#emersons

They're close! They're just Emersons 😅 so sometimes it might not look that way or seem questionable. Especially when they find themselves on conflicting sides of an issue, usually meaning Curt is stirring the pot while Heidi is trying to resolve things — very easy to assume they don't like each other or have some sort of rivalry going.

The two of them do mostly get along, though, and rarely get into real fights. Both of them have learned to avoid the topics that would start one, like religion or their parents. You'd only know when they're actually mad at each other if you're close enough for one to vent about it or if you manage to catch on to their mutual silence treatments.

oh, good question! Yeah no, these two function differently from everyone else 😅

The main RO intros are fairly straightforward, but meeting the Emerson you don't have class with only happens in passing. So if you've got Heidi in first period, your only chances to meet Curt before the Emersons' birthday party will be at the school fair during Spirit Week or through an interaction involving Rupan/Rohan. Same applies to Heidi (just sub out R for Jessie).

I explained what getting close to the Emersons requires of the player here. You'll still have some interactions and a potential run-in with them if you don't join their social scene, but you won't be involved in any of their sub-plots or character development. If you do manage to join their scene, congrats! You can befriend or romance either Heidi or Curt now, regardless of who you have class with!

fufufu 👀 looks like someone figured out they'd brush off crying acquaintances, not loved ones...

Heidi's used to it tbh 😅 Not necessarily dating a crybaby, but she's been best friends with Jessie forever let alone growing up with Curtis. She's not always great at comforting, but tears and sensitivity don't bother her... she kinda treasures it. She's pretty patient and protective of crybabies she cares about — too patient by Emerson family standards.

Compassion and empathy, to whatever extent they have it, are traits that Curt and Heidi developed despite their upbringing. The Emerson family prizes cool temperaments and cold hearts. If you must lose control of yourself enough to find crying necessary, it should be done infrequently, in isolation, and for a limited amount of time. The way Heidi and Curt react here is honestly one of the softer reactions an Emerson would have to crying during a conversation! When an Emerson brings a new spouse into the fold, the whole clan is trying to figure out how easily they break, psychologically or emotionally. Crying during a difficult topic that isn't, like, related to grief or mourning would instantly mark you as an outsider and a weakling to them — for good. They barely tolerate that amongst themselves, they sure as hell won't tolerate it from a stranger.

How fellow students react to you romancing any of the popular ROs, esp. an Emerson, will depend on things like your gender, Persona, Reputation, and any Rumors concerning you. With the Emersons, you do need to reach a certain Reputation level by the end of their Halloween party in order to access their plot lines, but you can let it fall after that and you won't get kicked off those routes or anything. The MC's pronoun preference affects whether the school at large assumes you are just friends or dating, but the secondary student characters are gossiping and paying way more attention than that.

Heidi just replies with an assured "Of course." Then she raises an eyebrow at you, confused. "Why do you ask?"

Don't be so sure about how they might react to the MC... but Book 2 MC is inherently seen differently because you'll be an adult involved in their adult children's lives — impossible and potentially unwise to ignore or write off at that stage. A teen MC is at least given the benefit of the doubt of being a mostly harmless kid.