@crierayla the way i had to screenshot this because you just described what i’ve been trying to let out for SO LONG. it’s totally fine to self-indulgence as not everyone is as normal about him as we are and people can enjoy a character without an overly detailed phsychological analysis, as most of them haven’t read the books and that’s totally fine. but what makes me absolutely DEVASTATED, and i mean like seriously affects my mood while and after reading it is the long fics in which authors claim to write him realistically, have a psych degree, 78338k word essays, JUST FOR THEM TO sooner or later somehow put him in a frame of a mainstream stereotype like everyone else. and i KNOW writing a ff is hard and there are thing i can forgive despite the fact that i easily complain about things, but writing him as a “bad boy” is more simple minded, yk, i won’t even consider it seriously and move on. what drives me absolutely nuts is his characterization being so close yet SO FAR from who he really is. the limited information we have is so vague sometimes but missing OBVIOUS details is just a crime. you can’t claim to love tom and then make him the same morally grey, dark academka, YA romantic interest ahh, edgy, openly ruthless boy with no depth yet make it seem like he has one. i get the love for the tropes, but that’s just not who he is. “bad boy” can be justified by young age, but the latter is simply unacceptable, makes me want to kms. i’ll be literally reading it and you can TELL exactly in which moment the author decided to write him as who they imagine him to be rather than who they have come to the logical conclusion that he is.