#if it wasn't him it'd be someoe else

[byfulcrums]

YEAH! THIS!

The other extreme of "he did nothing wrong" would be the people that demonize him and everything he does

See, the main difference between Makoto and Kusuke is that Makoto is a character that was designed specifically to be the creepy older brother. That's it; his only role is being Kokomi's greatest threat to her general wellbeing, and Kusuo's most disliked annoyance. There is not another purpose for his character

Kusuke, meanwhile, is an important character with an actual backstory and a real personality. This means he has depth, which makes him a lot more interesting (and likeable) than Makoto

Kusuke isn't meant to be the perverted big brother. He is meant to be an actual threat: Kusuo's enemy, and unfortunately, one of the people he ends up seeing on pretty much a daily basis

Now, even though he plays a big role in the story, you can't deny his creepiness. He is weird, and while it's never explicitly said that he's attracted to Kusuo, it is still implied

For example: in the "I'm so close" panel, he is actually referring to him being so close to beating Kusuo, but his expression makes it so it's read otherwise (which is how it's meant to be read). Besides, Kusuke is canonically a masochist. He likes being beat. And the only person who can beat him is his brother, Kusuo. Do you see where I'm getting at?

(If the incest makes you uncomfortable (it makes me uncomfy, especially since I really like the dynamic they have without it. And also I'm an older sister and it's just. Ew), you could try to switch up your interpretation of the two creepy panels

I've seen people saying that the "I'm so close" panel is just him being excited to be about to beat him, but honestly that just sounds like you're a Kusuke apologist lol (do whatever u want though, if that works for you then go for it, I can't force you not to anyway)

The "HC"(? (it's for a fic) I came up with (which I shared with my beloved @farshootergotme [sorry for the tag], who said it's super fucked up [thanks]) would be for Kusuke, after having been beat by Kusuo so many times, to find a way to get back at him when they were young

The way to do this was to think as many things that would make Kusuo uncomfortable as possible. What better way to get back at a mind reader than to weaponize your thoughts to use against them, right?

I still added some creepiness and weirdness, though. Not in a "he's actually in love with Kusuo" way, but more like in a "he realized he can fuck up Kusuo's life without even moving when he was very young, so he started to think dirty stuff on purpose — all kinds of things: from gore to sex, going as far as to imagine /weird scenes/ with his own brother"

Which, uh. I think might be worse. But hey I like some psychological torment!!! I like it bc it can still be canon complaint. I didn't want my fic to be an AU so I settled w that lol)

ANYWAY. Back on track

As I've previously stated: Kusuke is an actually important character that gets the story moving. Unlike Makoto, who only takes on the role of an antagonist, he is also shown helping out Kusuo. With his powers, with the volcano, ETC. Is it done out of a desire to be good? I doubt it. But it still means that he gets the plot to work. The story wouldn't work without him

He's also a character you can empathize with. His backstory is sad, and it is fucked up. He was neglected, in a way; always second to his little brother, always just a little less. His parents paid more attention to Kusuo than they ever did to him. He was third place, always. It makes sense for him to be so obsessed with finally beating Kusuo (and it works for his kid head to be desperate enough to think those horrible things to get back at him)

I also just, think his relatioship with Kusuo is super interesting in general. Kusuke was only a kid when Kusuo was born, but Kusuo was even younger. Why didn't anyone remind him? Why did they let it get this bad?

I could keep talking about how terrible yet interesting he is but I'm half asleep rn and can't form anymore thoughts lmao

"kusuke is different from makoto" yes, because "because he did nothing wrong!!" what 😭