Writing Handling extremely sensitive subject matter in fiction... how?

[L1aei]

So... new question here! I am once again, but this time I would not at all be surprised I'd watch this thing die quietly in a ditch somewhere; no hard feelings if you all want to avoid this topic like The Plague.

I've been witnessing over the years... decades, really, something that pops up in a lot of serialized webnovels, here, and big Blockbuster-worthy series alike. Some stories include situations that ain't just dark or edgy, but the kind of stuff that would be straight-up illegal or seriously messed up in real life. I don't mean for shock value necessarily, but as part of the setting, the culture of the world, or, fuck, a character's backstory (insert Guts from Berserk here).

And that's where my moldy gray-matter starts squirming in front of the line in the sand.

Because there's a whole field on this side of the line in the sand... we're all standing on the moral high ground here. But crossing that line is where things get messy, because, well, that's the difference between depicting something and endorsing it, right? And that line gets blurry depending on framing, level of detail, and whether the scenes treats the hot topic as serious and harmful, romanticized, casual, sensationalized, or presented without consequences.

That means I'm here asking about a writing standpoint before crossing that line, not a moral panic stance. Like, when your story includes subject matter that's legally or ethically wrong in real life, how do you handle the portrayal? Do you all simply fade to black instead of showing it directly? That'd be cool, let the implications fill in the blank. Or do you rely on implication or aftermath rather than the act itself? I mean, do you make sure the emotional and psychological consequences are centered, such as using narrative distance so it doesn't feel voyeuristic or do you lean hard on tags and content warnings to flag readers?

Basically, how do you keep it from sliding into this feeling of exploitative territory while still being honest about the world or character you're writing?

And for those who are not writers, you readers and the rare reviewers, what makes the difference, for you, between this being a difficult but meaningful part of the story and this feeling like it's here for the wrong, damnable reasons?

I'm not interested in shaming genres or pretending dark fiction shouldn't exist; it does, as I've already said earlier, I've seen it here. I repeat, it's here. Conflict, harm, and ugly parts of humanity have always been part of storytelling and I don't bash on it. I'm more interested in responsibility in execution; the tone, framing, narrative consequences, and all that not-so-fun stuff.

Where do you draw your toes in the sand with your own work, and what do you use to stay on the right side of the dunes because, let's be real here, this is like stepping on a minefield.

One more time, I do not expect anyone to comment on this. This is topic is radioactive, but I want to learn how to handle it properly. I'm damn certain others may read over what you all say. Maybe they'll see what may have to be revised in their own series? Who knows.

And, mods, feel free to redact this if you believe it deserves it; I know I'm blowing the lid off of quite a few novels that may or may not contain liable content. But, again, if we make others aware on how to handle these without it blowing up the place, that's good, right? So, while I get suited up in the EOD outfit, let's here it.

 

[Louhi]

Follow the site's rules. Sites like SB and SV strictly enforce fade to black then the aftermath. SH is more like QQ where you can write it as long as it's not glorified.

It's your duty as a narrator to make sure your readers know you don't condone or encourage the act.

 

[L1aei]

Follow the site's rules. Sites like SB and SV strictly enforce fade to black then the aftermath. SH is more like QQ where you can write it as long as it's not glorified.

It's your duty as a narrator to make sure your readers know you don't condone or encourage the act.

That is a good practice. I'm for it, so that is definitely one secure way to go about it.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

In one of my fanfics, I ended up writing a short torture scene, all behind a spoiler labeled R-18.
I didn't go too deep into the act itself, but the aftermath was much more descriptive when my MC rescued the victim.

I like having meaningful consequences to my MC's actions, which this was one of them... though if he had critically thought about it, he was in no real position to stop it from happening.

I am not comfortable with actions like this, but it was also a good experience for my development as a writer.

 

[L1aei]

In one of my fanfics, I ended up writing a short torture scene, all behind a spoiler labeled R-18.
I didn't go too deep into the act itself, but the aftermath was much more descriptive when my MC rescued the victim.

I like having meaningful consequences to my MC's actions, which this was one of them... though if he had critically thought about it, he was in no real position to stop it from happening.

I am not comfortable with actions like this, but it was also a good experience for my development as a writer.

How did you manage the narrative that there would be or was torture? Like, it was evident what happened afterwards?

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

How did you manage the narrative that there would be or was torture? Like, it was evident what happened afterwards?

Bottoms of Ch 33 and 34 of MFGR if you want to read. I just checked them. I forgot I cleaned up the torture part a bit just a lead up and a paragraph as she gets attacked

The after math is obvious, in 34 below the r-18 spoiler line...

 

[L1aei]

Bottoms of Ch 33 and 34 of MFGR if you want to read. I just checked them. I forgot I cleaned up the torture part a bit just a lead up and a paragraph as she gets attacked

The after math is obvious, in 34 below the r-18 spoiler line...

Alas, I cannot show my appreciation to a response.

I'll definitely check it out! Thanks!

 

[c37]

Hey i've included a scene of a child getting choked in my dark fantasy novel without glorifying it.
Is it allowed here?

 

[Eldoria]

I once read a fiction with a fairly good content quality, even above the average mainstream isekai. The fiction tells the story of a reincarnator who is reincarnated into the body of a little girl. What's unique?

The little girl's body is not an empty vessel but a real girl. As a result, the MC is forced to live in the same body as two souls (the MC and the little girl's soul).

Their story is touching... I followed this story until the end before this fiction went on hiatus on syosetu. The problem?!

The first 10 chapters are very... very dark... the scenes are even beyond sadistic. They are the darkest chapters I have ever read, involving child abuse, sexual exploitation, and dehumanization.

I felt so suffocated reading those chapters. Initially, I was forced to stop reading those chapters because I was severely depressed after finishing the chapter.

I only dared to speed read about 2-4 years later before finally writing a review on NU. Even though the narrative after the first 10 chapters is a good story, deep characters, strong emotions, lively worldbuilding, and a dynamic plot.

If you ignore the first 10 chapters, I would definitely recommend this fiction. It's a shame... the author was too careless in creating a horrific scene at the beginning chapters, paying little attention to writing ethics. The result?

Readers are scared and even traumatized—at least that's what I experienced.

If I'm not mistaken, the author intended to submit his work to an isekai fiction writing contest in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if the fiction failed the selection.

Not because the narrative is bad... but because the content is too sensitive and ignores narrative ethics.

After all, works don't exist in a vacuum... they are read by humans who have lives and social dynamics.

Therefore, like it or not... authors need to consider more about the integrity of the work, artistic honesty, and writing ethics, especially if the author wants the work to be read by a wider audience.

Of course, this is just my opinion as a reader who has experienced trauma. Other authors may have different principles.

 

[Corty]

I think this is pretty easy. Just don't glorify it. The world is not padded and it's not sunshine and rainbows.

People are too soft if they don't realize it.

Also if your story is hippy-happy-hoppy don't drop cannibals on your readers' heads because that's just trolling and asking for negative feedback.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

I think this is pretty easy. Just don't glorify it. The world is not padded and it's not sunshine and rainbows.

People are too soft if they don't realize it.

Also if your story is hippy-happy-hoppy don't drop cannibals on your readers' heads because that's just trolling and asking for negative feedback.

Needs to be a homebrew spell for my D&D wizard, At 5th level Drop 3D8 cannibals on an unsuspecting town. add 1D8 for each level of upcast

 

[AstreiaNyx]

I hate dramatising trauma unless absolutely necessary, when I couldn’t avoid. My story includes an arc where a certain demon, shall we say, encourages primal lust in people, which makes rape unavoidable. However, I treated it as a statistic, focusing instead on my characters investigating and solving it.

There is another arc involving conditioning and child soldier exploitation, but it was essential to delve deeply into that character’s mind. Rather than telling the events, I show the impact they had on the guy. This also allows me to portray how my mc psychologically tortures him to death while keeping it tasteful.

 

[L1aei]

Hey i've included a scene of a child getting choked in my dark fantasy novel without glorifying it.
Is it allowed here?

That's a good question. If you didn't glorify it, good. Are there other elements in the scene that you are concerned about that is making you question it? If so, how did you manage it? You don't have to describe it here, just link the chapter and we can see for ourselves, if you want.

I once read a fiction with a fairly good content quality, even above the average mainstream isekai. The fiction tells the story of a reincarnator who is reincarnated into the body of a little girl. What's unique?

The little girl's body is not an empty vessel but a real girl. As a result, the MC is forced to live in the same body as two souls (the MC and the little girl's soul).

Their story is touching... I followed this story until the end before this fiction went on hiatus on syosetu. The problem?!

The first 10 chapters are very... very dark... the scenes are even beyond sadistic. They are the darkest chapters I have ever read, involving child abuse, sexual exploitation, and dehumanization.

Yikes!

I felt so suffocated reading those chapters. Initially, I was forced to stop reading those chapters because I was severely depressed after finishing the chapter.

Good. You're human.

I only dared to speed read about 2-4 years later before finally writing a review on NU. Even though the narrative after the first 10 chapters is a good story, deep characters, strong emotions, lively worldbuilding, and a dynamic plot.

Sort of reminds me of one manga I sort of skipped over to see how it concludes, it's where the hero is betrayed by the kingdom and she resorts to boiling each person from the inside with her gift. That was some seriously dark revenge content.

If you ignore the first 10 chapters, I would definitely recommend this fiction. It's a shame... the author was too careless in creating a horrific scene at the beginning chapters, paying little attention to writing ethics. The result?

Readers are scared and even traumatized—at least that's what I experienced.

If I'm not mistaken, the author intended to submit his work to an isekai fiction writing contest in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if the fiction failed the selection.

Not because the narrative is bad... but because the content is too sensitive and ignores narrative ethics.

After all, works don't exist in a vacuum... they are read by humans who have lives and social dynamics.

Therefore, like it or not... authors need to consider more about the integrity of the work, artistic honesty, and writing ethics, especially if the author wants the work to be read by a wider audience.

Of course, this is just my opinion as a reader who has experienced trauma. Other authors may have different principles.

Thanks for sharing and I can totally understand why it may have failed entry.

I think this is pretty easy. Just don't glorify it. The world is not padded and it's not sunshine and rainbows.

People are too soft if they don't realize it.

Also if your story is hippy-happy-hoppy don't drop cannibals on your readers' heads because that's just trolling and asking for negative feedback.

Yeah... that's on the same page as falsifying tags in my opinion.

Needs to be a homebrew spell for my D&D wizard, At 5th level Drop 3D8 cannibals on an unsuspecting town. add 1D8 for each level of upcast

Dropbears? Where's my repellant!

I hate dramatising trauma unless absolutely necessary, when I couldn’t avoid. My story includes an arc where a certain demon, shall we say, encourages primal lust in people, which makes rape unavoidable. However, I treated it as a statistic, focusing instead on my characters investigating and solving it.

There is another arc involving conditioning and child soldier exploitation, but it was essential to delve deeply into that character’s mind. Rather than telling the events, I show the impact they had on the guy. This also allows me to portray how my mc psychologically tortures him to death while keeping it tasteful.

Good. This is good. You're showing both the clinical and consequence sides of these acts. I don't believe that would be glorifying it... maybe a little on the first one, but not for the act in itself; as you said, it's more statistical for their developments in the plotline, right?

But a question: how do you keep it tasteful?

 

[Author_Riceball]

So... new question here! I am once again, but this time I would not at all be surprised I'd watch this thing die quietly in a ditch somewhere; no hard feelings if you all want to avoid this topic like The Plague.

I've been witnessing over the years... decades, really, something that pops up in a lot of serialized webnovels, here, and big Blockbuster-worthy series alike. Some stories include situations that ain't just dark or edgy, but the kind of stuff that would be straight-up illegal or seriously messed up in real life. I don't mean for shock value necessarily, but as part of the setting, the culture of the world, or, fuck, a character's backstory (insert Guts from Berserk here).

And that's where my moldy gray-matter starts squirming in front of the line in the sand.

Because there's a whole field on this side of the line in the sand... we're all standing on the moral high ground here. But crossing that line is where things get messy, because, well, that's the difference between depicting something and endorsing it, right? And that line gets blurry depending on framing, level of detail, and whether the scenes treats the hot topic as serious and harmful, romanticized, casual, sensationalized, or presented without consequences.

That means I'm here asking about a writing standpoint before crossing that line, not a moral panic stance. Like, when your story includes subject matter that's legally or ethically wrong in real life, how do you handle the portrayal? Do you all simply fade to black instead of showing it directly? That'd be cool, let the implications fill in the blank. Or do you rely on implication or aftermath rather than the act itself? I mean, do you make sure the emotional and psychological consequences are centered, such as using narrative distance so it doesn't feel voyeuristic or do you lean hard on tags and content warnings to flag readers?

Basically, how do you keep it from sliding into this feeling of exploitative territory while still being honest about the world or character you're writing?

And for those who are not writers, you readers and the rare reviewers, what makes the difference, for you, between this being a difficult but meaningful part of the story and this feeling like it's here for the wrong, damnable reasons?

I'm not interested in shaming genres or pretending dark fiction shouldn't exist; it does, as I've already said earlier, I've seen it here. I repeat, it's here. Conflict, harm, and ugly parts of humanity have always been part of storytelling and I don't bash on it. I'm more interested in responsibility in execution; the tone, framing, narrative consequences, and all that not-so-fun stuff.

Where do you draw your toes in the sand with your own work, and what do you use to stay on the right side of the dunes because, let's be real here, this is like stepping on a minefield.

One more time, I do not expect anyone to comment on this. This is topic is radioactive, but I want to learn how to handle it properly. I'm damn certain others may read over what you all say. Maybe they'll see what may have to be revised in their own series? Who knows.

And, mods, feel free to redact this if you believe it deserves it; I know I'm blowing the lid off of quite a few novels that may or may not contain liable content. But, again, if we make others aware on how to handle these without it blowing up the place, that's good, right? So, while I get suited up in the EOD outfit, let's here it.

I am completely desensitized, I would literally write a novel with a MC even worse than Epstein and go into all the depth with that.

 

[L1aei]

I am completely desensitized, I would literally write a novel with a MC even worse than Epstein and go into all the depth with that.

Ah, got it. You couldn't care less what the readers' reactions would be then. So how do you manage those sort of scenes? I mean, if you don't give a flying fuck about how it looks, wouldn't Tony be receiving reports? Or are you just implying that if you ever were to write a scene like that, not that you had ever, and you simply would, regardless of the consequences?


Dammit... had enough reactions for three posts before I ran out.

 

[AstreiaNyx]

But a question: how do you keep it tasteful?

Because she’s being very polite about it.
And she’s hot… so

 

[DionysusWriter]

I am completely desensitized, I would literally write a novel with a MC even worse than Epstein and go into all the depth with that.

I agree with this user. I think it's best to write freely. In any case, a "censored" version can be created for these websites, and the "uncensored" versions can be posted on a separate blog or something similar.

 

[Author_Riceball]

Ah, got it. You couldn't care less what the readers' reactions would be then. So how do you manage those sort of scenes? I mean, if you don't give a flying fuck about how it looks, wouldn't Tony be receiving reports? Or are you just implying that if you ever were to write a scene like that, not that you had ever, and you simply would, regardless of the consequences?


Dammit... had enough reactions for three posts before I ran out.

You write for yourself not the readers. And if a platform refuses you, then don’t use it lol. But if I do write a story like that, for the record. CIA, I am not suicidal

 

[L1aei]

Because she’s being very polite about it.
And she’s hot… so

Okay... so you have a character who wields a gauntlet in crimson velvet. Got it. Still, the context, would that still be as comfortable when the fist hits home what's happening? How does that get done?

I agree with this user. I think it's best to write freely. In any case, a "censored" version can be created for these websites, and the "uncensored" versions can be posted on a separate blog or something similar.

Censored and uncensored versions... I see... I suppose that is keeping things inline with the rules and all that, but... okay, I shouldn't judge. What... what am I trying to ask here, dammit? Um... no, I'm at a loss for words on this one.

Let me ask this instead: if someone who read the censored version discovered there is an uncensored version, does rereading the novel of the uncensored version make it worth their while? I know I would seek out the uncensored versions of specific manga or manhwa because series like that GATE, you know the one with the JSDF going into a medieval fantasy world, has two versions with one showing just how much of a culture shock it is between the two planes of existences. That's something I wanted to know what I missed out on. But for novels, from your perspective and over what you are thinking, is it worth first reading the censored and, then upon the discovery, checking out the uncensored?

You write for yourself not the readers. And if a platform refuses you, then don’t use it lol. But if I do write a story like that, for the record. CIA, I am not suicidal

I support writing for ourselves and I'm glad you are not into the whole self-harm issues. And... damn, I really feel like there are eggshells on my fingertips whenever I type because, I'm not sure how to ask how this works. One platform says "No!" but the other says "Sure, why not?" to us. I guess that is a way to manage it. But how do you handle the scenes on platforms that don't approve? Or, rather, as a human it'd be something many, maybe even yourself, would hesitate on writing? You know what I mean? If not, I'll try elaborating better.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

I know I would seek out the uncensored versions of specific manga or manhwa because series like that GATE,

there is an uncensored GATE?