#se system

(Also hi!! It’s been a while, I miss you <3)

SE Ray loves to listen to your interests, hands down. He spends a lot of time working throughout the bunker on cleaning or cooking since that’s what gives him a sense of control. He is the most outwardly honest about enjoying listening to whatever it is that you have to talk about. There is never a shadow of a doubt about it! He loves knowing what makes you happy, since he makes sure to affirm that he's listening by engaging with questions now and again. You never have to think twice about it. You can count on him to look up from the table he’s working at to ask, “So, why did Tohru decide to do that?”

He’s also one of the two that will engage with you while other people are in the room! He doesn’t mind answering and talking back to you if Lila or Saeyoung are in the room! Those two don't bother him when it comes to focusing on making sure that you feel like somebody understands the things that matter the most to you. He knows that you need to be affirmed by more people than just him when it comes to this! Just... be mindful, he makes treats based on things in every one of the manga you read.

Grave [SE Suit Saeran] is the one that is hard to read. It's difficult to understand what's going on in his head because while he doesn't talk to you about what you're talking about, he doesn't tell you to go away when you do it. So, it's hard for you to know if he's annoyed by it or if he's actually interested. A part of you knows that he would send you away if he didn't have the time or patience to deal with this, but another part of you is still a little insecure about how he feels about it. He’s reading his own novel as you sit nearby on the floor, and that’s not not all that bad. Being with him gives you a quiet space to read. 

However, it is the simple fact that you are alone with him that means there is a strong chance that he could ask you a single question at any point during your time together. Imagine the look of surprise on your face when he stops you mid-sentence to ask, “And why did Homura keep trying when it was only going to repeat itself again and again?”

SE Saeran is somewhere in the middle, and by that, I mean that you can guess that he’s bouncing between Ray’s interest and Grave’s interest. You don’t know what you get with him... sometimes he wants to listen and other times he makes no point to engage with you or listen. It really depends on how much energy he has and how willing he is to put up with what he's dealing with. He knows that it means a lot to you otherwise you wouldn't be spending so much time trying to tell him why you like it so much. He doesn’t get why it matters so much, but it clearly means a lot to you.

So, imagine that! You’re watching him work in his little garden while you sit on the edge of the back porch. He pauses, letting the tomato in his hand come to a rest as you stop to flip the page in your manga. “So, you’re telling me that there’s genuinely someone who is willing to risk the price of wishes coming with a cost if it means they can have something? All in the confines of a restroom? Who even writes these stories?”

Su-Jin [Kid Saeran] is the one that you already know is going to listen from the first second you speak to him. The only issue you'll have with him is the fact that he has a tendency to talk over you when you're talking but he does apologize for it after you tell him that that's rude. He gets excited because he can see  you're excited so you're in for a lengthy conversation when you tell him that you'd like to tell him a story that you enjoy. He takes being told a story seriously since he's so easily swept away by whatever mystery you can give to him.

Grave (SE Suit Saeran) would do that. It is a quiet way for him to share his affection for you without having to admit it. It's easier to do it this way. He doesn't have to think about what to say or do. It is mixed up with the way he shows his appreciation in the first place. He isn't the kind of person that likes to share what he's feeling verbally. It's not that he doesn't know how to do it, it's just that he struggles to admit something he fears. Affection is terrifying in many ways. If he admits he has a vulnerability, it can only lead to hardship in the future. That's why it's much easier to share what he's feeling through something little... like a song. Those are nothing for him because it's the easiest avenue to share what he feels without having to express whatever those feelings encompass.

So, your favorite character? He can take bits and pieces from what you shared with him about that character over time and mix it with whatever he feels towards you. That way it becomes something personal not just to you, but to the way you feel about the character in the first place. He has a way of bringing out some perspective you've never seen before. It's like he can see something that nobody else would even dare to think about.

It's almost... ethereal.

That's so valid. I know that Su-Jin would enjoy it. You know as long as you get him invested in something with bright colors, he's down for a long time. Cartoons are easily his favorite thing in the world since he never got to appreciate them before he moved into the bunker. I can't say who his favorite might be, though. I'm not sure. Bingo, maybe?

I know Ray would have a lot of fun with it, too. He's always happy to engage with the media you love. I think the hard part would be just the fact that these educational characters leave him hurt about the past he experienced. In some ways, it's positive, because he knows that people aren't getting treated like he was, but... it's hard to see it happen when you wanted warmth.

Aw, you made him so happy he had to draw something for it!

You have a theory about it? Did you ever explain it or if you haven't, can you tell me? I'm very curious and would like to hear it!

Oh, I should've been more clear in my tags! So, like, what you wrote sounds a lot like the basis of my theory that connects Another Story to the other routes. I've always firmly connected them with the very strong sense of "If Ray and Suit Saeran never meet MC, they will one day crumble and Unknown will be born from the ashes." Like, that's the real basis of how I write the Secret Ending system with SE Suit Saeran, SE Ray, and SE Saeran.

Your one shot really reminded me of how I wrote SE Suit Saeran's [known as Grave now since he can't use Saeran as a name] return and how he describes his experience. Except, in your case, you've made Unknown an active player in knowing who Suit Saeran and Ray were. When I write about this, Unknown never knew Ray and by that point, Suit Saeran was worn out and tired, and his voice wasn't loud enough to be heard.