tl;cr meme

[marriagebroker]

post your character, people reply, give them the deets. you know how this goes.

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[phenomerom]

-- in other words, he definitely got a stress tummyache after talking to Yingying during the ghosts incident. That's not the sort of risk he'd normally take in such a populated setting, but the presence of the other ghosts kind of set the stage for him, and so he felt that he might be able to get away with a bit more by trying to blur the lines between what he was naturally seeing, and what was being caused by the estate itself. Still not a fun conversation for him! He definitely had a heart palpitation when Yingying asked if she was being interrogated, because he immediately worried if he'd triggered some sort of aggressive meltdown; he probably had to go take a fucking breather outside after that, even if nothing actually happened. (For the record, when it came to the subject of Rom asking Yingying about her mothers, he came across as a little extra clinical ... That was in part because he was being careful! But also in part because that's a subject he just can't speak with as much confidence about. His mother found him so unbearable that he was abandoned quite young, so everything sympathetic he could say about Yingying's own beloved mothers was coming from a purely hypothetical perspective for him. He really was doing his best, but his best was Not Good in that situation, unfortunately.)

I do think though that that interaction did help ease Rom a little further along in accepting that Yingying probably wasn't dangerous. She hadn't lashed out despite his prodding, and more importantly, it sounded like the root of her "haunting"(?) wasn't inherently dangerous, especially since she spoke about her mothers with what sounded like a very pure sort of love (by his assessment). The sheer number of spirits around her was still cause for concern, but at least it sounded like her situation was more just complicated than it was an active threat he'd have to defuse ASAP. Another factor that helped ease his concerns a little bit was seeing Yingying and Yi Sang seeming to forge a special bond between them. Rom was actually moderately surprised that they didn't end up being a perfect match because they seemed to mesh so well during the second match ceremony, and since he could really easily see their cute bond despite their sharp contrasts in many ways (Yingying's exceptional beauty vs. Yi Sang being more bedraggled, her charms vs. his moroseness, etc.) making for a really really good television-worthy storyline. Alas, it didn't work out them, but still ... I think getting to see Yingying seeming to forge genuine connections with people did have him leaning more towards her 'haunting' not being an immediate danger, and he was even rooting for them a little bit.

I think by the fourth week Rom had already dropped his guard towards her a fair bit (though not to zero), and the lore drop kind of gave him the final bit of context to connect everything else he was seeing, explaining a lot about why she looked the way she did to him; her explanation of it fell neatly in line with everything else as well, and finally, he felt like he could actually speak to her with even a modicum of honesty.

Rom, despite his extreme caution towards spirits (which is justified, because they sure can fuck people up), actually also has a lot of sympathy towards them. He'll always lean towards leaving alone ones that aren't hurting people, or trying to get them to pass on peacefully; even if a spirit is harmful, if he gets the sense that it doesn't wish to be malicious and might actually be suffering, he'll try to get to the bottom of that. So of course the moment he got that hard confirmation that Yingying wasn't actually a cause for concern, his main sentiment towards her flipped from caution to a desire to help. Further colored by a slight sense of feeling bad. It wouldn't exactly be guilt since I think Rom wouldn't feel like he'd done anything wrong per se -- he'd acted by the books, and from his point of view, it would have been objectively stupid of him to make hasty assumptions and gamble with everyone's safety. But even if it wasn't his responsibility to offer Yingying his help earlier, that doesn't mean he's exactly happy with the timeline of how things happened -- Rom definitely wished that the lore drop had come earlier so that he could have listened to her and had more time to see if he could do anything for her.

Not that it mattered much in the end, since Yingying's wish was enough to save her! Rom's bad feelings from the final week might linger a bit, but that really doesn't matter anywhere near as much as the fact that she was saved from her plight, for which Rom is genuinely happy! He can only imagine just how much and for how long she's been suffering, given what she explained to him, so he knows her happiness is extremely hard-won and well-deserved. And he's also glad that she'll have the company of Odile and Yi Sang as she enters this new stage in her life -- Rom considers Odile really sensible and reliable, while Yi Sang is extremely kind and empathetic, so between the two of them, he knows Yingying is really in good hands.

I think ... Rom would actually worry about her a little bit as they all depart the game, just because he understands the gravity of what she was through, and it's the sort of thing he's sure would leave scars no matter how much a 'wish' might have given her a new lease on life. But if she was strong enough to retain her mind even through her long suffering, then she'll probably be okay no matter the lingering effects, especially with good company, right? So Rom wouldn't like hover over her or anything, but I think he'd periodically find an excuse to message her -- mostly trying to see how she's doing, with the excuse that wants to upload an old clip of her on his channel or whatever else. And, y'know, it'd be nice to hear if she's doing well! He genuinely is happy for her and wants her to have a good life now.