#i lean so heavily into being a 'bad' person just bc i cant feel capable of ever being a 'good' one

[plutosoda]

having low empathy like actually sucks

[writingquestionsanswered]

i kinda,,,, dont really like one of my characters. and usually id totally revamp him but hes got two other characters heavily leaning on him [one is his brother and the other is a love interest.] and ive just slowly realized even though it wasnt intended he turned out to be a not great person. nowhere near a villain but i feel like the love interest deserves so much better, especially since theyve been thru so much already in the story and i think giving them another arc of (1/2)

realizing this dude isnt good for them or working through it would be a bit too much. but i cant just take away some of those traits that make him like that bc then his brothers story and actions wouldnt make sense since he heavily influences them. but i also cant just take him out of the love interests life altogether bc a large part of their story depends on him. so im really just, think ive written myself into a bind. any tips???? also sorry if this was way longer than it needed to be.

Important Character Turned Out to Be "Not Great”

(And a Refresher on Plot, Subplot, and Character Arcs)

You’ve definitely written yourself into a bit of a bind, so let’s take a look at some possible ways to get out of it. But first, let’s do a quick refresher on plot, subplot, and character arcs...

“Subplots” Not “Arcs”

I want address this first because it’s important to my answer. When you say you don’t want to “give them another arc,” that doesn’t actually mean anything. Because when you’re writing long fiction, such as a novella or novel, there are only two kinds of arcs: the story arc (aka the plot) and character arcs. Anything that could be considered a story arc within the story is called a subplot, not a story arc. And this matters because if you want to learn how to use subplots, you need to call them by the proper term. 

Plot vs Subplot vs Character Arc

Plot is the arc of your entire story from beginning to end. It’s what the story’s about and how that manifests from beginning, middle, to end.

Subplot is all the little side stories that take place within your plot. Subplot helps to develop characters and your story’s world, and it can also help line up the pieces for the main plot. Subplots should always compliment the plot and tie back in at some point.

Character arc is how your character changes (or doesn’t change) over the course of the story as a result of the story’s events from beginning to end. This change is largely internal but also often relates to an ultimate change in the character’s external circumstances as well.

Back to the "Not Great” Character

What you haven’t addressed is what this character does that makes them "not a great person” and how they treat the love interest. Those things both matter...

Define “Not a Great Person”

“Not a great person” can mean a lot of things. It could mean someone who treats everyone badly, it could mean someone who does immoral things, or it could even just mean someone who’s a little bit of a jerk and kind of selfish.

Take a close look at this character and consider the ways in which their attitude, behavior, and actions impact those around them. Would any of that truly impact their ability to have a healthy relationship with another person?

What Matters is How They Treat the Love Interest

Being “not a great person” doesn’t mean you can’t love someone and treat them well. Someone could be kind of a d*ck to most people, hate children, and be against most charity and volunteer work, but still be capable of having healthy personal relationships.

What matters most is how they treat the love interest. If their attitude, behavior, and actions don’t have a negative impact on the relationship or on the love interest, and if their relationship is healthy, there’s no reason they can’t be together. Unless the love interest is so opposed to the way the person treats other people, in which case you just have to make a decision: either the love interest decides they’re okay with it or they decide they can’t be with them.

Options for the Love Interest to Stay with Character Anyway

Again, assuming this person is able to have a healthy relationship with the love interest and generally treats them well, there are two possible reasons the love interest might choose to stay with them despite their qualms about how they behave toward others:

1) They have some redeeming qualities. So, maybe this person is generally a d*ck to others, hates kids, hates most charity and volunteer work, but maybe the one exception is that they love animals, have rescue pets, foster when they can, volunteer at shelters and trap-neuter-return programs, and give lots of money to animal charities. And maybe, for the love interest, that’s enough.

2) They have a “positive change” character arc. Character arcs can be positive, negative, or static. A positive character arc means that the character starts out in a negative place and is transformed to a positive place through the events of the story. If it’s necessary for this character to be “not great” through most of the story, that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways for them to strive to do better as the events unfold. You just have to find an event in the story that makes them realize they need to change, then show them trying to change for the better--even if they continue to screw up from time to time--they just have to make the effort. Find a redemptive act they can do to make up for all the bad stuff they did. Then, have them end up in a better place. That way, you can continue to have this character interact and be with the love interest throughout the story, even if there are a lot of ups and downs.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have further questions!

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[kewltie]

dabi & izuku's relationship is platonic but there is an underlying of longing from dabi but he'll never pursue it bc sometime the end goal is not to a romantic 'ship but their crush's happiness bc dabi is no good guy but the only good thing in his life is izuku & their friendship. dabi treasures their friendship so deeply that he'll never risk it for a chance to be w izuku and beside he knows izuku deeply loves katsuki despite bkdk's up and down relationship lol /o\. his happiness is simply watching over izuku and making sure that izuku is safe and happy.

it's probably one of the most selfless and kindness thing he *thinks* he is capable even though he is such a wretched, horrid being that his own family spurn him (which is not all true) but his self loathing & hate is super deep even izuku's friendship cant heal him from that. that is something he has to do himself bc his redemption story may be initiated by izuku's friendship but izuku alone cant lead him there, he must walk that path himself. right now he is buckled down by his resentment of his father, family, and wizarding society of him.

wizarding society is super rigid and traditional, there is sense of superiority to blood status and magical power and v v v black & white view of dark & light magic as though it exists separately so if have an aptitude for the dark arts... you get heavily discriminated. the todoroki is an old & super traditional pureblood house that kept to the light side for generations. unfortunately, touya was born w magic that lean toward the dark side so he was cast aside as the black sheep of his family even tho they d love him but they dont understand him. touya long ago pulled away from his family & acted out in defying of them by actively seeking dark magic & mastering it which make his family draw away from him even more which caused him to resent them for it. rinse and repeat. he falls hard bc what else is he supposed to do? there's def a cycle of him basically doing horrible things but bc he did that he doesnt deserve a 2nd chance so continue doing horrible things which pull him further and further from his road to redemption. then he met izuku who shown him the first act of kindness. it didn't *change* him. no, not at first. but slowly and willingly as they get older izuku's steady and faithful friendship is the only thing keeping him from truly committing great atrocities and he'll realize one day he'll have to choose b/t the dark forces or izuku.

so how is a person like izuku so steadfastly good and kind can be friend like someone like dabi, i think in life occasionally we meet and love ppl who are capable of horrible things like that one friend who is super nice but homophobic or does drug but lay down their life for you. ppl are multifacet and not everyone is perfectly good or bad. there are good ppl who do horrible things as there are bad ppl who can do good things, it's where we draw the lines of where we stand w them and decide when is enough is enough that it is too much for us. right now dabi does have an inherent streak for violent and cruelty but he hasnt unleash it so completely into the world in a way that make izuku turn away from yet. if the day he commit such atrocity... that is a day that will test their friendship greatly.

izuku was the one who extended hand to dabi bc they were both outcasts in their own way; dabi bc of his violent dark inclination and izuku bc he was a squib/lack power in a society that equate them to pariah. they were drawn together bc of it so their friendship is deeply rooted. so even as they got older and dabi remains a lone wolf who got the worst kind of rep and made himself even more of an outcast, thriving on it; izuku gains new friends and popularity as ppl realizes how wonderful he is!!! but their friendship remains STRONG as ever. they may never hang out in class or freely in public but that doesn't mean their friendship isn't equal to his other friends bc they meet up in the astronomy tower at night which is their /thing/ solely for them and only there is izuku allow to dump his insecurity & doubts. only in front of dabi can izuku can be stripped down to this his barest self bc dabi had already seen him at his worst. dabi knows him and accept that he can't always be such a good poster boy for the light all the time. he can be a little messy and broken and it's ok.

izuku may or may not be fully aware of dabi's feelings for him but even if he'll never acknowledge it bc he's afraid if he does than it would ruin their friendship forever not when dabi is just happy to be allow to be stay beside izuku bc their friendship is everything to them.