I need fluffy domestic HakuHiro like I need air. Cooking and eating dinner together, tending each other's wounds, sitting up with each other when nightmares keep them awake, taking care of each other when they're sick, everything. Canon is so brutal to them that I need them to be happy somehow.

Alright. Let's get used to sharing some thoughts that usually go unwritten! Hm, SoRiku? Not much of a romantic, but a FFX-style confession for them would be amazing. Tears and a dramatic kiss, insert song, gorgeous nighttime visuals. Shame pre-rendered CSes aren't a thing any more as a treat.

... Why am I worrying about that when I have 0 followers lmao. I can be as cringe as I want and no one will ever know.

I think I'm not built to just share whatever comes into my head. I see whole scenes play out and iterate on them in my head, and they're always too complex or embarrassing to post about. They're cool or heartwarming or w/e but when I try to share, they sound so lame... maybe I'll lurk here too.

Writing in 300-character snippets here is a pain but it does force me to get to the point, which is overall a good thing. Still prefer long yaps elsewhere though. I want to get into a lot of detail that there's just no space for on this platform.

So the storehouse tools are still relevant. Hakuri won't be able to heal and progress until he confronts the pain he's keeping inside. He needs to get rid of them so he can start to value himself and not put Chihiro's plans in jeopardy. So he can finally let himself be loved without conditions.

We see this clearly in his reasoning to stay with Chihiro. He's doing it to prove himself as valuable and to make the world safer for other people. He lets people talk about him like he's a useful tool for Chihiro to use against the Hishaku. Hakuri won't do anything for his own sake, only others'

He still has a victim's mindset to downplay, avoid, and deny. Those tools in his warehouse are a literal manifestation of his suffering that he internalized and keeps away from everyone else. He brought down his abuser, but the mental scars still remain. The trauma doesn't fade right away.

The storehouse reveal was incredible! But holy shit, is that a log? A CHAIR? Why are we still learning about how badly he was mistreated in what's supposed to be a moment of triumph? Because Hakuri literally keeps that pain buried deep inside where no one can reach. He doesn't want to see it.

So despite the horrors he went through, it's not the focus of his story. It's just to contextualize how deeply fucked up his family was. Hakuri's an atoner now for Ice Lady's sake, nothing to do with what happened to him. And chapter 36 really drives this home in a gruesome way.