So, recently a topic has been on my mind as it was brought to my attention by a few people sending me some hate mail about a particular character of mine. This said character, my darling Ariel, suffers from depression. Apparently, people seem to have a problem with this, saying that I do not portray the character and her condition well enough, that I should do research, that I am being disrespectful to people with mental illnesses in general, etc, etc.

I tried to ignore it, as I didn't see anything wrong with me writing a character like this as I felt that I DID do the character justice. I felt that there was no problem with me writing about such a thing, but, as stated previously, it was brought to my attention that this is a hot topic/hair triggering topic that can offend some people and I must say that if I did offend you with this character or anything that I have written in the past, I am sorry.

Personally I have written about a number of hair triggering topics. Political views, death in general, abortion, religious views etc. This is my style of writing. I like to create characters with tragic backstories, even if it makes me and/or my character seem like a attention whore.

Now that my little rant is over, what is y'alls opinion on such hair triggering topics? Is there anyway that I could continue on with my style of writing without offending anyone? Thanks in advance.

I believe in the Hunter S. Thompson school of tackling touchy subjects. So are they trying to get you to drop the topic entirely or are they trying to give you a better idea of what the condition is like? If the former, fugouttahere. If the latter, I'd say, "Cool, I can always use the perspective!"

I think if you're going to go after a topic, research it sure, but also there are people who will try to quash anything. I think so long as you make a good faith effort to do a portrayal that isn't some sort of disgusting stereotype, I think you should try to distinguish the source of the criticism and wave off the type that is critical without offering solution.

While I don't believe that tropes are inherently a bad thing (they're writing tools; whether they're good or bad depends entirely on how the writer handles them, just like everything else), I'll avoid going into this in any major detail since it's not the point of the thread.

However, I will say one thing concerning tropes; me and @tsukune are currently in the process of collaborating on a series of articles concerning what me and him believe to be a lot of mistakes and misconceptions that many contemporary writers/role-players (and critics) are falling into concerning things such as "clichés", "tropes", and "stereotypes". We're nowhere near at the point where there's anything to show yet but I recommend you check it out when the time comes, @HaleyTheRandom, especially since I believe some of the criticisms you're being given are inevitably rooted in this problem; it happens all the time.

Concerning some of the topics you mentioned, I recommend you start by looking over these three threads as an opening point. Admittedly I'm plugging links to threads that I've already given feedback for (multiple times), but in order to avoid creating a needlessly long post repeating myself I think they're a good place for you to look. They certainly aren't going to give you all of the research you need by any stretch of the imagination, nor will they touch on every topic you want to write, but they're a good example. From that point onward, you should do as was previously suggested and research as much as possible, but not just to satisfy these people criticising you; do it for yourself. There's nothing more satisfying for a writer/role-player in my opinion than increasing the depth of their insight and enriching their work for their own sake and no one else's.

If you ever have questions concerning how to write a certain type of perspective you might be unfamiliar with, feel free to hit me up with a PM whenever you like; I'm always happy to share some of my own thoughts on these sort of issues and help writers continue to build their potential and talent. I'm confident that if it's a topic I have any experience with I'll be able to help you, and even if it isn't then I'd welcome the chance to possibly learn something new and share it with you. I have a few topics of my own that I find uncomfortable to work with, but these are mostly a matter of preference and chances are they won't be something you ask me about.

As for the people who're simply criticising you because they don't like the sort of character you're trying to write; there is no shortage of superficial people out there who like to bitch about characters with tragic backstories, "edgy" personalities/plotlines, or touchy themes (and they will bitch no matter how well-written they are), so trust me when I tell you that you're not alone in this problem at all. I've actually seen whole role-playing websites be ruined by these types of people; in fact I was arguably responsible for one of these forums dying since I won't tolerate such people (not to mention they were also doing it to feel superior and compensate for their own weaknesses). I'll tell you the exact same advice that you gave me in the hang-out thread when it comes to these types of people (especially since it's how I feel about everyone who decides to be stupid enough to look down on me or my friends); "fuck 'em".

From that point onward, you should do as was previously suggested and research as much as possible, but not just to satisfy these people criticising you; do it for yourself. There's nothing more satisfying for a writer/role-player in my opinion than increasing the depth of their insight and enriching their work for their own sake and no one else's.

But see, that's the thing. I do research as I know that it is easy to offend people over the web as you are not sitting face to face and it is hard to get a point across the right way, not to mention that I have a certain level of respect for people who have gone through said things. I have researched the topics numerous times before writing them down and even tried to explain that to said persons, even launching into a 60,000 word explanation that I did so, adding a bunch of factual information, most likely creating a wall of text that they did not even bother to read.

It just really irks the hell out of me when people assume that a person would not have respect to do such research and then continue on more or less yelling at you over the web when they won't even listen to you.

But see, that's the thing. I do research as I know that it is easy to offend people over the web as you are not sitting face to face and it is hard to get a point across the right way, not to mention that I have a certain level of respect for people who have gone through said things.

As someone who's actually gone through plenty of rather nasty psychological hells himself, I actually appreciate this statement on a very personal level (I was very mixed between picking "Like" or "Thank" for your post due to exactly this reason; I still don't know if I'm happy with which one I went with).

That point aside; I've already told you over PM that I think you seem quite smart, so this doesn't actually surprise me at all. Even with all of my insight I still want to learn more though; that's really the only reason I said that to you and offered my support if it was ever needed. Honestly, you'll do fine with the attitude you have as long as you always remember to work on any holes in your research.

Some of the threads I suggested to you in that previous post of mine were actually useful even to people who have done a lot of research; especially the first of the three (writing mental disorders is actually very difficult for people who don't suffer from those ailments personally or have an empathetic connection to people who do; a personal and deep understanding of the mind is more important than "book smarts", so research can only take someone so far on its own - the same applies to why a lot of psychiatrists and psychologists are actually not able to help people; they don't empathize with them or truly understand their perspective and world beyond superficial education).

I've also posted my response under the assumption other people with a similar problem might come here.

I have researched the topics numerous times before writing them down and even tried to explain that to said persons, even launching into a 60,000 word explanation that I did so, adding a bunch of factual information, most likely creating a wall of text that they did not even bother to read.

Oh, yeah... I don't know what that feels like at all, do I? xD

Sarcasm aside... they can shove it if they won't even listen to you; they're not worth your time. That's how I view anyone who tries to look down on me or doesn't listen to what I have to say, so that's how I think you should view them as well.

It just really irks the hell out of me when people assume that a person would not have respect to do such research and then continue on more or less yelling at you over the web when they won't even listen to you.

This happens all the time; we live in a world where people assume if you don't have a resume or a degree in some field then you can't possibly know anything about it, or that a young person can't possibly have natural wisdom and insight despite the fact that geniuses are born all the time and go completely unnoticed, in many cases even completely supressed. I'd ask you to tell me who some of these people are (assuming they're on the site), but that's entirely your call since you already know the PM door is open.

I don't think you've got anything to worry about, @HaleyTheRandom. I know you wouldn't have posted this up unless it was actually getting to you, so I'm giving you my honest opinion about this whole situation... Seriously; "fuck 'em"!

It's already been said by pretty much everyone, but it sounds like said person is just being a big ol' d-bag and trying to make you feel like a terrible person for whatever reason because it makes them feel better O_o

I've never roleplayed with you or really talked to you much but I've seen you around on the Guild Hayley and you don't strike me as the type of person who creates characters with said problems/disorders just to "attention whore" or piss people off/make a mockery of them.
In fact I'd have said you seem like the very thoughtful and intelligent type of roleplayer and certainly the type of person who researches before actually trying to portray anything in a character, so I'd say they're being unnecessarily sore about it, most likely. Ignore the miserable fucker xD

I've never roleplayed with you or really talked to you much but I've seen you around on the Guild Hayley and you don't strike me as the type of person who creates characters with said problems/disorders just to "attention whore" or piss people off/make a mockery of them.
In fact I'd have said you seem like the very thoughtful and intelligent type of roleplayer and certainly the type of person who researches before actually trying to portray anything in a character, so I'd say they're being unnecessarily sore about it, most likely. Ignore the miserable fucker xD

Thanks for this, like... seriously xD It's nice to see that people have noticed me around the guild and that I come off that way.

First off, I'mma say it's hard to have any sort of reasonable verdict on the subject at hand without reviewing the material, so I can't say whether or not you're tackling the subject manner in a "mature" manner that would portray the subject matter at hand in a good way. But as per what I understand about depression is that it can be tackled from a couple different directions or explored in a number of different ways. From being something like a "illness of the soul" in the way the Japanese understood it before they were finally made to recognize Depression as an actual disease and not a fictitious abstraction, to a lack of vitality:



But like most things, you may not honestly know the depths of the illness or the scope of the malady until you live it. So if you think you need to explore the depths of something you've never faced to such a scale you needed or experienced in its truest form the best you can do is read and read and read. This excludes the daily experiences of anxiety and shit in the modern world.

-------------

But, on the topic of "hair trigger" topics: I too sometimes enjoy delving into that field. Or something close. I don't go out to be edgy or directly tackle the same subjects as you list. But lately I have been exploring making other people sad for dramatic entertainment. And in doing so, and exploring this what I find is a good tool is to explore and use the opposite dichotomies of happiness and sadness. Since in the natural dualistic nature of things you can't often have one without the other, and there's a little bit of one in the other. And having one is helped by having the other since it establishes a supposed status quo that helps to put the one in a proper light.

So it's not often enough to write a LE TRAGIC BACKSTORY PAY ATTENTION SENPAI backstory. At some point the character will have have to of had a happy period or found happiness and beauty in something to cling to. This is an achor to not only keep the character alive, but also serves as something that can be returned to to liven up the character to pose a proper comparison between what the character is and what the character was, could be, or should be.

For my own projects experimenting with this principle (and I will preface this from this point forward by saying it involves cartoon ponies) I wrote and drew up a mock journal for one of the children characters of MLP and her mother according to long-standing head cannons.I then shipped the mother with the fandom's least favorite character and [url=derpibooru.org/1126030]then killed the mother.[/quote] But ending it on a low note would be sour, and to put it back into perspective for the readers, brought it back into life with the mother's death and the past recognized and it all laid out in perspective of life.

It's something as I continue to play with to build off of the skeletal narrative told through a mock child's diary and to reinforce it and move ahead with things what I come up with as a conclusion is that things - really, all things - need to be dealt with tact and balanced reason. You can't just force everything into it because it's sad, because you go so far and it'll become impossible to grasp or seemed forced. As much as we'd like to claim it is, life is not one long continuous episode of one single thing (ie. depression) and there's plenty of parallel things going on which we may ignore or become blind too depending on circumstances.

And in my opinion and in conclusion, if you're setting up a character to have a shit backstory so they can be sad, mopey, and depressed there needs to be a comparative point where they were happy, there should be something for them to cling to or recognized as something to that effect, and there should be a conclusion where they "recover" or everything comes to its own end so the character develops through their disease. This seems to be where people end up failing at, they make depressing characters to be edgy and dramatic yet there's little to no work to see things out to and end or to change because what these characters ultimately fulfill is to be an empty attempt to grab attention.

And in my opinion and in conclusion, if you're setting up a character to have a shit backstory so they can be sad, mopey, and depressed there needs to be a comparative point where they were happy, there should be something for them to cling to or recognized as something to that effect, and there should be a conclusion where they "recover" or everything comes to its own end so the character develops through their disease. This seems to be where people end up failing at, they make depressing characters to be edgy and dramatic yet there's little to no work to see things out to and end or to change because what these characters ultimately fulfill is to be an empty attempt to grab attention.

Honestly, most of my characters are just lovable little goofs who have overcome most of the hardships in their lives.

Well, see, in this one particular RP that I am playing said character in, her secret is actually going to be discovered, setting a path towards her recovery, I suppose you could say. She is happy, but in her own little way. Like I said, most of my characters are goofs, and she tends to be just that. I have no idea where I was going with this, but there was a track of thought. Hopefully this makes some sense.

It seems as simple as this to me.

If someone has to whine about the presentation of hair trigger type characters on a board such as this, they must be going absolutely insane the moment they start watching... movies. And reading... books. The horror.

@HaleyTheRandom

You know, this is one of those "Hair Trigger" topics where I can safely say: fuck what the haters say. Partially because things like depression and anxiety tend to affect the mind differently, person by person. The general symptoms are usually ones you can portray easily, simply by reading them up on wikipedia. However, everything else, how it affects a person's social life, their work, their school, their family, and more importantly, their personality, all depends on the individual. As well, depression is among the most common mental illnesses, along with anxiety, so you have so much research out there that generalizes it because it's impossible to collect data on how depression affects every individual person in certain ways.

Honestly, though, as someone with depression, what I can tell you right now that offends me the most: it's when the mental illness is the character. The same goes with homosexuality. Or Race. Avoid letting the label become the character, and you're Scott free; never base a personality around one "interesting" thing. Literally, if you're researching this like you do everything else you write, then you're a-okay. You're fine. If you get worried about messing things up and offending someone, then you're already digging yourself into a hole. Don't let your mind focus on this one aspect of your character or your RP, or else that's all it's ever going to amount to.

(I want to put in there, somewhere in here, at least, that stereotypes are both your best friend and your sworn enemy. Learn how to use them, when to use them, why they're used, and when not to use them. Nothing's unique and anything "unique" is just a pile of shit with a snowflake on top.)

If you're doing something that's a hot topic, that "triggers" a lot of people (and I use that term loosely because it takes away from the actual meaning), then you're most definitely going to get some backlash from it. That's just what happens. It's hard getting that negative reaction, but it's going to happen regardless of whether or not you tried your damn hardest to write it in a way that gives it justice.

As long as you understand that there's a line between "writing the issue," and, "letting the issue write for you," and you understand that the former is the one you're trying to for, then you're fine. If it offends someone, that's their issue. The idea is that you're trying and the fact that you make sure you have your facts correct before writing puts you way ahead of the game.

Just remember, in the future, if you're going to write about something that deals with potentially opinionated views, whether they be religious, political, or what not, that you do so without succumbing to your own passion and opinions. Writing a racist character is one thing; writing a character racistly, is another entirely. Writing about genocide and murder is one thing and can easily be achieved without bleeding into something that has malicious intent behind it. You know what I'm talking about? One's writing (about) the issue, and the other is letting your passions and own opinions write for you.

I guess I keep repeating myself, but it's a good thing to hammer in. Writing from the heart is great and amazing, as long as you don't let that overtake whatever you're writing. Knowing what you're writing about, especially if it's a hot topic issue, will often allow you to overcome that passion to use it in a way that strengthens your writing. But, you have to know when an unbiased voice is required, even in writing fiction.

Just worry about your characters. If someone's sending you hate mail, ignore it and report it. If someone's legitimately concerned about what you're writing, and is offended by it, strike a conversation with them. Chances are, they're just trying to tell you that they're a bit hurt by what you wrote and trying to reach a compromise. You won't learn from anyone who's only there to spout their vitriol, but you will learn miles and miles by allowing yourself to be open to change and compromise. Of course, sometimes it's hard to discern whether a person is just talking to spew hate at you or if they've got legitimate feedback for you. But, that can be solved by allowing yourself to step back for a moment and come to the issue later. Or, to have someone read what's been written to you for you. I know you're good friends with Lady A and I think she has a great eye for these things. If you trust her with info like this, share it with her or with anyone else you trust, to make sure that what you're receiving is what you think it is.

If you require any help with certain things, especially with things like this, or even with PMs people are sending about your characters or roleplays, I'm always available and willing to help. If you need someone to look a character over, or a premise/idea, I'm also available and can help clean certain things up. I like to think I'm rather culturally aware, but if I don't know something, I think I know people who do.

As a side note, it's very easy to just swear off these topics, in general. Oh, it's so easy to put all of these things into a quarantine and just stick with the things you know won't get a negative response. I commend people who are brave enough to explore these topics and subjects of writing knowing they might get some backlash out of it. Because you will. In this day and age, it's like walking on eggshells. Either someone's calling you a Feminazi or an MRA; either someone's calling you a neckbeard, MLP loving redditor or a hipster, SJW tumblrite. It's one or the other. And it's really, really hard to tread that line without getting some kind of flack for it. A good thing to do is to find your friends, your real friends, and stick with them because they're the ones who aren't going to yell at you for not writing a female a certain way, or using correct gender terms, or something that some extremist group out there's going to scream at you for and call you Hitler.

So, I commend you for being able to write about these things and anyone who's sending you hate mail can shove it up their ass, along with whatever pole they have stuck up there.

(i didn't know this was five days old, but i figured... eh, this advice doesn't need to be present to help. I think?)

I see a lot of good information and ideas have already been presented, but for everyone who views this thread I just wanna further hit a particular idea home: do what you feel is best. This site is all about having fun. If you aren't having fun then what's the point? If you want to portray a particular character or hit particular themes there is nothing stopping you (provided it isn't overly graphic, due to site standards and all). All of you are here to enjoy yourselves but you aren't responsible for the fun of everyone else. Everyone has personal tastes and ideas that they cater to, you don't have to cater to any that aren't yours.

Want a character with clinical depression? Go for it. Want to improve as a writer and make it as accurate as possible and do research? Go for it. Want to just have fun and run on intuition for how this character would think and behave? Go for it.

This applies to all "sensitive" topics. Fiction is separate from reality so you shouldn't worry yourselves about whether you are living up to other people's standards on a site that ultimately is for your own fun. Decide your own standards and then live up to those.