#uh. oops

day 20

brothers hug

3. How much use would your OC be at helping a friend choose their wedding dress (or suit)?

9. What setting would they consider the most romantic to spend time with a partner? A beach at sunset? A private box at the theatre? An opulent ballroom? A private garden? Or something else entirely?

13. Does your OC find other people's love lives interesting - or even compelling - to learn about? Or would they really rather not know?

OUGH HOLY MOLY. okay, i'm gonna do. the entire main roster. ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ NIRA'SAE: 3. awful, they have no fashion sense (they could MAKE them one, though--); 9. sunset, anywhere scenic. it's their favourite time of day; 13. not particularly, they're a bit nosy but also kinda Clueless MINASHA: 3. this is the best choice. gonna be walking down the aisle looking FLAWLESS if minasha's the one picking the dress/suit; 9. anywhere private with minimal chance for interruptions and good ambience; 13. he is surprisingly VERY invested. gossip is free entertainment HANA: 3. pretty good actually! baby has a decent sense for what looks cute, and values what a person finds comfortable; 9. TAKE THIS BOY TO A BAKERY/CUTE CAFE, STAT; 13. hana has to know everything about it right now immediately. please M'ALIK 3. taste-wise, not great, but. he's a great hype-man? 9. camping under the stars, for sure. (bonus points if he gets to share a bedroll with a lover); 13. kinda? he likes to listen about it, laugh about it, as much as the next guy. probably wont go out of his way to hear about it, though ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

yeah, me too. I mean, as someone who has gone in and out of times in my life where I've been self-destructive, you might realize you're doing it, but it's really hard to come to grips with it. it makes you feel powerful and like you're in control of your life even though you are actively relinquishing control by doing it.

let me like, elaborate. I'm pretty sure I'm getting this ask because of the way I worded it–and like, yeah, it happens, especially when you just throw a couple paragraphs out into the void and see what happens and leave details out in favor of a different point, but using negative words to describe the flaws of a super interesting complex character isn't inherently an oversimplification or a negative commentary. that post was mostly noting that kokichi's flaws (and often the notably cruel parts of his personality in general) are treated one of two ways: they're either abruptly and circumstantially shied away from to his detriment as a character, or, on the contrary, his possibility for experiencing and developing a more caring attitude isn't wholly acknowledged. what I mean is that either his 'bad' parts are picked out and ignored entirely or his 'bad' parts are still there but none of the characters really want to talk about them so you never really get a chance to read into the writer's interpretation of his psyche beyond "he is very sad and willing to die".

the post mentioned his coping mechanisms being self-destructive, not his coping mechanisms being straightforward. in fact, I meant the opposite of the latter; that being encouraging writers to explore his depth because self-destructiveness and depression ARE complex and always are complex, both on paper and in real life, and different people have different coping mechanisms and they aren't always good. the problem was that these two things (depression + self-destructiveness) are oversimplified for him and used as tools in order to make him a sweeter character or as a shortcut to a more idealized version of himself. you know what I mean? it's not just kokichi, either; depression is idealized a lot in fanfic, whereas depression can cause people to make really bad choices and treat others terribly on and off (sometimes more on than off). despite this, it gets used as an out for a character's behavior rather than acknowledged as a magnifier for things that still have to be addressed from a narrative standpoint. here I mean like the BIG kind of depression that he might be sinking further and further into, the bottom of the lake, not the self-aware "this comes and goes" kind.

however, just because he has treated people terribly and is seen doing that doesn't mean that he's incapable of doing the opposite. I think kokichi learning that actually his coping mechanisms are somewhat irrational and there's merit to allowing himself to care about others and letting other people care about him can be such an interesting possible arc for him. like, even the fact that kokichi is one of the most realistic and pessimistically rational people that there is, it doesn't stop him from having irrational emotional responses to things and that's what I mean when I say complex because GOD it's so interesting.

anyway, I hope this cleared up what I meant a little bit?? I see this phenomenon in this fandom a lot, where someone trying to talk about a character's capacity to do damage to themself and others somehow translates to "I have a personal problem with this character," which I PROMISE it doesn't. (though. there are people who are like that and take characters having flaws personally. and I am definitely not one of them, I love it when characters f up) please note that every time I use the word 'bad' here I always mean bad from a his-own-personal-habits-and-fictional-health-and-personal-relationships standpoint and never bad from a writing standpoint. I think writing kokichi has a drive towards being messy and emotional and a rollercoaster of good and bad as he cycles in and out of being rational and irrational but he gets verryyyyy……… simplified. as does his mental health, which is usually used as a talking point of diversion from guilt or a way to make him more relatable rather than something that can functionally coexist with him having several bad habits to break along the way (which is actually more relatable than the first one in my opinion). so, there's a possibility we do feel the same way about this. but if you read all this and shrug your shoulders and don't really feel that way, I respect that.

there's so much to say about his character, I feel like it's actually pretty difficult to articulate it all in a way that makes any sense :'')

I’ll have to get back to you when i come up with good transitions,, but for now can i interest you in a short other thing that I thought of when I was thinking about how to try to do your idea?