#Oc; Ren Itsuki | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hehosts · 2 years

Text

extremely long master headcanon post and meta // trigger warnings include sex work, drinking, basically everything that’s already on this blog // read more for excessive length // subject to edits

FIRST THINGS FIRST: WHO IS WHO?

hatanaka yori 畠中頼 // main character + father to hatanaka kyosuke // the primary protagonist

age: 27+

alias: ren 恋

occupation: #1 host and manager of the host club shining! under the leadership of watanabe goro — the romantic type / the king of shining!

ota fusae 太田絃永 // main character + mother to hatanaka kyosuke // a minor antagonist

age: 25+

alias: hina 日南

occupation: #1 hostess and princess of the hostess club the white lotus

watanabe goro 渡辺五楼 // main character + boss to hatanaka ren // ?? // steals the identities of others, constantly changing aliases, true allegiance unknown

age: ??

alias: ??

occupation: ren’s boss

hatanaka kyosuke 畠中恭佑 // main character + son of ren and hina // about to go into first year of primary school

age: almost 6

ito itsuki 純一喜 // secondary main character + employee of ren // person of interest ( genkigang // currently on hiatus )

age: 23+

alias: sho 初

occupation: ren’s #2 host and subordinate, the genki type.

hosts (subject to change or alternation // beta phase):

the rookie: haru - #10, the newest host / can mean “light, sun, male, or spring.” haru is a gender-neutral name.

the wild type: sōta - #9 / meaning “sound of the wind” plus “big, thick.”

the athletic type: daisuke - #8 / a gender-neutral japanese name meaning “great, big, or help.”

the intellectual type: satoshi - #7 / meaning “intelligent or sharp.”

the artistic type: rōnin - #6 / meaning “drifter or wanderer.”

the angelic type: ringo - #5 / meaning “apple.”

the devilish type: katsu - #4 / meaning “victory.”

the gentle type: yūto - #3 / can mean “excellence, gentleness, superiority or permanence with person,” or “soar or fly.”

the genki type / the prince: shō - #2 / meaning “soar, fly,” or “prize, reward,” occasionally meaning “general” depending on kanji used.

REN’S (ROLEPLAY) TIMELINE:

** ren’s life from birth to death, summarized **

based on finally getting the timeline straight, since ren is associated with my other oc akira on lifesliced, they’re a year apart. they met in middle school first, but became closer towards the end of middle / beginning of high school.

hatanaka yori was born to hatanaka kyoko relatively healthy and happy on august 17. he was born to a single mother with no awareness of who his father is / was, and if he is currently still alive. it is uncertain if he knew of her pregnancy or not, and ren’s mother does not talk about him often, so he stopped asking shortly before entering middle-school. he attended high school with strong grades, consistently at the top of his class, and showed great promise towards music with a natural talent and interest both in the piano and vocally.

his dream was to become a professional pianist, and he took lessons from ages 6 to 15. he started writing music at 14, and was most often found in the music room(s). he played several sports throughout his time in middle and high school, and was particularly good at track, which he stuck with. he was in the music, english, and gardening clubs, and began working part-time at local markets and grocery stores when he was 15.

at 17, in the last quarter of his senior year, hatanaka yori becomes the primary caretaker for his mother, kyoko, after she becomes too sick to work full-time, eventually becoming housebound. already immunocompromised throughout the entirety of her life, she has always somewhat depended on yori for help. she gets pneumonia and bronchitis regularly, and generally gets extremely sick from common colds and flus.

yori graduates high school in march at 18 with the majority of his class, maintaining his local work at the grocery store. he finally begins hosting part-time just after graduation, taking on the alias “umi.” by this time, his mother is unable to hold a job. she uses a wheelchair when she is too weak to walk, unable to properly support herself on crutches.

while seeking avenues for fast cash, he quickly realizes he cannot juggle work, caring for his mother, and the potential of going to university / classes all at once. he does not go to college as he once planned, instead turning to pursue hosting full-time. he is operating independently as the primary breadwinner.

by 19, yori is officially escorting on the side to make additional income. he meets some of his clients at the club, who then share his services with others. this is when his black book becomes more than just for hosting.

yori / “umi” meets watanabe goro (under another alias at the time) shortly before his 20th birthday. this alias leads “umi” to the alias / identity known as “watanabe goro.”

by 20, he is officially working as a host at shining! under goro. his mother is generally homebound, struggling with physical therapy, her general health, and depression. he is only hosting at shining!, not managing.

goro teaches ren the ropes, and is the one that eventually gives ren his permanent alias at the age of 21. ren also receives his permanent “character” type with goro — the romantic type.

at 21, ren becomes the #1 host. soon after, he is entrusted to begin general management duties, including hiring, after the location faced a bit of turnover. he was at the number two spot before his promotion, coming up quickly due partially to his tenacity, leaving behind a few rightfully bitter employees. they subsequently quit after ren’s position was made official. this left a few gaping holes in ren’s roster, requiring him to find new would-be hosts.

soon after, ren hires sho in late january / early february, after having a one-night stand at a love hotel. he promised sho he would “make him a star,” giving him his card during their drunken hookup. he was surprised to see sho actually turned up the next day. after a few test runs, sho was officially hired.

sho speedily rose in the ranks, becoming ren’s number two host after just under two years at age 21.

** sho was 19 when ren hired him, and met ren under his real name itsuki. he knew ren only as his alias initially, soon after learning his actual name after becoming a full-time employee **

meanwhile from 20-22, ren is having a semi-regular “relationship” with a customer (hina) at shining!. a year into their love affair, she becomes pregnant. after much pleading, hina eventually agrees to have their baby. they try to make it work during her pregnancy, attempting to become fully monogamous to each other.

kyosuke is born when ren is 22 and hina is 20, making kyosuke almost 7 by the end of ren’s “primary verse”. in most threads, kyosuke is 5, going on 6.

** kyosuke was born december 12th, and thus ren considers kyosuke his early christmas present. **

a year after the birth of their son, the relationship between ren and hina dissolves, though they remain in constant contact because of their son, kyosuke (kyosuke 恭輔 meaning “respectful”). while they are not together by title, they actively continue to see each other sexually, and have occasionally attempted to get back together, only to have it end in shambles. note: ren and hina were technically married.

at 23, ren is fully operating shining as a direct extension of its owner. he is juggling raising a baby, who is almost one, while trying to have a relationship with hina, who is living with him at this time, and caring for his mother, who is finding a renewed joy in bonding with her new grandson.

when ren is 24, he makes sho his official assistant manager. to sho’s credit, he was already basically doing these tasks prior to his indictment to the role. sho tends to shining! on ren’s day off, and tends to floor duties when ren is too busy.

by 26, ren has been managing shining! successfully, though is struggling to handle his problems with alcohol, being a single father, among other personal situations he’s found himself involved.

by 27, he is fully invested in his career, still doing his best to manage his professional and personal life as he readies kyosuke for his first year of primary school.

at 28, ren is still managing shining!, and has enrolled kyosuke in first grade. he is finding complications working a primarily night-job now that kyosuke is not at home during the day, thus making their only quality time together on ren’s sole day off (sunday), and in the evenings where ren is typically unavailable, leaving a large gap in ren’s primary working hours as a host. he can escort after kyosuke goes to bed, but is finding himself unwilling to give up the bit of time he would have with kyosuke otherwise, and begins to seek other options. he leaves hosting about half-way through kyosuke’s first year of school.

[ this is the end of ren’s “main verse”, and is now entering his “secondary verse” ]

by 29, ren has already left shining! in order to follow sho to one of japan’s “rental boyfriend” services at a primarily website-based business called brilliance. sho left only a month before ren did, thus encouraging a decision he was already considering. ren is typically “purchased” for personal dates, weddings, parties, and other gatherings, as well as “date packages” that the service can provide via purchase with the “rental”.

you can read further about his secondary verse / rent-a-boyfriend services versus his escorting here. ren is still escorting, seeing a mixture of the clients he pooled together from his time hosting, and from some of his new connections through the rental service.

throughout his time away from shining!, ren was still indebted to goro, thus is still running errands and other jobs on goro’s behalf.

through his 30s, ren works for brilliance while escorting, finally creating enough of a savings to rent a small house on the outskirts of the red-light district. kyosuke attends school, doing well despite having some adjustment issues. he is socially anxious, but excels in his studies, while finding an interest in art and dance.

at 35, his mother passes away due to health complications.

[ this is the end of ren’s “secondary verse”, and is now entering his “post verse” ]

by 40, ren has entirely left the trade as a working man, though will still see long-term clients on occasion. with goro as his primary investor, ren opens his own hostess bar and club called the red rose. finding success, ren is able to fully run his own business as he sees fit, able to pay goro back within six years of partnership. they continue to work together until goro’s sudden disappearance before ren’s 55th birthday. kyosuke attends college, properly starting his own life, though remains incredibly close to his father.

ren dies at age 67 of health complications, his former lifestyle finally catching up to him.

CHARACTER ASSOCIATIONS:

animal: flemish rabbit / japanese hare

month: august, february, december

number: 4

day or night: night

plant: red rose, red spider lily, white carnations

smell: cigarette smoke, liquor, gaiac 10 tokyo by le labo

gemstone: red carnelian, rose quartz

season: spring

place: the red-light district / kabuki-chō & tokyo

food: plain chicken and rice

astrological sign: leo

element: fire, water

drink: iwai tradition wine cask finish, water

HEADCANON DUMP:

ren’s real name is hatanaka yori ( 畠中頼 ). hatanaka means in the midst of fields, while yori means trust.

children in japan do receive a school allowance which increases with age. ren used his allowance to help out at home, occasionally spending it on activities like getting ramen or going to karaoke. kyosuke’s allowance is spent for kyosuke and kyosuke only.

will elaborate later but the cumulative total of what ren owes goro is well close to 110-115k usd.

ren started drinking his junior year of high school, finding a few shots would kill the nerves and help him focus. this was the start of his alcoholism, propelled further after his mother’s accident.

ren has dressed kyosuke up every year for halloween — a pumpkin, a rabbit, tuxedo mask, then sailor moon, and a few others — and he will often match kyosuke if possible. one year, kyosuke dressed up as his dad, which was very heartwarming for ren. for the host club, or other adult events, ren just defaults to his bunny suit, but he has also done tuxedo mask several times for “variety.” tuxedo ren is a halloween exclusive.

kyosuke’s personality is very much influenced by ren -- curious and inquisitive, shy, thoughtful, and emotionally sensitive. these are all things ren was as a kid, which is why he doesn’t want that to be snuffed out in kyosuke the way he was snuffed out. he’s also not very imposing, he doesn’t grow up to be past 5′2-5′3 in adulthood and is very lithe, taking after his mother later in life in overall statue. he’s a sweet kid, very dependent on ren and very much favors his father, though he does love his mother. he likes spending time with her when she takes him for weekends -- it’s ren that struggles with separation.

ren always knew he was attracted to men, though he has a slight bias for women. overall he wants to be married with his kid, and for him he wants to recreate what he had with hina — however he has a high attraction to men, and will seek out male companionship. right now he has a healthy balance of women and men he is seeing in threads, as well as my own characters from his canon. i do think this more openness came from hosting and being in the sex industry, and while he isn’t out there exclaiming his sexuality to the world, he will own up to it if asked. the only person he’s really afraid to tell would be anyone that’s in “yori’s” life, particularly his mother. she knows. she always has. that all being said: where he is now as “ren”, he is not afraid to make a move on a man he finds attractive. he tries to get “a vibe” from that they might have mutual interest — or just a curiosity he can satiate. he always has had a high sex drive, but was more “straight laced” in high school, not really completely comfortable / having the experience to know what he likes. he had one boy he liked a lot in high school, but nothing came of it, and his first real relationship was with a girl named emiyo, an underclassman (one year gap). she was his first sexual encounter, though he had kissed another girl before and had been "touched” over his clothes / had some intimacy fully clothed. emiyo was his first real “everything”.

COMPLIMENTING *in japan* ren is used to complimenting others as he’s generally the manager / hosting / in a sort of upper position of power — but he doesn’t compliment goro or others in positions above him. he’ll compliment friends and family as those relationships are personal. when initially hired, his hosts do not generally compliment him, but as they build an interpersonal relationship as a “cast” or group, the professionalism is there but decreased to a degree where it’s not “socially inappropriate”. this is because of the japanese dichotomy of compliments. complimenting someone above you in rank, such as your boss or manager, can be seen as conveying the message that you are “above them”. naturally, that isn’t the case if you are close to that person or have that sort of relationship with them. you can compliment your friends and even your coworkers if the relationship allows for that. you typically will not hear an employee tell their boss they “like their new haircut”, but a boss might compliment an employee’s work ethic. ren follows a lot of social customs but seems to pick and choose given the fact that he isn’t exactly in a “normal” profession such as an office worker with a traditional boss — but you will see him enact that respect to goro that would be seen in an office environment.

low-key ren cried the last night he locked up shining! after putting in his notice, it was definitely emotional for him to leave.

ren is not inherently photogenic. like if he doesn’t know he’s on camera, he’s fine, but intentional photography of like his host photo for the wall and ads? it takes forever to get the right shot, longer than any other host — thus, he goes last. he just goes dead faced. if you’re getting a shot where he doesn’t know, but then turns around and notices, he’ll do that face. kyosuke is a smiley boy, so he doesn’t have this problem — but even ren’s school photos were bad.

for all his faults, ren is a fiercely protective father. there is nothing he won’t do for his son, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way.

ren’s primary homemaking skills also tend to help him in other areas such as his work, particularly with sewing / patching clothes. he also can cook and subsequently bake. he likes to keep a clean house, but is too busy to be as tidy as he’d like, as well as having a kid around. he often sings around the house here and there, and enjoys indulging in things like cooking breakfast or dinner. he tends to sing a lot when he cooks as it keeps him focused, and singing generally makes him feel better / soothed / happy. he spent a lot of time with his mom, as she was a single mother, and thus picked these skills up through her.

speaking of themed nights, the host club does host theme nights / parties such as casino nights, costume parties, holiday celebrations, etc. the drink, decor, and atmosphere shift to fit these aesthetic changes, creating diversity for their entertainment. usually they will perform shows for these events, choreographed by ren.

for his escorting, ren typically meets where his client requests. the initial ‘meet and greet’ happens in a variety of places, though i’ve mentioned he does frequent snack bars. snacks bars are great to either meet new clients or meet up with pre-existing clients. for the transaction itself, he typically either takes clients to or meet clients at what are called “love hotels.” love hotels are a good way to spend a (relatively) safe time with a client. a love hotel is “a kind of japanese institution that rents out rooms by the hour to couples who want to be intimate somewhere other than home. love hotels promise absolute discretion and aim to eliminate face-to-face contact with receptionists.” they also typically happily rent out to foreigners, of which ren has entertained plenty of. foreigners are typically (to him) easy money. they’re more willing to spend for “an experience” with someone they won’t see again. he doesn’t like going to “their place” very often, but he will go to a hotel room. if he’s desperate enough, ren has been known to go home with people, or he’ll go home with clients he’s known and seen for a long time. typically it’s love hotels because they’re cheap, they’re made for “couples”, and you’re meant to be there for a good time, not a long time. most check-ins are a for a few hours. ren is a regular at several establishments.

he used to steal money from foreigner clients when money was extremely tight. this didn’t become a habit, and ren does not traditionally steal from his clients ... he just charges more.

snack bars and love hotels are primarily where you can find ren when he’s not at the club. snack bars are a way to meet clients or meet up with clients. love hotels are a good way to spend a (relatively) safe time with a client. he doesn’t like going to “their place” very often, but he will go to a hotel room. if he’s desperate enough, ren has been known to go home with people, or he’ll go home with clients he’s known and seen for a long time. it’s typically love hotels because they’re cheap, they’re made for “couples”, and you’re meant to be there for a good time, not a long time. most check-ins are a for a few hours. ren is a regular at several establishments.

ren's speaking voice: i imagine ren to have a deeper voice, smooth to listen to. his singing voice is a mezzo with decent range. since i'm as nostalgic as ren, and were i able to cast a voice actor, i instinctively go to steve blum for a western va -- he is best known for his role as spike spiegel. i would cast yamadera koichi, who is spike's original va, for ren’s eastern voiceclaim.

to diagnose ren, i’d say he has a combination of depression and anxiety including separation anxiety but not social anxiety, functioning alcoholism, an addictive personality, an ED, and compulsive behaviors with ocd aligned tendencies. he’ll never really get diagnosed by anyone, but ultimately that’s what he’s got going on.

ren craves domesticity, and he would love to be married, to have more children – but he feels he could never be a real husband to anyone, especially with his career and the things he’s done. he feels washed up, and is too nostalgic and existential to continue living life truly forward. he does that through kyosuke.

hobbies: cooking, gardening; baking, sewing, working

likes: work, fashion, milk tea, fruit, pop and classical music, j-dramas

dislikes: slacking off, spicy food, too much seasoning or sauces (”flavor”), red meat, unnecessary conflict, bullying, anime

screenname: renrabbit

im thinking about how ren basically got into this industry out of necessity and then couldn’t get out, and how badly he wanted to play piano. how he would stand outside of the symphonies to listen to the music, wishing he could he play with them. he’s always been very musically inclined – he can play piano, had touched the violin, can dance (he’s not a technical dancer, think more idol based), and can sing. it just never happened for him, and while those skills have helped him as a host and even as an escort and rent-a-boyfriend, he wanted to be more than that. he’s been stripped down to what he feels is his most valuable asset: his body. any extra money he has goes into his appearance, having to keep up a beauty that’s almost unreachable. his drive to be number one and maintain that position is basically out of the need for control, he has no control other than shining!. his over complicated relationship with food is stemmed from both control and his drinking, having to eat plain meals because he’d throw up otherwise. it sort of just spiraled from there into an extreme diet of plain everything. he’s the primary caretaker and has a lot on his shoulders, and still manages to ‘be everywhere’ when all he wanted (and wants now) is a good, small, happy life with his son. he knows this path is what brought him kyosuke, but there’s still a private need / desire that he cannot satiate, and thus satiates in his personal life with what he knows best: sex. when he isn’t working, he’s seeking comfort in others by providing them what he knows is his best attribute and talent: pleasure. coupled with childhood trauma, ren basically went in without ever having an exit to get out. while goro might be a curse, he was ren’s biggest blessing.

hosts typically work as hosts in their late teens (18,19) to their mid twenties on average, but it’s not completely uncommon to have older hosts. there are hosts in their late 30s and 40s even. there is also a host named roland (26) that’s able to make 48 mil. yen in a month, and the most famous hostess hoshino kurumi who earns an estimated $930 usd per day. she also once got a $38,000 necklace as a gift. obviously these are insane success stories, and not the norm, and ren will never achieve this level of fame (not in his main canon anyways), but it’s interesting to see that there’s a huge spectrum in this industry specifically to hosting.

ren…has a breeding kink, he has that urge to just spread his seed all over tokyo and ive mentioned before that he probably has children out there that he doesn’t know about. he loves being a dad and that drive is …… Heavy.

ren wears pantyhose under his suit pants, he finds it keeps everything together and is a fun little surprise for his partner. ren gives good strip teases. sometimes he’ll wear pieces of lingerie, usually to highlight his legs, or generally if it’s a fetish for a client or personal partner, and he also likes to see his partner in lingerie regardless of their gender (though it is preferred on women). he’ll wear a corset sometimes but mostly for specific outfits. and bunny suits.

ren smokes menthol lucky strikes as his primary choice of cigarette, but when he’s drunk he’s not too particular.

ren tries to discourage his hosts from having sex with clients, though this isn’t a guarantee that it won’t happen. he himself does not abide by this rule, and while he is escorting on the side before leaving hosting to escort full-time, he will sleep with clients he is particularly fond of. he will mail, text, and call them (or they will text or call him), and he will go on dates with clients to ensure they continue coming to the club. shining! is supposed to emulate a classic experience and tends to cater to fantasy over actual sex, sex being the illusion of the “end goal” of being hosted, but never actually crossing the line. this generally keeps regulars coming back, on top of tourism. ren is not opposed to sleeping with foreigners. his “moonlighting” and his hosting can become muddled easily, and while he tries to keep his “hosted” clientele and his “personal” clientele separate, they can crossover – clients from shining! have begun to employee him privately for sex / intimacy, while some of his clients have come to be hosted to get the “full experience” of being romanced and bedded.

in high school ren (yori) was decently popular on paper, seen as motivated, hard working, intelligent, and musically inclined. he was generally top of his class with his grades, was in the music club, ran track, and was well liked despite the whispers. he was a bit goofy and awkward, as most teen boys are, but seen as someone who was “going places” despite his “disadvantages” at home (single parent household, being “half”). he was friends with fujita akira (lifesliced), who he had known since middle school, but became better friends with in high school. they meet again later on, rekindling an old friendship. while akira knows he is mixed race, and it does not seem to bother ren (it doesn’t), it seems to akira that ren does not know that he is mixed. they have a half-known bond over this, something that akira has never mentioned, figuring it would come up when the time was appropriate, and that he is not the right person to really say anything. while ren was always more popular than akira, there were murmurs that they were “dangerous,” but those were a bit more sparing than common, however prevalent.

despite it being very cliché, ren is a firm believer that red roses are the most romantic flower, and thus, they are his favorite – to both give and receive. he’s very attracted to the color red in general, as well as pinks, and tries to have flowers available to give out to guests.

ren is also terrible at taking pictures, like he looks good if he doesn’t know he’s on film but the second he has to take a picture, he makes this really strained expression as he tries to smile, or just looks dead at the camera. it takes a while to get his shots ngl. he’s fine on moving film, much more natural. considering he’s done a few adult films, i would expect this of him. still imagery? not so much.

ren went through hair colors as a host before going back to dying it heavy black. he naturally has dark brown hair, though his son takes after hina’s naturally jet-black hair. ren is insanely jealous of hina and kyosuke for that. he tried a few colors like a bleached out blond, and a few brassy reds, but it never stuck or fit. in middle and high school, ren dyed it black due to school regulations, which is what started the habit to begin with. he was also jealous of akira for his naturally black, thick hair.

hosts will do shows and performances, skits etc. ren used to perform a lot in his earlier years, but now honestly is more apt to choreograph due to being busy as both the club manager and #1 host. but! he will sing and play piano. he did piano lessons from ages 6 to 15 and then pursued it further by himself. it definitely came in handy later in his career as a host. that being said, he also loves to sing, and sings around the house often, and will croon to his lovers.

ren has had other nicknames and slides before settling on ren as his professional alias -> he has been “ren” / playing the character of ren for so long that the persona has bled over to his real life. he’s only “yori” for such a small amount of his days that it feels like another person entirely. in reality his mother is the only one that calls him yori, and he’s otherwise regarded as hatanaka-san. kyosuke’s mother calls him yori when she’s mad, which he’s noticed is more often now. being the confident, attractive and single ren is more comfortable than being the awkward, self-conscious young dad yori. he has gone by umi in the past, which means ocean. he had no particular attachment to this name other than it was cute, quick, and easy to remember. he was also younger then, and occasionally referred to as umi-chan, but grew out of that phase when he became a little older / became ren ( meaning love ) .

ren doesn’t actually know his father. he’s never been in ren’s life, and assumed gone before ren was born, or could remember him. he has bits and pieces, but nothing he can tangibly claim to the man's identity. his mom has never talked much about him, and he doesn’t even know his name. he has zero idea where his dad is, if his dad knows he even has a son, or what happened to lead up to his conception. he’s always had his mom, and his mom only, and he raises his son similarly to the way his mom raised him. his mom also had to work a lot, but being the ‘man’ of the house, he always took great responsibility on, even at a young age. there was, and still is, a lot of stigma being a single parent / being the child of a single parent in japan, and ren now faces that stigma both ways.

ren is half-chinese, half-japanese, but affiliates himself more to his japanese heritage due to his lack of affiliation with that half of his lineage.

ren is very picky eater, he hates like everything. he’ll eat plain chicken and rice everyday if he can. he hates most vegetables, most meats, he doesn’t like fish, he doesn’t like “complicated sushi” ( he hates “mixing” meats and/or fish and tends to like like a salmon roll or something ) . he’s always been like this, he just kind of hates food and “eats because he has to”. it’s not even that he hates food, but he hates desserts, he hates most snack foods, he hates most drinks, he only likes his tea and coffee without sweeteners, hates most textures. he finds soda too syrupy, everything too spicy or too salty or too sweet.

ren spends a lot of time and money on his clothes and looks because of his job, and he wears a lot of foundation and other concealer products. in reality he has terrible dark circles and is a little on the unhealthy complexion due to his inconsistent schedule / staying up all day and night combined with his drinking. he has to start the day hair-of-the-dog style or he’ll get sick. his hair is usually styled specifically, but loose it’s a bit silly and has a lot of cowlicks. it’s cut pretty regularly, so it doesn’t have a lot of dead ends, and is probably the healthiest thing about him.

ren speaks fluent japanese and english, and speaks almost fluent french. he finds the language rather nasally despite being the language of love and romance, and it was difficult to learn as french is a heavily gendered language, whereas japanese is not.

when shining! closes, ren and the boys typically clean and shut down shop together, but ren usually sends them off earlier than he ends up leaving. he'll sweep and mop, clean the bathrooms, and when everyone is gone, he tends to rush a bit of paperwork at the end of the night before locking up in a hurry to meet his client(s) for after hours into the morning.

ren excessively grooms himself, and his physical appearance is very important to him. he consistently makes sure he is very clean. he wears concealer and foundation, keeps his hair trimmed, and trims his pubic hair. he wears clear gloss on his lips to keep them looking smooth and sometimes wears clear mascara to lengthen his eye lashes.

ren treats his fellow hosts both as his employees but also like his kids -- makes sure they're on time, dressed proper, fed before their shifts, that they don't get sick, and that they get home safely. most of them have been with ren for a while now, so they aren't afraid to give him a hard time, but they never outright disrespect him.

kyosuke was born prematurely by almost a month — he was small enough for ren to put him in doll clothes. he basically fit into ren’s hands. as such has always remained small and physically unimposing, which is another reason as to why ren is so overprotective.

honestly at this rate ren is basically in early diabetes and this is partially attributed to his diet (lack thereof) combined with heavy drinking. without getting over specific bc itll be its own post, he has a complicated relationship with food that he projects on every excuse imaginable as well as just having already plain tastes. also his job as a host is not forgiving to the body especially with alcohol and keeping food / liquor in the body. it’s ironic and almost cruel how much he likes to cook and bake, but also has to since he is the breadwinner and provider as well as caretaker. his body always hurts, drinking makes it stop, but the aftermath makes him hurt more, so he drinks to cope with the physical pain as well as his emotional baggage and work. his life revolves around the bottle, and his health is suffering. he’s too scared to go to the doctor for anything much other than frequent std screenings due to fear of what they’ll find — his liver is in poor shape, and his complexion is suffering.

ren can fight — he prefers flight, and is generally very defensive when in a physical altercation. he reacts over acting, and has enough power to make a point. he’ll either get away, or wait for an opening to attack. goro taught him a few things — how to square up proper, and how to fight dirty. that being said, he isn’t a natural fighter, so he isn’t ever guaranteed a win, and will always look for an escape.

i’ve mentioned this before but ren has a little “black book” that he keeps notes on for his guests / customers / clients -- he writes down details when he “goes to the bathroom” usually on the job (where he is “getting rid of” the alcohol he drank) -- he scribbles a lot and if he has a crush on someone he’ll typically doodle and write their name everywhere (their kanji).

being hosted doesn’t mean just buying drinks, though aside from a cover charge and a few small fees, that is where the hosts make their money. there are games, karaoke in the back rooms, events, some foods, dancing, and other things to keep guests entertained aside from talking and flirting. ren in particular rather enjoys hosting and doesn’t mind talking to guests, finding some reprieve in listening to their lives over dealing with his. a lot of customers come to get a load off their mind and escape for a bit, letting their problems become someone else’s, or just non-existent.

ren spends a lot of time and money on his clothes and looks because of his job, and he wears a lot of foundations and other concealer products. in reality he has terrible dark circles and is a little on the unhealthy complexion due to his inconsistent schedule / staying up all day and night, and his drinking. he has to start the day with a shot or he'll get sick. his hair is usually in a specific style, but when it's loose, it's a bit silly and has a lot of cowlicks. his hair is cut pretty regularly, so it doesn't have a lot of dead ends, and is probably the healthiest thing about him.

ren and his boys / his hosts are known as the rabbits of the red-light district.

being a host means being beautiful and retaining an almost unrealistic standard of youth and beauty, so realistically speaking ren has definitely borrowed money from goro to have a nose job, as well as a few other minor cosmetic assistances. the procedure on his nose is the biggest surgery ren has ever had in his life, period. he didn’t pursue other work, but has considered a brow lift as he gets older. the younger hosts definitely make him self-conscious about his age.

like do you understand how much ren hates (is jealous of) natural types he has to try so hard to contain the awkward hair, the bitchy face, everything not sexy about him he has to try really hard to make sexy — so natural types always have a target on their back.

HIS MOTHER. ren is very close to his mother, even to the point of having been made fun of for it. it’s always been the two of them, and he really respects, values, and loves his mother. she raised him to be respectful, to work hard, and to prioritize family (blood or not). the reason ren is a family man is completely due to her influence, doing anything she could to raise her son herself without an active father figure. while kyoko dated lightly in ren’s youth, her son was her top priority, and thus her own social and personal life technically suffered. she would disagree, arguing that her life with her son was more valuable to her than life with a partner, and while she would have preferred ren to have had his father (or a father) in his life given the social stigmas he faced, she wouldn’t change anything. her devotion to motherhood is what inspired ren’s devotion to fatherhood, and what allows him to be sensitive with his son, encouraging his emotions. his mother encouraged a tolerant and patient mindset, and help mold him to fit into japanese society as model citizen. despite his life now, ren had a lot of promise, and his mother pulled every string to get him what he wanted, or to enroll him in things he wanted to do. she is the reason he took piano, nurturing that skill. tl;dr ren absolutely loves his mother, and i don’t discuss that enough, but i try to hint at it heavily in threads. she is one of the main motivating factors in ren’s life to work hard so that he can provide for her in the way she did for him. while it is physically and emotionally taxing, there was no hesitation in him to take care of her. while he isn’t home nearly as much as he would like, he intentionally works at night to spend time with her and kyosuke during the day, and gets the best care he can afford, as well as what he can get from japan’s healthcare system. to his mother, he is just yori, and that’s some of the few moments of relief he gets in his modern life.

ABOUT SHINING!.

why does shining! allow more than female oriented clientele? shining! as a host club is aimed primarily to women as their customer base, but they allow others to enter for a few reasons.

the most primary: groups or parties such as birthday parties, etc. do you get to choose where your friend has their birthday party? likely not. it would be a loss of money to deny half the guests at the door when the primary customers that will be doted on are already the main center of attention / the reason they are there to begin with. the ones who are not interested in being hosted will likely still order food and drink to engage with one another, though they will be ‘checked on’ as it is rude to leave a guest unattended.

foreigners: a lot of clubs won’t allow foreigners, but shining! does – realistically, a lot of foreigners are looking for either the “ouran” experience, or just the host club experience in general. rules are different per location, and shining! allows a more broad clientele. given their location, being in the red-light district, it isn’t cheap maintaining the experience shining! is attempting to emulate.

roleplay: aside from the aforementioned, shining! does cater primarily to a heavy female client base, if not almost solely, but that is heavily limiting to interactions for those that wish to interact with ren in a professional sense as a host, but not as an escort (or both?). it would be a bit limiting, and i’m trying be inclusive, but as times change, this is becoming slightly more common irl.

WHAT ARE REN’S MONTHLY EXPENSES?

the basics include: rent, food, clothes, repairs, utilities including cable / internet / cellphone service. he pays for four, eventually five, cell phones — two are for him (work and personal), the third is for his mother, the fourth is hina’s, and the fifth will be kyosuke’s. bus and train passes are bought in monthly increments which saves him money.

ren is very frugal, and shops cheap in all areas he can afford to do so.

his mother: physical therapy is not free, though many services in the health industry are as there is universal healthcare in japan, so there are a lot of expenses that ren could have in america that he luckily does not have to have in japan. this does not mean there are no costs, just less than what would be anticipated as someone from the united states might.

kyosuke’s expenses: food, toys, travel between his home and hina’s, in-home childcare eventual expenses for school such as uniforms, money for lunch, afterschool activities and trips, going to the arcade, going out with friends, etc.

hina’s expenses: whenever hina needs money, she asks ren. her phone, clothes, bills, whatever she can’t or just won’t pay for herself is in ren’s monthly budget.

work expenses: being a profitable host isn’t cheap, and in some cases neither is being a desirable escort, and eventually these costs transfer over to being a rental boyfriend, too. clothes, makeup, manicures, hair cuts and colors, waxing, colognes, travel … the overall upkeep that goes into relying on one’s appearance for their job is what is in ren’s wheelhouse of necessary evils.

a mixture of these expenses, including getting him off the ground to being a ‘desirable host’, are what got him into debt with goro. when escorting, doing a few amateur films, and hosting weren’t supplying, goro was (and still is) funding. this is partially good, through mostly bad for ren. good in that he was able to get the consistent funds to supply the lifestyle he has now, even if it’s just barely breaking even some months, but also has him terribly indebted to goro. i’ve mentioned his debt is well around, if not over, 100k USD. without goro, ren might not have lasted as long as a host, and would have gone further down the escorting rabbit hole than he already is, and he’s in pretty deep.

his monthly expenses are roughly well into the 5-6k range, which is a lot for a single parent / single son.

“ prices will vary depending on where you want to live. tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. … most landlords won’t even rent to you unless you can prove you make three times the cost of rent per month. prices drop once apartments get more than ten minutes away from a station.”

his location in tokyo is what saves him a bit of rent expenses, but he has to make up for those costs in travel, which really aren’t that bad. he doesn’t have a car, but he can drive. ren lives in the red-light district and works heavily in the heart of it (kabukicho).

being a host has actually given ren a variety of skills, which include, but are not limited to:

serving drinks / mixing drinks —— he can carry a platter or tray one-handed, and has a good memory for who ordered what. ren isn’t behind the bar as often as he once was, and it was never a position he really held unless he was covering for someone else. the mixing comes from either serving when needed, or mixing drinks on his own for parties / friends / clients, etc. the memory comes from just being in customer service, nothing too outstanding. he isn’t on the same level as real bartenders, but can serve his customer base well.

brewing tea —— a partial hobby that he did growing up and learned with his mother, but one that continued on into hosting. he’s particularly fond of blooming teas, which is an item on the drink menu in that (much smaller) non-alcoholic portion, and is generally served most heavily in the first few hours of the club’s opening. they serve a few other teas, though it’s not their moneymaker, and is more for aesthetic. he knows what teas need what temperatures, how to long to steep, and what additives (if any) compliment well to sweeten or enhance flavor, and what teas pair best with what desserts. the latter also applies to what alcoholic beverages pair best with certain desserts or items on the menu.

** they serve lots of cakes, tarts, fruits covered in chocolate, purin, coffee jelly, and they have limited-time items that appear on the menu, or desserts that change out fruits based on season. they rotate items like banana sushi, raindrop cakes, and others to keep the menu new and exciting. ren is always trying to keep things modern and progressive while appealing still to that ‘classic’ appearance and aesthetic **

money management / managing employees / running a business —— it’s no surprise that goro doesn’t deal with the small day-to-day tasks such as ordering stock, uniforms, hiring hosts, etc. he might have a hand here or there, or send a boy ren’s way to see if he’s worth being a host, but that’s about it. anything ‘menial’ or within the realms of what a general manager would do, that’s more or less ren’s ‘domain’.

goro is technically ‘papa-san’ which is the male counterpart to ‘mama-san’. mama-san or mamasan is the female lead in charge of the club, predominate in east asian entertainment clubs like hostess bars. madam is a loose western term that is a decent equivalent, though they aren’t entirely similar as eastern and western hemispheric laws in their specified countries of origin are vastly different.

ren is under the guise of being this role, being papa-san, but in reality is just a manager, and ultimately just a host with a good title / standing.

however this doesn’t mean he hasn’t gained anything from it. he can manage money well, find the best deals / know when he’s being taken for a ride, can schedule employees, assist in doing taxes, and overall has the ability to run a business effectively. while he might not always be the most well-liked, he is respected, and ultimately cared for as he does have the best intentions at heart, even if he is a major hypocrite.

that being said, while goro is in charge, he doesn’t care much if ren hires or fires at his own leisure. goro is a man that’s in control, but he’s not so over the top that he cares about who is working the floor so long as they’re profitable. if ren is too stupid to hire someone, or too weak to fire them, then he shouldn’t be in charge of anything.

drinks in host / hostess clubs [ source ] :

many of the clientele who visit host bars are hostesses who finish work at around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., causing host bars to often begin business at around midnight and finish in the morning or midday, and hosts to work to the point of exhaustion. but business times have changed in recent years by order of the police due to the increased incidence of illegal prostitution by host club customers who could not pay the host club debts they had accumulated. nowadays most of these clubs open about 4:00 p.m. and have to be closed between midnight and 2:00 a.m.[24] Drinks usually start at about ¥1000 but can reach around ¥6 million (US$60,000) for a bottle of champagne.[citation needed]

buying bottles of champagne usually means a “champagne call” (シャンパンコール, shanpan kōru).[17] all the hosts of the club will gather around the table for a song, talk, or a mic performance of some kind. the champagne will be drunk straight from the bottle by the customer, then her named host, and then the other hosts gathered. Often a wet towel will be held under the chin of the customer and hosts while they drink to prevent spills. The performance differs from club to club, and is believed to have originated at club Ryugujo in Kabukicho by the manager Yoritomo.[25][citation needed]

also a “champagne tower” (シャンパンタワー, shanpan tawā) can usually be done for special events. Champagne glasses are arranged into a pyramid, and champagne is poured onto the top glass until it trickles down the layers of glasses. Depending on the champagne used, this can cost over 200万円 (US$20,000).[citation needed]

REN’S DREAM. “The top three of the Big Eight, based on salary and budget, are the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Rounding out the principal eight are the Tokyo City Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Tokyo Symphony.”

ren’s dream was to play for the tokyo metropolitan symphony orchestra from his mid-teens on. he would see when the orchestras were in town, particularly the tokyo met., and would stand outside as close as possible to try and hear the music, or occasionally slip into the lobby undetected. the latter wasn’t always successful, but it worked enough to keep trying. ren’s dream was to play music, and to show them / the world that he was good enough.

what happens between ren and goro after ren leaves shining! / hosting?

it was a very difficult, and borderline terrifying, decision to leave shining!. ren is heavily indebted to goro, so their relationship doesn’t end when ren quits. because he can’t make payments, or even afford the interest, ren still does jobs for goro on the regular. generally a courier, a messenger, or some sort of entertainer between meetings / a liaison of sorts, ren is still in regular contact with goro. by this point, there is also a personal relationship, and goro is not completely willing to let ren go. a) ren knows more about goro than most given the amount of time they’ve been together. while ren doesn’t really know anything of relative importance to goro’s real identity, he knows where goro has run business through, and he knows what goro does. that’s enough for goro to keep the leash tight. b) there is a slight investment in ren, though goro has a specific interest in ren’s family. children are always an innocence untouched, to which goro upholds in his (mysteriously, purposefully ambiguous) personal moral code. where his father has fallen in the cracks, goro sees a better life for kyosuke.

as a side note: ren met goro very young, around the age of 19 / shortly before ren turned 20. the exact nature of their relationship is messy, teetering both into the professional and personal. ren is where he is today, even named ren, because of goro. at the same time, ren is heavily indebted to goro, and is constantly put in compromising positions. yet he is scolded by goro for his escorting, for his allowance to be taken advantage of, and his lack of shame. the way they see each other is very different, and is currently the comparison a tiger to a hare, heavy power imbalance not only implied, but very apparent. goro uses ren, and ren relies on goro. whether or goro actually cares for ren, or just sees ren as a possession, is unclear. ren’s own feelings for goro are complicated; he’s not quite sure how to see him, but definitely respects goro as his boss. goro is an occasional “money ex-machina” for ren, but this is not abused in story-telling.

a primary reason ren leaves hosting to becoming a rent-a-boyfriend (and to focus more on his escorting) is due to flexibility and to follow sho tbh. he quits hosting only a few months before kyosuke’s first school year starts, which provides him the schedule he needs. before he was able to care for kyosuke during the day, begin hosting in the early evening into the early morning, close up, see a client or two, then head home for a few hours of sleep, wake up, take care of kyosuke and his mom, then repeat. while he can’t always just ‘take the clients’ he wants to, being ordered through the service, he isn’t aiming to be number one. as well as being a bit older, he tends to take a lot of day jobs or later evening dates so that he can care for kyosuke after school through dinner and (usually) to bed. his escorting comes into the midnight hours, seeing as he generally mostly “part-times” as a rent-a-boyfriend. his favorite dates are doing weddings, parties, and one-on-ones such as dinner or going to clubs that have live music. he has less of a character to keep up, but still does have a type he is portraying in his more ‘official’ career, donning the primarily mature or serious type with a special interest in romance. in his main verse, he’s generally 26-28, the later years of his hosting.

a small little meta regarding primarily kyosuke, featuring akira and nana from lifesliced!

ren was pretty young when kyosuke was born, as was hina. she was around 20, he was 22. he was young, more reckless, and less caring of his life before kyosuke. ren was the first to hold his son after he was born, establishing an immediate connection. throughout kyosuke’s first year of life, ren and hina were actually together, trying to make it work. she even lived with them in their apartment with his mother. hina and ren’s mother, kyoko, do have a good relationship that remains after ren and hina break it off. she knows their relationship is very strained and toxic, and despite her physical limitations, she often offers advice and became a mother figure to hina.

when kyosuke was an infant, it was primarily ren taking care of him. hina suffered (and potentially still suffers some side-effects) postpartum depression badly, and was unable to cope, thus forming a very limited bond to her son.

ren almost instantly became a father. his parenteral instincts were always there, and he is fiercely protective. having a son reignited ren’s fear of the world, and his biggest fear is his son being taken advantage of in the ways he was as a child, and is now as an adult. everything that ren endures and does is for kyosuke and his mother. without kyosuke, it’s likely that ren would be dead given his drunken attempt prior to kyosuke’s birth.

ultimately, for all his faults, ren is a good father. he does whatever is necessary to get kyosuke what he needs. in that regard, he tries to be as involved as possible. he sometimes does have to rely on akira and nana (over at lifesliced) to watch kyosuke after reigniting his friendship with akira.

as a side note: ren is a late entrance to the ‘slice of life’ cast. he is connected primarily to akira since they went to high school together. akira is a year older than ren, thus was his upperclassman. he meets nana, kaito, and yogi via akira. he is closest to akira and eventually nana, who is akira’s best friend.

LINKS:

the water trade meta

ren and trauma // self harm warning

ren’s host verse compared to his rental boyfriend verse

example package deals for rental boyfriend verse

host and hostess club info

REGARDING HINA:

read more about hina (and ren’s relationship)

is hina in love with ren?

hostess club info

hostess club info 2 (including hina’s place of work the white lotus)

how does hina feel about sex work (semi nsfw)

headcanon: the english hina knows was actually taught to her by ren. she didn’t finish high school due to circumstances, but she’s very clever, smart, and quick on her feet.

headcanon: ren is the only one that calls hina ‘fusae’ which is her birth-name (ota fusae). admittedly, they’re a bit fast and loose with what they call each other. hina first knew ren under his alias ‘umi’, and was with him before he got the moniker ren. she has always had the name hina as her alias, one she got shortly after getting into hosting. before hosting, she went under various fake names, but nothing substantial enough to stick for long. it was more to keep her identity safe as she began working in the ‘water trade’ at 15, but didn’t start hosting until 17.

hina had work done after she gave birth to kyosuke, which is also not uncommon for hostesses in general. she never pursued it with much serious interest before becoming a mother. it’s not something she’s ashamed of, feeling justified and confident in her reasons for doing so, but it’s not something she also actively advertises since that’s pretty personal to her.

she had kyosuke by c-section, but her scar is quite light by the time we meet her in canon (25yr). she actively worked to get her body as quickly back into shape as possible so she could get back to work sooner than later. there wasn’t much maternity leave. hina was incredibly worried that her spot would be replaced and she would have to work her way back up again, if she would even be let back at all.

the above factors are also reasons she is bitter to ren. she blames him for ruining her body, not having any physical consequences, and not having his job threatened. while ren was the only man that hina ever trusted, she couldn’t help but feel that resentment grow. hina was only 20 when she had kyosuke; she was very young, very inexperienced, and had been in a bad situation after bad situation before getting involved with ren.

in reality, hina is still young — but she’s coming around a lot more; becoming herself again. a lot of this hard exterior is from weathering harsh storms, and for all her faults, she’s a fiercely protective mother. she looks out for kyosuke, but she relies on ren to take care of him and provide. she loves kyosuke, she just doesn’t always know how to show it.

hina is (technically) ren’s ex-wife.

ren and hina were legally married briefly, less than a year, but it’s something neither of them talk about, and essentially pretend never happened. they tried just after she gave birth to tie the knot in hopes that it would make things more legitimate. it was a miserable marriage, more miserable than their relationship as a whole. it was a crushing blow for ren to be technically divorced, even though they continued their relationship on and off after. he never wore his ring to work, so their marriage was pretty lowkey and more revealed to anyone in their personal life over their professional life. being married in their industry is not a draw, the illusion of being single is necessary. that and ren was never not a working man when he was with hina. he still has his ring. she sold hers or she says she did.

also similar to my oc yogi, their divorce falls under this category:

A: japanese law allows for divorce either through the family court system or through a simple registration procedure at the ward office. Known in Japanese as “mutual consent divorce” (kyogi rikon), this ward office procedure can be faster and less expensive than going through the Family Court.

while in theory hina seems the type to take ren for everything (and she would), he still technically provides for her and their son, so bleeding him dry now ensures he isn’t useful later. it isn’t like they were ever really over, just in the legal sense. too many strings attached to ren overwhelms hina, he is smothering to her, but when she wants his attention, she will get it. they don’t have to be married for that, and divorcing before kyosuke was really cognizant was for the best.

hina was also suffering heavily at this point from postpartum depression, they were unstable, living in a very small apartment with three adults, one of which is needing constant care, as well as a new baby, and the occasional caretaker that ren could afford, which was also inconsistent. a lot of moving parts without anywhere to land and build.

IN REFERENCE TO GORO: ( reference post / image here )

shining! is not goro’s only business, just the forefront of this story. he has various connections, as well as various girlfriends and affairs. he interacts with ren on a case-by-case basis, and typically blows into shining! primarily after-hours. this is either to talk business with ren to check-in or to meet someone outside of his office. he doesn’t stay in one place for long, and shining has been profitable enough, as well as convenient enough as a front, the doors stay open. goro is primarily involved in ren’s life as his boss, a man he is indebted to.

goro’s general disposition to ren is a bit aloof, disappointed, and commanding. there isn’t a terrible personal investment to ren’s knowledge, and that is true to an extent. goro has a soft spot for children, so kyosuke was a good bridge to gap their relationship. it doesn’t change how much they see each other, but there is leniency where the child is involved. goro knows when ren is lying, and ren would feel too guilty using kyosuke to lie about needing money. if he needs personal loans, he’s honest about it because the consequences and guilt aren’t worth it when he’s inevitably found out.

the others host don’t see much of goro. sho to an extent due to his heavy connection to ren, but there is also an intentional sort of comedy about goro. he’s supposed to be almost this supernatural force; he changes identities, faces, identities, and seems to have many connections to almost none. it’s unclear his exact role, but the most consistent roles he plays are a supporting cast member, the boss figure to ren, sho, and the other hosts, as well as the role of a sort of deus ex machina when needed. he’s slightly antagonistic and is a character with a chaotic, but clearly very murky moral code. goro is a tiger with the snakehead for a tail – violent, a temper, and the ability to mask himself as charming. there is no way to “get around” him.

while he views ren as an object, there is a usefulness to having him manage shining! while he’s gone. ordering booze, scheduling events and employees, cutting employee checks, ordering uniforms? not really in his list of ‘to-dos’. this relationship is more beneficial to goro than ren by far, and honestly, when they aren’t together, goro doesn’t think much of ren at all. ren’s feelings are deeper for goro than the other way around, mostly due to goro getting him stable work. ren also is one of the last original cast members of his initial time at shining!, the prior manager leaving. goro is primarily involved in ren’s life of hosting, but not his escorting as ren does that independently. goro could probably get involved, but he isn’t interested given his interest isn’t in selling sex in the ways of male workers. he acknowledges the reality of ren’s life and is generally disappointed in ren. in the end, it’s not his problem or priority.

in ren’s post verse, he opens his own hostess bar (goro returns!) called the red rose. he could have opened a host club, but he wanted to open a place where women could work safely. ren has always had a strong reverence for his mother and for hina, and has spent many nights entertaining and consoling women.

he is the owner, but he employs a female manager — hina. if anyone is going to keep an eye out, it’s her. their relationship has improved by this time, allowing at least a professional space to exist between them. the bar has strict policies, specifically to touching and hostess autonomy. ren is not afraid to blacklist someone.

goro is like an investor that’s finally making profit. becoming partners with goro — “partners” — allowed him to settle more of his debt. he still has his vices ... but is more in control of his life. in addition, he plays piano almost nightly at the red rose, and is currently looking for hostesses.

#* ( ooc ) ♡ — headcanon #it's done #read more for length #read more for length //#this is really just for me #it's so long rip #a lot of these are reposts that are mostly touched up #so if you've read past headcanons you're fine tbh #but this is also a good reference if you want any information #just ctrl + f for what you're looking for #ive also got a little dossier for some important links to not make this post so long #this is a 13 page google doc that doesn't even have the posts in that are linked #since im making a master doc just in case #or re doing my old one i guess i should say #it's insane i have like 30 pages of information for ren #which im hoping will help my independent work

9 notes · View notes

aros001 · 3 years

Text

Read through light novel vol. 16. Random thoughts.

"Who is this OC looking f**kboy?"

Those were genuinely my first thoughts upon seeing the art of Takt on the throne. And it would seem my immediate dislike was not unfounded.

Seriously though, everything about him is like someone's self-insert original character for their shitty power fantasy Shield Hero fanfic.

"He dresses really cool, like all modern with jeans and pockets, and he can use all the holy weapons and vassal weapons, and his level is above 300, and he has a harem of totally hot powerful women, and he's the king of his own country, and he can counter everything that people use against him, and he can steal powers he doesn't have, and he can beat Naofumi and all the other heroes with, like, no sweat at all!"

I want All For One to come in and kick this little twerp's ass. Show him what a real OP villain who can steal powers is like.

This isn't a critique of the writing by the way. It feels like Takt is supposed to feel like that kind of character who plays to those tropes and is REALLY easy to hate.

I both do and don't like how Naofumi is acting in the prologue. Obviously I don't like specifically what he's doing because it's creepy and uncomfortable, but I really like the reasons for why. The dude is fried from everything that's happened and unlike Itsuki it's not because of a curse. He's grieving from a heavy loss, easily the biggest he's had since coming to this world, and unlike with Ost's death he has no one he can yet focus his anger on, so he's feeling completely lost and mixed up. Another great moment from Sadeena in helping him regain at least some of his sanity. Sex is a common way people try to find comfort after a terrible loss and if that had been the case I think she would have slept with him or even encouraged Raphtalia to be the one for that. But she could see pretty clearly that wasn't the case. Naofumi wasn't looking for comfort. He was practically a zombie, just going through the motions.

“It seems that from among the four holy heroes, the Shield and Bow have been most active over there. Based on their level of activity, there’s also a bias in the legends about the seven star heroes. They mainly talk about the Hammer, Claws, and Whip.” A bias. The Shield and Bow did complement each other well, that was true.

F**k that! Sword and Shield, BroTP!

“Putting that together with what we learned in Kizuna’s world, it sounds like the effects of the fusing of worlds,” I pondered. There was a wave that had combined the Shield world with the Bow world, and then the Shield and Bow world had been fused with the Sword and Spear world to create the current one. It was only natural that a bias in the legends would arise.

"Worlds lived, worlds died. And nothing will ever be the same."

I've talked before that I'm a big fan of the concept of a Multiverse in fiction, especially in superhero comics. Right away I liked that the four Holy Heroes came from different parallel universes and then getting Glass and L'Arc showed that there were also parallel fantasy universes also fighting the waves. And now we get this theory from the characters that Raphtalia's universe is an amalgam, made up of other previous universes that fused through the waves. It's very Crisis on Infinite Earths and JLA/Avengers.

Reading Queen Melromarc describe the king of Faubrey and I'm just remember a scene that I and many Overlord fans love to the depths of our hearts, of Sebas the butler encountering a naked little fat man who got his sexual thrills off beating the women the brothel provided him. Sebas, like any true gentleman, kicked him in the dick so hard he exploded. Is there some to hope that a similar fate befell the king whom apparently married and killed (and probably even worse than that) 9,999 women? Not even Witch deserves that. Nobody deserves that.

Even though it'd probably take him to a dark place he shouldn't go, part of me was hoping for some karma to occur when Witch revealed herself as Takt's ally to Naofumi. He no longer had the shield, meaning he could attack her like he never could before, meaning he could kill her with his bare hands. I'm glad he used the defense rating attack on Takt, because there's been great long-time set-up for that, but yeah, I wanted Naofumi to at least get to break Witch's nose after everything he's been through. And if Witch wasn't irredemable before, she most certainly is now, proving she has no loyalty to anyone other than herself. She used Naofumi and the other heroes from the beginning for her own goals. Her mother had enough control that she couldn't just do whatever she wanted. And Melty was standing in the way of her getting the throne. She's still a terrible person but there were at least reasons for her to be against these people. But Trash? Her father, who has been loyal and on her side since the beginning, who doted and spoiled her from a young age because of how much he loved her? She had no hesitation in ordering him killed along with everyone else. There was no reason behind it. It was just pure cruelly, greed, and self-satisfaction.

And then...there's the Queen. ...F**k. Y'all bastards were really good at keeping that spoiler hidden. I was accidentally spoiled that Alta was going to die but not through this site. I had no idea the Queen was going to die. Of course Naofumi couldn't have the Shield during that part. If he made Mirellia into a shield like he did Ost and Alta he probably would be unstoppable, because she was just that f**king awesome.

We're pouring one out for you, your majesty. May your youngest daughter inherit your great wisdom and unbelievably hilarious slapping ability.

I'm really glad with Trash's development in this book. Like I've said in past posts, I can feel basic empathy for him given his backstory, but feeling sorry for him was not enough to actually put me on his side, because he was not putting in any work to actually be better or redeem himself. He was just acting angry and crazy and then just sad and withered. Here? While he had to be shaken and roused into it (can't blame him for that as he just lost the love of his life), he puts in the effort to make use of himself and holds himself accountable for his past actions. I really like that he wants to continue being called Trash. That is his penance. Not more feeling sorry for himself or blaming the rest of the world. It's time for him to be the man he knows he's supposed to be.

With all that though, Melty was definitely the person I felt the worst for after the death. Of all the younger characters, despite being royalty and mature for her age, she is the person who feels the most like a real kid, and her crying her eyes out while clinging to Naofumi hurt just like it should, because this little girl just lost her mom. No idea what the expectation is in Melromarc for when Melty should take the throne but for her it's always going to feel too soon, because how could it not?

“Daddy . . . thank you for approving my marriage. You’ve finally agreed to let me marry Ollie,” she said dreamily.

“I’ll make you forget this ‘Ollie’ soon enough, although his keeping you a virgin for so long is something to be thankful for!” Takt cackled. It was clear that he was using some kind of illusion to make her think he was her beloved. “Those who don’t give proper thought to their daughters’ happiness have no right to live!”

Oh good! He's a rapist too!

So Naofumi was the Shield's first choice and the other three were the Bow, Sword, and Spear's third choices. I like the credit that's given that the first choice is not guaranteed to be the best, as they can become just as corrupt or egotistical, or the third choices are not guaranteed to be the worst, as they can grow into real heroes. I'm just wondering how the selection process worked and why they all couldn't get their first choices. The Holy Weapons apparently have some sway over the universes they pulled them from, given the promise of granting wishes if they want to return to them. My immediate theory is that the weapons all set up paths that'd lead their choices to being summoned but just through sheer coincidence and randomness all the first choices, save for Naofumi, kept missing the path. Going down the list, the weapons become more desperate and thus are more willing to use more extremes to get their choices, thus why Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki had to be killed in order to be summoned. They missed their window with their first and second choices so now they absolutely have to guarantee they get their third, even if the methods are less than ethical.

With the big final boss, the World Eater as Naofumi called it, I'm theorizing that he/she/it is using the waves to fuse multiple universes into one so that he/she/it can eat it all in one go.

I only have two issues with this volume and they're both kind of nitpicks. The first is with Trash's plan, specifically with the Glawick ore. I don't remember it ever being established before in the series. I really liked the Rucolu fruit being used in the Cal Mira wave battle because it was set up way beforehand, so it feels like a lot less of a Deus ex Machina. Same with Naofumi using defense rating attacks after his battle with Glass. That's good set-up. The ore doesn't break the story, it just feels very convenient that such a thing happened to exist. If I'm mistaken and it was set-up before and I just forgot, please let me know.

The second is Naofumi and Raphtalia being separated again after a trip into another universe. The story next volume seems like it'll be very different from last time but that part does feel like a repeat of what we've already seen. Plus, with the new status quo of Naofumi knowing how she feels about him, I want to see their interactions now that he's recovered a bit from the loss of Alta. Again, it's a nitpick, since I'm certain they'll find each other again, but I don't like feeling like I'm being deliberately kept away from what I want to see.

“The source of your power, the one true hero, now orders you. Reconsider the state of all things once more and bring down a storm of flame upon my target! Drifa Firestorm!” Takt completed the spell.

...

“The source of your power, just a hero, now orders you. Reconsider the state of all things once more and scatter the storm that would burn its target! Anti Drifa Firestorm!” I read the magic Takt had incanted and activated magic to nullify it. With that, the fire tornado scattered into nothing, as though it had never existed.

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!

“I’m here to destroy everything you possess,” I menaced quietly. “Your pride, your dignity, everything you treasure. I’ve already half-destroyed your composure and your arrogance. Now it’s time for the other half. False hero, possessing six of the seven star weapons and the shield from the four holy weapons! Now face the reality of being defeated by a regular guy who holds none of the legendary weapons!”

No wonder Raphtalia couldn't be in this part. After hearing that line I don't think she'd be able to hold herself back and would have tackled him like a wild Albedo in heat right then and there.

I am so looking forward to when this volume's final battle is animated, especially the part where Naofumi gets his shield back. That is going to feel like such an epic, heroic moment.

So Rishia unlocked Pay-to-Win. ...I don't really know what to say to that. What do ancient magical relics care about money? ("What does God need with a starship?")

So the person Malty had Ren give a sword lesson to back in vol. 11, was that Takt, King Faubrey, or someone we don't know yet, like the mastermind behind everything?

Is Kizuna marked for death now? From how Fitora made it sound to Naofumi, when a Holy Hero dies a new one can't be summoned if the others are still around. If Kizuna's world works similarly, she might have to die or there'll be no Holy Heroes other than her.

Naofumi really likes his Dragon Ball Z, doesn't he? Which is appropriate given I just realized that the Energy Blast from the Spirit Tortoise Shield is almost literally the Kamehameha. Seriously, Kamehameha translates to "Turtle Destruction Wave".

So...what the heck do I do now? I've spent about a month reading through 16 volumes of Naofumi's rise and I know there are at least 6 other volumes that haven't been translated to english yet. I'll probably go find another LN series to read until vol. 17 comes out in July. Though I am curious if RoTSH has a fan translation site like Overlord and Konosuba do.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/fot3tj/read_through_light_novel_vol_16_random_thoughts/

#rising of the shield hero #random thoughts #reddit repost

2 notes · View notes