend it isn't true because it contradicts with his boringly naive notion that he wants to be a normal guy. Rom pushed Edamura from pretty much day one in all of his needling and teasing, which was the very first thing that drew Edamura towards him, even if Edamura was really fussy about it. But he also pushed Edamura in a much deeper way when he encouraged him to spend time with his mom's ghost! And further on, in week four, he pushed Edamura to think more about his relationship with his father and truly examine his feelings there. Beyond that, Rom also lives a pretty dangerous and "abnormal" lifestyle. . . and while he would still (rightfully) try keep Edamura kind of separated from that, I do think Edamura was drawn to the idea of new experiences, even if they were dangerous! Even if they were welllll out of his comfort zone. So the simple fact that Rom himself is not a "normal" person, nor does he live a "normal" life, was another point in his favor. Loathe as he is to admit it, Edamura does need SOME kind of excitement to keep himself going. He is not suited for mundanity and that fact truly kills him. It might be weird or even kind of shallow but I do think Rom's very existence as an exorcist drew Edamura towards him, even if he was like NOOOO I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT SPIRITS at first.
But the most important thing I think I missed on Edamura's love survey is how deeply he appreciates genuineness and sincerity in other people. Squee keyed onto that fact pretty quickly (THANK U SQUEE) but I sort of forgot to highlight it myself, cries. I think, after being surrounded by conmen and liars and disingenuous people (some as friends, some as family, some as targets of his schemes), Edamura has a GREAT appreciation for people who are what they are and nothing else. Even though Rom is very performative in how he presents himself, I think Edamura honed in on the fact that underneath the sleazy salesman was just. . . a guy trying his best. A guy who wanted to protect people!! A surprising genuine person with surprisingly genuine desires! Someone who did have a lot of emotion buried underneath his weird exterior, who sincerely wanted to protect others, and to make the world a safer place in whatever way he could. Even if it meant alienating himself from others via his words and actions. Keying in on that so quickly is what made him want to push Rom back in return, which I think is a good reason why they fell into a nice "baggage for baggage" dynamic, where they look out for each other and don't let the other get away with like. Trying to dodge feelings, or not talk about themselves. And I think it is Rom's genuine nature (cloaked in weird vibes as it is) that was Edamura's biggest draw towards him.
I think if asked straight up why he fell so hard for Rom, Edamura's first answer would be, "because he's sincere," before he makes a self-deprecating quip about him also being a pain in the ass and he GUESSES he kind of likes that!! After that he would probably talk more about what I said in the initial tl;cr— about Rom's kindness, about wanting to share baggage with him, etc etc. . . but anyway. It is very cute that Rom actually fits into the things Edamura actually wants/needs in a partner despite presenting himself as a statistical outlier. Pushes Edamura out of his comfort zone: check. Tugs him gently (WITH RIGHTFUL RESISTANCE) into a life with some sense of adventure: double check. Is very sincere and genuine beneath the layer of weirdo he shows to the world: triple check!!
sorry for more words I just literally thought of this last night. I will stop now I promise!1
no subject
Anyway the mental image of someone ever asking this to Edamura and Edamura answering with "because he's sincere" is so funny to me because if Rom was present for it he would genuinely just be sitting there going ?????????????????????????? to himself. He has plenty of positive adjectives he'd apply to himself without hesitation (and without sarcasm or facetiousness!), but 'sincere' is definitely not one of them ... I'm fucking crying to myself because I can already see I'm gonna have to fistfight the mental gymnastics demons anew over the subject of Rom's self-perception for my upcoming tl;cr with Yi Sang later. Mind you, I don't think Edamura is wrong -- Rom really is quite sincere in his altruism, he just goes about the task with insane clown logic that obfuscates his sincerity due to (gestures vaguely at his everything). But I think he just wouldn't characterize himself as sincere in any way, because he's too aware of the sheer density of his constant lying, as well as the fact that he relies on soft-scamming people in order to maintain his livelihood ... I bet it doesn't help either that his scamming seems to have been what mainly caused that rift between him and Mitsue for the long years before they finally repaired their relationship, making him doubly conscious of it even if he has no plans of changing his operating strategy.
Anyway I hope you'll be delighted to know that Rom is just going to think that Edamura is all the cuter and sweeter for attributing such a word to him, even if he thinks its accuracy is questionable. He knows Edamura is extremely kind and empathetic, willing to give people the benefit of the doubt -- it's why he thinks Edamura is able to accept him in the first place? So in his mind, it tracks that Edamura is also willing to attribute a word like 'sincere' to him, perhaps evaluating his intentions a little too highly ... It just means he's going to have to try all the harder to live up to those standards, huh. Since his main goal is still making sure Edamura doesn't regret anything!
no subject
also I am in fact delighted to know this. ehehe.