lol some dork ass on Reddit is like "why are writers obsessed with traumatizing their characters?" Among smarter reasons, it's also because if nobody is traumatized then I don't get my sweet, sweet hurt/comfort fix.
listen i made these little gays and i'll do what i want to them
because i'm a sicko!!!!!!!!!!
Alt: lemongrab playing with smaller lemongrab
Is it not simply enough to have the partner die! Why must you make him say he's two weeks from retirement and tell us about the sweet boat he's restoring to go sailing with his grandkids.
The reader needs to see them suffer so the reader can empathize and finally feel the catharsis with the character--or have their soul crushed as the author chooses.
Therapy is expensive so I dump my trauma onto them instead.
Look, my fav tag on the fanficiton websites are hurt/comfort. You can't be hurt and need comforting if things are all daisies and lemonade.
Because I am a cruel and capricious god!
lmao imagining them saying the same thing, except they're standing over 8-year old me having her Barbies argue over who gets sacrificed by being thrown into the pit (gap between the bed frame and wall)
I go full on "parents rights" on my characters. I spawned them into this world and i *will* put them in the hydraulic press if i want to
Cuz characters are made to approximate real people and real people are traumatised one way or the other, no exceptions?