“I don’t like this new sjw argument you are not allowed to roleplay certain topics. As a writer I have always firmly believed no topic is off limits. When you go into a book store you’ll discover hundreds of fictional books about dark themes/topics but the argument being made now is that some topics you cannot write on tumblr because it could offend or trigger someone. I’m sorry you get triggered by dark fiction but the entire fictional writing world cannot censor itself just for you.”
My roommate and I were just talking about this the other night because a friend of ours (in another fandom) has been attacked to the point of death threats because she answered a question about where she would hypothetically add something into her stories if she had to.
Let me reiterate that.
My friend has been getting DEATH THREATS because she answered a hypothetical question about fictional characters that she writes.
She knew that it was a touchy subject and tagged it with the appropriate trigger warnings, but because someone popular in the fandom didn’t have that shit black listed and got triggered by it, she had been ostracized by everyone in the community.
Fiction isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It can be dark and taboo and that’s the point. Just because you write about something doesn’t mean that you support or condone that thing in any way. I don’t believe in violence and yet I play Cloud fucking Strife and let him get into violent situations constantly.
You need the dark and taboo things because they are real and they happen. If you have a character who has never had a bad thing happen to them, then you’re living in a fantasy world.
Sometimes they’re a way to make a point or to make people start talking about them. Sometimes they’re cathartic for the writer who may have gone through similar experiences. Sometimes it’s just you wanting to explore and develop your character.
I’ve put my characters through some shit. Usually privately and not on an open forum like tumblr, but I’ve written things that are dark and really messed up. That doesn’t mean I want to do those things, or that I like those things, that I’m encouraging others to go out and do those things to real people, or that I in any way condone them when they do happen.
It means I’m writing.
I push myself out of my comfort zone, get myself into the mindset of that character and really try to figure out how they would react to that situation. It helps me grow as a person and as a writer to be able to sit back and really examine whatever hell I’m putting a character through and seeing how they can cope with it. It helps me know how to help other people who have experienced it when I haven’t.
This is not your safe place. I am not your safe place. This blog is my safe place and while I will tag things that I know can be very triggering for people because they do come up on this blog, it it not my place to try and figure out every little thing that could be triggering. If you know you have triggers, black list them. If you find yourself in a place where someone is posting things that constantly trigger you, unfollow. There is no reason to attack anyone when they may not even know that they are triggering you and they sure as hell aren’t doing it on purpose. Writing dark or taboo things doesn’t make someone a bad person. Attacking someone for writing them makes you one.
