#and like we see that he has certain traits before getting the DN that he then fully leans into having the DN

[grievedifferent]

kny!yagami and sabito are not exactly not friendly to each other, but they aren’t “close”

[13eyond13]

what do you think of an OOC in a character? Have you ever read/write some kind of OOC about B, L or any other character? And how do we know when a character acts like ooc and they're not themselves?

Hi anon! I think the main thing I care about in fan works is the characters seeming in-character, and I would be open to almost anything as long as I felt the characterization was good. Meaning even ships I don't normally care about or haven't considered before, or a fic where characters I normally like together don't like each other but it's portrayed well, or just an interesting exploration of the world where everyone feels like themselves and nothing is bothering me or seeming really out of place. I think at times characters seeming OOC actually is necessary for the story too, such as in AUs where they live completely different lives or go on wildly diverging paths from the canon one. I think people/characters are always solid mixes of nature AND nurture. So it makes sense that significantly changing something about them in these categories would lead to them having somewhat different values or behaviours or habits or personalities, too. I'm at the point now where I'm pretty picky and have strong ideas of the characters and lose interest quickly in fan works that don't match my own ideas of them in certain ways. But when I am newer to a series I am much more open to tons of different interpretations because I am still trying to get a grasp on the characters myself, and it is really helpful for forming my own takes.

I think it takes quite a while to develop a strong sense of accurate characterization for any cast of complex characters, and lots of trial and error with attempting to depict them yourself, and that the taking in of other people's opinions and analyses (even if you initially disagree with them) is really helpful for forming your own as well. I think it's good to take notice of the things that make you go "ahh yes that's exactly right!" And the things that make you go "this is really bugging me somehow." Both reactions are very useful for helping you articulate what your own idea of the character is and why that aspect of them is important for you in how they are portrayed. I like to listen to other fans who are my faves' harshest critics, or who seem to understand certain characters more intuitively than me and who care about them more than I do, too. Ideally I would want to portray even my least favourite characters in ways that would seem accurate to their biggest stans, I think. Revisiting canon is also a good idea if you are uncertain about a particular aspect of a character, or in a disagreement about it with someone else. Oftentimes when I see fans get into big disagreements over an aspect of a character I find it's usually because the trait or character motivation they are attached to is one they found relatable and/or interesting and/or comforting in the character, so someone trying to remove it from the character feels threatening or personally insulting to them. I see this happen a lot with L for example; some people really like to see him as shy and polite and mostly well-meaning, and some people as bold and arrogant and shady. It can be just as insightful for yourself as a person as it can be for the characters to take in a lot of these discussions and to examine your own reactions to them, sometimes uncomfortably so! 😅

I think it's worth considering people aren't always coming from the same version of the story with their interpretations of a character, either. Writing L based on how he came off to you in the Japanese dub of the anime might be different than how he came off in the English dub, or in the manga, and the translation of the manga would probably make a difference to how you see him as well. I've been in the DN fandom so long now that I can usually guess pretty accurately which version of the story someone took in just by how they portray him in a fic. I think it's helpful to specify which version(s) you are drawing from and to know which version(s) the other person is drawing from when taking in their portrayal, as well as to take in multiple versions so you have a broader and better understanding of the different canon depictions of the same personality too. I see it as something you can pick and choose the aspects of you like best and that feel most interesting or true to you about the character. So if you prefer one version more than the other you don't have to just do away with your preferred idea of the character after taking in another one if you would rather not. In the end it's all just for fun! I think the best thing to do is to always keep in mind that other fans having diverging interpretations isn't necessarily wrong, especially given that you maybe took in different versions of the story when forming your opinions. It doesn't invalidate your own personal take just because someone has a different one. But that being said, I am not a huge fan of people just hollowing out a character entirely to insert themselves in it with no self-awareness about this, or characterizing them super lazily and then getting offended if other fans don't think it's accurate, which I have seen around sometimes. Lazy characterization in this fandom seems especially prevalent when it comes to characters people dislike/don't understand. And to B in general I think, as most people don't even bother to read the novel at all before trying to use him in a fan work. I also get that sometimes fans are newer to the series or just playing around with canon the way you might have played dolls as a kid or whatever, though. And even though I am picky about characterization it's really not that big a deal to me when people do this, as long as they aren't trying to dictate everyone else's interpretations or acting like more canon-compliant ones are automatically fussy or worse somehow, too.