The first thing this fic really opened up in terms of Ryomas character is how overriden with grief he is. W/o spoilers, he goes through a cycle of thoughts that follow the line of "I should have done this, if I were to XYZ, none of this would have happened" which is SO YUMMY to dissect because it's coming from this repressed man that won't get help for a while.

Ryoma cries in this. He panics, he snaps and lashes out, yells, sobs, feels white-hot fear overtake his body, grows feverish and sweats a river when experiencing a stressful situation/being overcome with flashbacks, while in the OG that would be a rare sight. I personally like seeing some emotion on a main character of an anime rather than aurafarming or being stone cold all the time.

The way his panic attacks were described is also such a chefs kiss moment because it really does show how suffocating it would be in his situation - and he's a human after all, so of course both his mind and body would panic from experiencing and remembering gruesome events. A tiny bit of this is included in Hayatos character too, because he has his moments where he will literally shake from fear/panic and that is also just so..Great To See. Less "shocked face and nothing else", more "shaking from panic because the situation IS panic inducing"

Which reminds me to mention

First, getting used to the word 'friend' when used in regards to Hayato again, though obviously there are still hints of distrust in there and that "discomfort in comfort" feeling mentioned throughout. There's a very slight loose similarity I see in their conversations & HanniGrahams, unironically. Hayato is very motherly. And yet also at the same time just So Closed Off that Ryoma spends a long time not knowing what he thinks, feels, or even intends with him. Bickering with him = him arguing semantics and ragebaiting you. It's lovely. I really liked how the layers slooowly got peeled off until Ryoma had finally seen his "heart" so to say. And trust me the payoff for that slow burn is so worth it

Ryomas horrid passive and at times active suicidality in this work as well is something that just made me sit down and think really hard. Obviously it's driven by his grief but it also feels like many other points and stressors in his life could add on to the wish to never exist. Not many are made to handle the kind of stress he went through, if at all, and he's reacting in the only way he knows how to. 💔  There is a very beautiful way that he overcomes this in his work that I think many people would enjoy reading through

His relationship to Go in here moved around in such an interesting way. There's a steady progression from foe to friend, and even an interesting twist in Gos character when it comes to his association with Michiru, and trying to interpret Gos own feelings or thoughts towards her was also really rewarding <_< +++Doubly loved that Gos personality were kept how it were in the original ❤️

There is one - well okay, Many nightmarish scenarios, but one that was specifically a set of hallucinations that you could really feel the dread from. It's stuck in my head and I dunno if I will forget it yet. It felt like "evil sleep paralysis stuff but with friendship is magic music at the end"

Also also: the fight sequences. I haven't read that many works that involve active combat, but the way it is written here is very yummy and understandable - what goes where, who punched who, etc. AND! At times those sequences are also written as a sort of dance which was really fun to imagine while reading

Hayato in here feels like a very much independent person to the point of not really letting others worry or care for him. It's not a Main Point, but something I felt like was worth noting

I laughed, cried, pouted, got angry, got happy, gayed out, straightened in, etc.

Also, many people have said that FS!Ryoma has become canon!Ryoma in their eyes. Do with that what you will