[ SECRET POST #2207 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2207 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 023 secrets from Secret Submission Post #315.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

04. http://i50.tinypic.com/2dt3j8l.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

I completely agree.

[(Anonymous)]

The world would be a better place if people would learn the difference. Especially since misuse of the term trivializes it, which means it's not taken seriously in the instances that it should be.

A thousand times this.

[chardmonster]

I think a lot of people think things they read are never supposed to be disturbing. Murder? Yeah, that should disturb you. Abuse? That ought to disturb you too. These are disturbing things. You should be upset by things that are that awful.

A lot of people seem to want to glide through life never ever becoming upset. Never having to think about anything negative whatsoever. This is natural, but it sure as hell isn't adult.

Obviously this excludes people with actual psychological triggers.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd take someone more seriously if they'd stop ranting at the person that *triggered* them. Fandom tends to take words that sound 'cool' or 'spiffy', and warps them into something that the poster can use to not be called out on their bullshit.

[(Anonymous)]

IA anon.

For me part of the problem is over warnings, because there are things that I find unlikely to be a trigger, but that some people say are, and I cannot know what might truly trigger another person, so I err on the side of caution. I think many people do the same, and as a result the idea of a trigger becomes downgraded, as it were. The plain fact is, if you have never been triggered you can't really know what it is, or at least I think so*.

*Before people get annoyed at this, I wold invite those of you who can to imagine how you would have described or envisaged an orgasm before you had one. Even if it's not a big deal for you, it's different to other experiences.

[intrigueing]

I agree in theory, but I've found in my experience that in practice it's pretty hard to get a good sense of how different things trigger different people. I mean, someone who doesn't have a trigger for X can easily write a scene and not even realize that their scene contains material involving X and can be a trigger for someone.

OTOH, sometimes, people use trigger warnings really passive-aggressively, with the warner warning for utterly ridiculous things in a faux-sincere way to say "oh noes, I'm sooooo afraid of being caught by the trigger warning police that I'm gonna post a trigger warning for a character getting a nosebleed because if I don't I'm sure I'll get dogpiled!" Which just kinda undermines the legitimacy of triggers.

[ex_paola492]

Yes. Let me smother you with love, OP.

[fingalsanteater]

But that involves using your brain and who has time for that thinking shit?

[(Anonymous)]

I agree. I think a lot of people don't really differentiate between triggers and squicks these days, and I've seen a lot of people use triggers as a way to bully writers who write things that they don't like. That sort of thing has pretty well destroyed at least one kink meme at this point.

Plus, triggers can be very idividual and idiosyncratic, and it's impossible for writers to warn for every single thing that could trigger anyone. And there are things that many people may not want to read for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with triggers (although for some people, those reasons might include triggers).

[belleweather]

It seems like we used to have a great word for "things that make me uncomfortable in a fic". What ever happened to the idea of 'squicks', anyway? I miss them.

[(Anonymous)]

The world has become trite and overly-PC. Everyone's child is a special snowflake, no stereotype is true, punishment for bad behavior is damaging, there is no such thing as a 'loser' in a competition, let's not express ourselves or challenge authority or dare write anything realistic and disturbing without warning people to cover their poor little eyes...

[deenaa]

The word trigger has been misappropriated so badly I don't think it'll ever regain its original meaning. Which is a shame because it is an awful thing that people suffer from and it shouldn't be used so casually.

However, I will say that I'm one of those people who really likes the fact that people are being more careful about warning for content. Just because I don't have any triggers doesn't mean that I'm always going to want/be able to deal with extreme content. Being able to say 'no, I'm not going to read that article/fic/pic right now' because I was warned ahead of time is nice, and lets me continue having a slightly less shitty day.

In summary, I agree with the OP, but I hope that warning for extreme content continues to be a thing.

[(Anonymous)]

I think my biggest issue with "trigger"(for non-eating disorder uses anyway), is that the accepted treatment for PTSD is exposure to the thing that triggers you, until you're desensitized. Every time I see someone use it, and if I assume they really mean trigger and not squick then my reaction is OMG IF IT'S THAT UPSETTING TO READ, PLEASE GET A THERAPIST AND XANAX, THE INTERNET WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU DON'T!

Nevermind that half the internet seems to use PTSD to mean remember anyway. (this is not directed at people claiming PTSD so much as the people going over the top to "protect" the sufferers of it).

[maverickz3r0]

Are we talking just trauma triggers here? I know that's how fandom usually uses them, but there are also triggers for a variety of other disorders. I've got cyclothymia (bipolar spectrum), and while I haven't run into any mood swing triggers in fandom I do have them IRL.

I know fandom does over-generalize them, but it still makes me wince at some of the things people say sound weird for triggers.

[illiadandoddity]

You speak the truth, anon. "Wow, this story really freaked me out" is not the same as "I had a violent, uncontrollable emotional reaction caused by this story."

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. Can't we just use warnings for squicky things instead of misusing the term "trigger"? As I understand it, a trigger is something that causes a really horrific PTSD-type reaction or flashback to a past event, right? I mean, I am terribly TERRIBLY upset by any discussion of animal abuse but it's not a trigger if I can avert my eyes and keep scrolling...

[(Anonymous)]

While we're at it, can fandom learn what an actual panic attack is?

If you are narrating your 'panic attack' as it's happening with legible typing, then you are probably just very upset about something.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it wrong that my first thought is to identify the gun in the picture? At first glance, I thought it to be an IMI Jericho (aka Baby Eagle), which most people her would recognize as Spike's gun (Cowboy Bebop). Then I realized it's the gun the Jericho was based on, an early model of the CZ 75 (early model of that gun because it's made in Czechoslovakia and has a rounded trigger guard).

[diet_poison]

This is a secret why? I'm pretty sure the majority of people here (including myself) agree vehemently.

[(Anonymous)]

What happened to calling it a squick?

[tenlittlebullets]

Fuck yes, agreed. Once we've learned the difference between "a trigger" and "a thing that makes me uncomfortable," maybe we can even level up to the difference between "a trigger" and "a thing that makes me upset." Because holy balls, you mean not all warnings have to be trigger warnings, and "hey I was not expecting this and found it deeply upsetting" might just possibly be a valid emotional response even when it's not dressed up in appropriated SJ language and trivializing PTSD? Inconceivable.

I mean, yeah, it's not ALWAYS valid or requiring of consideration; people pitch tantrums over trivial shit and it's not the internet's job to spare them Teh Horror of, say, getting spoilered for a book older than their grandmother. But that is why humans have judgement! I think that too often, spurious demands for trigger warnings are a way to shut down any sort of discussion or judgement call by saying "You are MORALLY OBLIGATED to comply with my demands, now put that thing down before you trigger someone or so help me--"

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I am down with like 99.8% of the posts/fics involving sexual assault that I come across, but infrequently I'll run into something downright upsetting and spend the rest of the night stewing and/or feeling really oodgy. And in the unlikely case that someone totally dismissed a quick "hey, can you put this behind a cut?" because I wasn't having fucking flashbacks (or didn't abuse the magic T-word to claim that I was), I think I would spontaneously grow the ability to punch people in the face through the internet. I may not have any triggers that can be set off by words on a screen (I might not have any at all, depending on whether "oh shit, the identical zombie twin of my post-assault emotional state just snuck up and bear-hugged me" in response to RL stimuli counts), but JFC, triggers are not the only reason survivors--or anyone, really--might want a warning on upsetting shit.

[al28894]

Right now, I think fandom has used the word "trigger" to the point of diluting the word's meaning and impact until no one takes it as seriously as it was a few years ago. Agree with you so much on this.

[(Anonymous)]

I wish someone could clearly define what is and isn't a trigger so everyone wouldn't get up in arms about it.

For instance, I had an experience last year that I'm not sure I'm allowed to say was triggering. I went to see the film version of The Hunger Games and I knew I'd probably be emotional during the Reaping scene and at Rue's death. However, when I actually saw the film, I experienced a really raw sense of fear and eventually grief that I did not expect to have and could not control. At first, I thought it was because I'm a really protective big sister, like Katniss, but after thinking about it for a long while, I realized I reacted that way because it reminded me of everything I felt during the three dog attacks I experienced. My dog was always attacked, not me, but those two HG scenes awakened the same fear, guilt, and sense of failure I'd felt then. I'm pretty sure this is what a trigger is, but I'm afraid to call it that because I think most of the internet would say that three dog attacks aren't serious enough to trigger someone. So mostly I just feel weird about this experience.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed.
I don't post trigger warnings on my fics. I post a summary, genre, and rating, and I expect my readers to be mature enough to understand what subjects might come up with the information I've given them.

Funny thing is that in the 10+ years I've been writing fanfic, I haven't had a single person complain that I need to add trigger warnings. Then again, I really only post to a few places nowadays and have a fairly small circle of readership, so maybe my readers just know that's how I roll and they just deal.