#problematic writing

For writers, especially, you’re just giving more ways for people to relive their trauma over and over again on top of doing the same for yourself. PLEASE seek help if it’s available to you or at least try to limit your consumption and/or creation of that content. I promise it helps in the long run.

Remember that Game of Thrones, a series FULL of incest, underage sex, violence, and gore, is one of the biggest mainstream juggernauts in media history. Both the books AND the TV show are incredibly popular and have tens of millions of fans. You can buy Game of Thrones merch from every major retailer in the US. There's a whole spinoff series airing right now that's just as popular.

None of this is illegal. The fictional depictions of underage sex, the incest, none of it. If any laws against it actually existed, then every single person associated with GoT, from the author to the actors to the production company and so on, would have all been arrested years ago. Instead, it's one of the most popular series of all time.

Also, if it helps, remember that the actual FBI and child protective services have had to come out and make public statements MULTIPLE TIMES telling people not to report cartoons and anime drawings to their cyber tip lines. The actual FBI has been BEGGING people to stop reporting fanfics and ship art, specifically because it's not illegal. They've gone on record multiple times saying that not only is fictional content legal and harmless, but reporting it is actively preventing them from doing their jobs (because clogging the tip lines with fake reports wastes so much time and resources it stops them from being able to help REAL CHILDREN)

Never feel afraid that enjoying something in fiction is illegal. There are countless books you can find in literally any public library or book store that contain incest, underage sex, murder, cannibalism, etc. Countless anime airs in the US with the same themes without any problems. Countless prime time network TV shows contain worse content than your average anime ship. It's NORMAL and it's MAINSTREAM and 99.9% of people literally do not care. The only people who care are weirdos on the internet who feel entitled to other people's lives. Ignore anybody trying to lie to you about the law, because they are always objectively in the wrong.

like yeah, i love making terrible characters. BUT THINK! Why are they like that? Nature vs nurture. Their childhood, upbringing, role models. What was shunned? What was normalized? Did they follow or deny the beliefs they were taught? Why? What is their trauma, how did it affect them and what copeing mechanisms did they form? Why? What’s the reasoning for the coping mechanisms? Unhealthy ones? Is it to ‘feel something’? To feel alive? To avoid unpleasant emotions? To numb oneself? Emotional relief? What about to have control when the character’s life feels out of control? Research! (Safely) apply your own emotional experiences if you feel comfortable! I love characters who are problematic and terrible people but EVEN MORE, I LOVE EXPLORING THE WHY! Their terrible actions and behaviors aren’t something quirky or to be added to be edgy, it’s statement on mental health, trauma, and especially, society as a whole.

Even abusers can be nice to you once in a while. If there's one ecstatically good piece of writing (film, TV, music, manga) in a pile of garbage from someone who's had their bona fides exploded in public ignominy, pick it out and let it sparkle by itself. YOU DON'T HAVE TO JUSTIFY IT. You don't have to apologize for it. But you need a lot of discernment, and you can never expect zero bad writing from writers, zero bad commentary from your favourite master, zero bad takes from your favourite shitposter.

People are allowed to get better. I don't think JKR will ever apologize for any of the horrific and violent bigotry she shows, but as long as she's alive there's a non-zero chance she will, and if me watching a trans man continuing to wear Slytherin gear upsets me I have to keep the idea of improvement at least as a POSSIBILITY. We all contain multitudes, none are perfect, and you can love a creation that's 'bad', 'problematic' or bigoted with discernment the same way you can love an asshole human being. Lose the guilt and hold the lesson.