The very first character ramble on my Neocities! oh how truly exciting~
For headcanonning OCD, Trent is a very controversial yet easy first choice to talk about.
First and foremost:
WHO IS TRENT COOPER?
In case you're unfamiliar with the show and characters, I will give a quick summary.
Total Drama Island (and all of it's following seasons) Is a Cartoon parodying Reality TV competition shows, hosted by the meniacal Chris Mcklain, to win a grand prize of ONE MILLION DOLLARS ! Generally speaking, The challanges on Total drama island are TRAUMATIC experience for the contestants, falling from planes, eating rotten food, facing worst fears without help, close bearings with death, ect ect ect. It is a humerous cartoon, so it is not to be taken all TOO seriously, but it is a BIG part of the show's writing.
Trent is one of contestants of Total drama Island and total drama action. He is a parody of the "alternative" cool guy from the early 2000s (just "that chill guy with a guitar") and known by fans for his massive forehead, terrible fall-off, and the number nine (we will get into this). He is 16, always wears green, has green eyes and black hair... and gets together with Gwen (the "goth" girl).
Quick season summaries
In Season 1, Trent is arguably the most relaxed and mentally stable contestant of the bunch. He is seen as "cool" in all senses of the word and gets together with his crush Gwen, with some assistance with Cody. Gwen and Trent have a bit of a rocky relationship due to the interference of Heather, who was trying to break them up. Along with that, we also have the few instances where Trent and Gwen hurt each other, such as Trent forgetting to release Gwen from a coffin (her worst nightmare) under the beach sand due to being chased by a mime (his worst nightmare). Or the way in which she repeatedly gave him Cold/Hot treatment, whenever issues arised.
In season 2, there was a shift.
this previously "relaxed, chill" guy wasn't actually so chill anymore.
Gwen and Trent were still together, but something unfortunate happened: they were put on opposing teams.
This definetely stressed Trent, as he Knows Gwen's Hot/cold temperment, and didn't want things to go bad in the relationship he cares so much about. And this is where the situation starts.
the writers seemed to have gotten bored of trent x gwen, and decided to have a whole plot of Trent becoming a "jealous" bf to gwen, who was getting far too chummy with Mr.steal-yo-gurl Duncan. The result of this was Trent showing "wierd" and "crazy" traits, out of fear, and eventually being dumped by Gwen for making his team lose on purpose (what Trent did, to try make Gwen happy). these traits revolved around VERY common OCD symptoms: such as counting to a special "lucky" number, to feel relief of a bad situation (in this case, Gwen cheating on trent) from happening, asking to inanimate objects for luck, or certain other actions. the show frames these as not only BAD actions, but actions deserving of ridicule, but more on that later.
Gwen had multiple oppurtunities to talk to Trent, but refused to do so, mostly because of Duncan's nasty words regarding Trent, which ultimately resulted in their breakup.
Ok. so now that we are all on the same page, let us zoom in.
The OCD headcanon
Trent is often critizised by the fandom for "suddenly" changing: SUDDENLY becoming crazy. SUDDENLY becoming possessive. SUDDENLY becoming wierd. It is not completely unjust to those fans to say it though, In Season 1 he was rarely shown to having any semblance of OCD traits. By that i mean- None. no traits. absolutely NOTHING. So... what the heck !? what happened!? I believe it is fun to speculate for In-Universe explinations. so lets start:
1. BEFORE TDI: He had always been taking a lot of care of himself, going to therapy, having everything under control. Probably taking meds and probably had done a lot of self work. Suddenly: He was exposed to the traumatic and life threatning events that took place in TDI! His symptoms suddenly becoming severe enough to be noticed and with the lack of emotional support and feeling in active danger, suddenly finding it harder and harder to feel stable.
The MORE likely 2. We must acknowledge that in TDI he is 16 years old. OCD symptoms typically onset during the late teens or early adulthood, with an average at around 18 or 19. It could simply be that these traits where only meant to show up later in his life, but TDI's dangerous challanges and near death experiences rushed this process, making the sudden appearance of Trent's traits in s2 seem even more unfortunate then they were... as he also had no idea what exactly miht have been going on either, and be undiagnosed and on live television while having a mental health crisis. y i k e s !
I personally headcanon the second! So Trent has undiagnosed OCD triggered by traumas from Season 1s events. Trent shows symptoms of ROCD (relationship OCD) and a counting compulsions to aleviate the distress of the intrusive thoughts regarding Gwen. this is a video showcasing some of his OCD traits:
We know that Trent really loves Gwen, he sees her as the most perfect girl of all, and in season 2, he is overjoyed to be in a relationship with this girl that keeps showing hot and cold behaviours (that can make ANY partner anxious by the way). I believe the initial trigger for his ROCD was the way He and Gwen are set on opposing teams, and not only that, but Duncan was ALWAYS around Gwen. The way Duncan teased and joked about trent to his expense, in front of his own girlfriend was sketchy at best, malicious at worst, and the way Gwen barely noticed most of the time, and kept getting closer and closer to Duncan is also something that could worry any partner! but with someone with ROCD, is "proof" that what they fear is already happening. And only as the season progresses, it only gets worse, Duncan really gets into Gwen's head about Trent, often reassuring her and insulting him in the same breath, making Gwen want to avoid Trent, which... OBVIOUSLY only made trent more distressed.
Trent began giving into a counting compulsion up to nine, specifically to calm his nerves about Gwen cheating on him, every time, he is called all possible synonymns of the word "wierd" by the other cast members. the writers had a hayday adding "unsettling music" over scenes where he counts, to ensure anyone who watches understands that someone being wierd is deserving of ridicule and disrespect.
with that last statement I sound like I am exaggerating, but unfortunately it is VERY common for fans who rewrite season 2 to completely remove Trent's OCD traits, speculate of trent having BRAIN DAMAGE, ect!
perhaps i am biased, But i think showcasing how ROCD can negatively impact a relationship to be REALLY GOOD actually! to add to that- I do partially relate to getting the ridicule for compulsive traits, I also count to my own 'lucky' numbers (4 and 7) and i think showing that is a REALLY GOOD THING! It is only terribly unfortunate that the writers did absolutely 0 research... (or worse: where actually being ableist on purpose) because I think having a "chill" character have a mental health crisis, deal eith the ableism WHILE ALSO not having any idea of WHY they are behaving like this or what is wrong with them EXTREMELY interesting. I think, had the writers thought AT ALL, we could have had such an interesting character and situation to disect and enjoy, and could have educated so many people of what OCD can be like, especially when ROCD is INSANELY common among OCD sufferers. but instead...they made a mess of things.
Deep dive into the rep: the good, the bad, the ugly + what to do next time
---------------> W I P !!!!! :)
thx for reading so far.