I’m writing my first story, and one of the chapters contains one of the characters going through parental abuse.
So, essentially the character is 17 years old and got beat up by his father. In the scene, he is lying down in the living room with blood on his clothes and a bruise on his face.
Is this not allowed?
The father is supposed to be a bad person. The MC is trying to rescue this boy who is borderline unconscious on the floor, so the MC is trying to prevent the father from approaching the boy.
Is this too much violence? The father also pushes MC.
Do I need to edit this story and have some other character be evil? Not the father, but maybe an uncle? That’s not parental abuse, right?
as long as you alert the readers in the beginning of the episode or a scene before that happens, some people may get triggered by it. but as long as you aren’t promoting it or anything it should be fine. it is apart of the guidelines, BUT only if you promote it
make sure you’re warning readers though, some people may have been abused so it could be triggering to them, as well as do your research, don’t show parent abuse in a non-realistic way. and make sure you’re against it and not with it, you should be fine then
i think the guidelines say something about depicting parental abuse on screen but since yours occurs off screen (or it sounded like it from your post) then I think it would be okay (?). so maybe if someone rather young read it, that they might not pick up on the situation/think the character just has a bloody nose
As long as violence and abuse isn’t glamorized, then it’s fine as long as you include a warning of mature themes and a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter.
Well, the dad pretty much admits that he beat him up. And goes to him to try to beat him up more, and the MC runs up there and stands in between the beat up 17 year old boy and the dad.
The guidelines say it can’t be excessive. You can use Episode’s own stains, their animations, and I’ve seen some stories have eye overlays, but if it gets to the point where they’re like in a pool of blood or blood splatters on screen, that’s too much. Additionally, any descriptions cannot be excessive.
Take this part with a grain of salt because I am not certain, but from what I can find from Google, parental abuse is defined as the child abusing the parent, so that’s how I take it from the guidelines.
One of my favorite stories has an abusive step parent, so that’s why I believe it can be.
Ohhh, I see. I thought it meant the parent abusing the child. I’m not using any overlays, just episode’s own blood stains and bruise marks. I also heard there’s a limit of 5 hits per chapter, is this still true?
I should add it’s a good idea to make the abuse off screen, like it sounds you’re doing. I don’t want all your hard work to be taken down. I believe that’s how the story I mentioned did it.
Personally, I think that scene is a little “iffy” based on the new guidelines.
I would add a trigger warning before the scene. People who experienced parental abuse may not want to watch this scene because it could bring back memories of traumatic moments.
NARR
The following scene contains content that could be upsetting to some viewers.
Viewer discretion is advised.
choice
"Continue the story" {
continue
} <GREEN> "Learn more about the upcoming scene" {
NARR
The following scene contains portrayal of physical parental abuse.
Would you like to watch this scene?
choice
"Watch the scene" {
continue
} "Skip this scene" {
goto after_scene
}
} <GREEN> "Skip this scene" {
goto after_scene
}
#put the scene here
label after_scene
The other thing I would do, is remove blood from his clothing. I think a bruise is one thing, but showing him bloodied might take it a little too far to follow guidelines.
(This is just my suggestion. I’m not an expert on the guidelines by any mean.)
I had a scene that the review team asked me to remove because it contained parental abuse. My scene was similar to yours but more graphic I guess, and after I made it less graphic they approved it. so I suggest you not to use a lot of bruise and blood overlays.
I don’t think you should change your plot if this is how you want it. It’s a complex subject and I suggest you to read about it a little. but overall, a lot of stories not on episode and some on episode discuss parental abuse.
