When I was young, I had no control whatsoever over my appearance. It was basically dictated to me by my father, in one way or another (part of this was to do with "cost" (in terms of money) and/or how things were like when he was young and/or how if it is alright for him, it's alright for me: things like the psychological cost or the social cost were incomprehensible to him).

Being bullied at school generally meant I acted weirder and "ignored" various acts against me, as though I was completely unperturbed by it (although I still had to run home to avoid getting beaten up: fortunately I was in the third fastest in the school). At primary school, of the three people who bullied me, one became a friend and another was an acquaintance via that friend. At secondary school, there was another pair who targeted me and the new friend (and others). One of those also later became a "friend" (although I never really liked him) for a year or two, the other was more of an acquaintance for several years one way or another (I don't know if he was better or worse than the other). Perhaps I always win in the end.