CloverReef

Okay so I don’t ‘like’ to write 1st POV, but that’s only because it limits what scenes I can do and what I can show. I felt that limitation most when I wrote Blackbird because fuuuuck so much was going on, and if he wasn’t in the scene, the readers couldn’t be privy! That being said, some stories demand 1st POV. So for quite a few years, all my main projects ended up 1st POV whether I liked it or not.
So believe me, I know your pain. 
I had a few ways to differentiate between MCs. Though I’m not sure if you’re talking about multiple MCs in a single story or the three MCs across your three stories. I guess either way the solutions would be the same. I just get real nervous for writers who attempt to do multiple 1st povs in one story lol. 
The characters really had to have STRONG personalities. This is the biggest one for me. Before I started a story, I would consider the last couple MCs and figure out ways to set them apart, which for me usually involved big differences in Masculine/feminine traits. Some were campier than others. I never really go hyper masculine for a MC, but someone super effeminate will naturally have different internal dialogue. A quiet and subdued character can be a strong personality we don’t see all that often. Some chars are outgoing and playful while others are more jaded or confrontational. All these things can be reflected in the internal dialogue to set them apart.  Origins. This is a little harder to utilize unless you’re really comfortable with the culture they come from. Trying to do a southern accent in dialogue if you’ve only heard it like once or twice and did a quick google search might end up feeling a little contrived unless you keep it really subtle. And it can get real annoying to keep doing a couple choice slang all through your narrative without the actual speech patterns lol. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be from the south and have an accent enough that it helps set them apart from other characters. Also consider social class. Someone raised in the trailer park in Kansas will probably talk and think differently than someone raised in a multi million dollar gated community. Their vocabulary will be different based on a lot of factors: culture, education level, hobbies, hometown. Where I come from, everyone calls ‘hoodies’ ‘bunny hugs’. I never even heard the term ‘hoodie’ until I moved away when I was 16 lol.  Priorities. Grammar matters more to some people than others. Are they misanthropic? Do they act differently around strangers than they do family or lovers?  Of course these are things to consider ANYWAY that most of us already know, but when you’re doing 1st POV they’re doubly useful. And it helps to take them a step farther. Stress parts of them that make them unique from your competing MCs. 
Hope that helps a little! 

Okay so I don’t ‘like’ to write 1st POV, but that’s only because it limits what scenes I can do and what I can show. I felt that limitation most when I wrote Blackbird because fuuuuck so much was going on, and if he wasn’t in the scene, the readers couldn’t be privy! That being said, some stories demand 1st POV. So for quite a few years, all my main projects ended up 1st POV whether I liked it or not.
So believe me, I know your pain. 
I had a few ways to differentiate between MCs. Though I’m not sure if you’re talking about multiple MCs in a single story or the three MCs across your three stories. I guess either way the solutions would be the same. I just get real nervous for writers who attempt to do multiple 1st povs in one story lol. 
The characters really had to have STRONG personalities. This is the biggest one for me. Before I started a story, I would consider the last couple MCs and figure out ways to set them apart, which for me usually involved big differences in Masculine/feminine traits. Some were campier than others. I never really go hyper masculine for a MC, but someone super effeminate will naturally have different internal dialogue. A quiet and subdued character can be a strong personality we don’t see all that often. Some chars are outgoing and playful while others are more jaded or confrontational. All these things can be reflected in the internal dialogue to set them apart.  Origins. This is a little harder to utilize unless you’re really comfortable with the culture they come from. Trying to do a southern accent in dialogue if you’ve only heard it like once or twice and did a quick google search might end up feeling a little contrived unless you keep it really subtle. And it can get real annoying to keep doing a couple choice slang all through your narrative without the actual speech patterns lol. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be from the south and have an accent enough that it helps set them apart from other characters. Also consider social class. Someone raised in the trailer park in Kansas will probably talk and think differently than someone raised in a multi million dollar gated community. Their vocabulary will be different based on a lot of factors: culture, education level, hobbies, hometown. Where I come from, everyone calls ‘hoodies’ ‘bunny hugs’. I never even heard the term ‘hoodie’ until I moved away when I was 16 lol.  Priorities. Grammar matters more to some people than others. Are they misanthropic? Do they act differently around strangers than they do family or lovers?  Of course these are things to consider ANYWAY that most of us already know, but when you’re doing 1st POV they’re doubly useful. And it helps to take them a step farther. Stress parts of them that make them unique from your competing MCs. 
Hope that helps a little! 

I love trash horror movies  Split is awesome, def check that out. And thanks for all the help! Might be hitting you up in PM a bit later… 

Mental illness is a very personal experience. It might actually be good that you don’t come into it with a complete education on it because it can be easy to write their symptoms too textbook. I’d just suggest watching a couple documentaries maybe if you feel too lacking. Otherwise, I grew up around paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar family members and have done a ton of research on my own, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions. 

lol I watch like a billion prison shows, reality and drama, and all I can think of is… punk and chomo. They usually have slang for stuff they’re not allowed to have (like drugs and stuff) but that probably wouldn’t follow them out into the free world huh? But I totally do that too. Especially when I collab with friends. Like chars that are hardened criminals who didn’t spend a day in school, much less went to the trouble to learn on their own, using big, pretentious words. Like wtf? No Chad, his hair isn’t iridescent, it’s purple and blue! 
 
LOL I love characters like that. Lovable douchebags. 
 
Yaaas! Preach! 
Nothing wrong with using stereotypes. They only become a problem, in my not so humble opinion, when they’re not balanced by non-stereotypical traits and feel like caricatures. Or, you know, when they’re blatantly racist too. That’s usually a bad idea lol.
 
This is an interesting one. Did he pass from house to house (foster homes) or spend his formative years in the circus or an orphanage? I know some kids who feel they’ve been lacking role models or parents tend to pick their own. Sometimes its older kids in the neighbourhood. In poverty stricken areas, this might be gangs or cops or community volunteers who had an impact on them. For some kids, they pick a celebrity or an ideal. Like cowboys or samurai or… Lady Gaga? And model themselves, their language and behaviour after their chosen idols, like way more obsessively than typical kids. 
Woe is me could always manifest in a multitude of defining ways. Cutters, emo music, emotional breakdowns, crippling depression, addictions, pushing people away who are good for him. There’s a lot of ways you could go with that that I’d personally find quite interesting, because it can be so toxic and emotional and yet relatable. 

Okay, I’m gonna summarize some of my brainstorming – I actually did characteristic groupings based on the categories you gave me. You actually made me realize I’m writing my first character sub-optimally too 
Rayce
1. Sarcastic, egotistic, confrontational, thinks he's hilarious and sometimes isn't, easily distracted, kind of just an all-around party hardy frat boy, but he's really just fronting very hard because he thinks he can't live up to the expectations placed on him.
2. He spent a lot of time in prison and was like, a D student before that, so maybe his voice shouldn't be as flowery as I sometimes make it (because I like my pretty ass prose, dammit...). He probably doesn't care about grammar and talks in slang a lot. (Prison slang??? I've never tried that)
3. Probably only focused on what's directly in front of him at any given time, ignoring problems until they come back to bite him in the ass. He wouldn't notice a lot of details in a room, for example (so I shouldn’t over-describe them...). Pushy. Veeeerry pushy with his lovers but seems to want a deeper relationship while doing nothing to deserve it. Tries to 'dominate' strangers in a conversation and establish himself as an 'alpha male' – he should come on stronger in dialogue.
Jurei
1. Collected most of the time but has a temper when pushed. A complete narcissist who thinks he's the prettiest/smartest/most enlightened in any given room. When reality contradicts that self-image, it usually results in a meltdown – WRITE THE MELTDOWNS
2. He was raised in a rich home and is highly educated, so he might be able to adopt the flowery prose that I'm going to have to cut from Rayce's narrative. He's Japanese, so he could be polite (at least on the surface); I hope that doesn't seem stereotypical though. He does talk down to people in lower social classes, however.
3. He prides himself on having all the information all the time, so he should be more attentive to detail (more description of scenery/people/things). Misanthropic towards people that aren't as privileged as him but very respectful to higher ranking people. He melts for his lovers because it's a nice break from being on his A game all the time, romantic with his doms, but pushy with subs especially lower ranking ones (he should probably deprecate them in his internal dialogue to rationalize his behavior). He'll take what he wants by force if he has to.
Flaere 
1. Timid, he doesn't have enough self-worth to have a temper. Tries to do the right thing. Fundamentally a hopeful person. Complies/gives in to abuse easily because of a lack of self esteem. Actually quite bright and learns new things easily when given a chance and treated with kindness (should give him a more curious/questioning voice). 
2. This one's hard, he was a runaway from the circus and raised as an orphan so I'm not really sure what his origins say about his voice. It probably doesn't veer too far in Rayce's direction or Jurei's. 
3. Places himself at the bottom of the food chain, so tends to overstate the abilities/appearance of everyone else. Crumbles under abusive lovers, borderline worships the ones who are nice to him. Loves being complimented and hangs onto kind words.
-> Flaere is the hardest for me because so far the way I've written him, his only defining trait is very 'oh woe is me'self-deprecation and I frankly don't think that's a great or interesting trait by itself. Gonna have to work on him. 
 
Sorry for wall of text   But this is why I love talking shop with you guys; I always feel like I learn so much. I just have to make that stuff come out in the narratives ^
M. G. I want to start calling them bunny hugs now, that is a-freaking-dorable 

@CloverReef YOU ARE A LIFESAVER
Love what you said about accents, I hadn’t even thought about that but of course, there’s always a certain risk associated with that.
Of course I’m not trying to do multiple first person perspectives in one story, lol, I don’t hate myself THAT much   One of my favorite authors (and the one who turned me on to FP in my own writing style) handled the whole limitation thing by switching to third person close perspectives of two other MCs to supplement the FP POV. I don’t know that I’m comfortable with doing that (although I thought he did it well for the most part) but so far I think my stories haven’t felt a need to ‘jump out’ of the MC’s head. 
I think the issue that I’m running into is that two of the three have somewhat subdued personalities (that shouldn’t mean boring though…) while the other has a loud one that I’m really used to writing in because he was the first. 
Okay, I’m actually going to copy+paste everything you just said into a doc and workshop my MCs tonight. THANK YOU!!! 

Okay so I don’t ‘like’ to write 1st POV, but that’s only because it limits what scenes I can do and what I can show. I felt that limitation most when I wrote Blackbird because fuuuuck so much was going on, and if he wasn’t in the scene, the readers couldn’t be privy! That being said, some stories demand 1st POV. So for quite a few years, all my main projects ended up 1st POV whether I liked it or not.
So believe me, I know your pain. 
I had a few ways to differentiate between MCs. Though I’m not sure if you’re talking about multiple MCs in a single story or the three MCs across your three stories. I guess either way the solutions would be the same. I just get real nervous for writers who attempt to do multiple 1st povs in one story lol. 
The characters really had to have STRONG personalities. This is the biggest one for me. Before I started a story, I would consider the last couple MCs and figure out ways to set them apart, which for me usually involved big differences in Masculine/feminine traits. Some were campier than others. I never really go hyper masculine for a MC, but someone super effeminate will naturally have different internal dialogue. A quiet and subdued character can be a strong personality we don’t see all that often. Some chars are outgoing and playful while others are more jaded or confrontational. All these things can be reflected in the internal dialogue to set them apart.  Origins. This is a little harder to utilize unless you’re really comfortable with the culture they come from. Trying to do a southern accent in dialogue if you’ve only heard it like once or twice and did a quick google search might end up feeling a little contrived unless you keep it really subtle. And it can get real annoying to keep doing a couple choice slang all through your narrative without the actual speech patterns lol. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be from the south and have an accent enough that it helps set them apart from other characters. Also consider social class. Someone raised in the trailer park in Kansas will probably talk and think differently than someone raised in a multi million dollar gated community. Their vocabulary will be different based on a lot of factors: culture, education level, hobbies, hometown. Where I come from, everyone calls ‘hoodies’ ‘bunny hugs’. I never even heard the term ‘hoodie’ until I moved away when I was 16 lol.  Priorities. Grammar matters more to some people than others. Are they misanthropic? Do they act differently around strangers than they do family or lovers?  Of course these are things to consider ANYWAY that most of us already know, but when you’re doing 1st POV they’re doubly useful. And it helps to take them a step farther. Stress parts of them that make them unique from your competing MCs. 
Hope that helps a little! 

It really sounds to me like selective outrage based on the mods of the site picking and choosing what they personally find reprehensible, unless it’s for legal reasons like Desiderius mentioned. Like, I personally find Minor1 pretty bad but I wouldn’t want writers to be censored on that basis. It’s just fiction after all, and no one is actually getting hurt.
Ah, that makes sense. Lol, at least we can protect our smut to some extent. I was just thinking I’d love to read a dramatic retelling of AFF’s history with the law told like a prohibition era crime drama. You guys be the smut peddlers and we’ll be the degenerates stumbling into the speakeasy 

I think the one that puzzles me the most is the no incest rule I see on a lot of them. I mean no pedophilia covers the statutory rape issues that could arise so what you have left are the situations with two consenting adults. I mean it's fiction so you don't have to worry about them breeding. 

Plot bunnies breed, they’re always breeding. 
It may be legal issues.  AFF is hosted in the US which has the first amendment, other countries aren’t so lucky.  Even in the US, you’ve got busibodies sticking their noses into other people’s websites and try to censor via court/legal-threats when they see it (ie, why bother with parental oversight when you can try to Disney-fy the entire internet instead?).  IIRC, AFF has had to fend off threats to its existence, a mod/admin with good memory could fill us in here. 

No non-con? Lmao, that’s 100% of my stuff down the drain (trying not to imagine what that says about me as a person...). Why even HAVE a mature fiction site if you’re gonna moderate it like fucking Disney? 

That’s a really good point! I was worried that things got a little too dark or extreme in my story at times, but I’ve had readers read it and stick around, surprising even myself. I guess I’m just chained to the guidelines of other forums/communities where my more mature stories would get censored and deleted, lol. I love the freedom we have here; I feel like there’s nowhere else for this stuff. 

Thanks for unintentionally setting an image of Offenderman stuck in my deprived mind.  Actually, that  gives me a fun little idea to play with for a one-shot. 
You're only scaring away the weak-stomached. I'm all for more maturely rated stories. ;3 I'm all for gore mostly. Fuu~

Of course! The horrible stuff is only fun if its got a purpose! Okay, that’s a lie. Sometimes its fun to write horrible shit just to write horrible shit. But it’s more fun to read when it’s got a point! … Okay that’s a lie too. Stories I like best are the crazy, pointless, horrific shit I wandered onto via pure, unadulterated morbid curiosity. 
I forget what I was trying to say...

I kinda had the same issue, not knowing how much was too much. I think I’ve only rated ++ on one fic, and that’s just because that fic had a few really violent sex scenes and human trafficking was a recurring theme in detail. So I pretty much agree with the others – the subject matter plays the biggest part in my decisions. Like if a fic had a lot of really graphic sex but was a standard erotic romance, I wouldn’t tack on that extra +. Unless that romantic erotica involved like… scat. Or super graphic vore. Okay I gotta stop thinking of things I’d go ++ for. My depraved imagination is having a little too much fun with priests and tentacles now. 

It’s only irrational if the stories aren’t really out to get you.
I dunno, these fic-jugglers still give me panic attacks. I’m just going to hide in the corner and grumble bitterly to my pug about all these crazy multitasking shenanigans going on around here. He gets me. I think… It’s hard to tell. Sometimes he snores when I’m talking to him with his eyes wide open.

Noooo! Not until I’ve backed up all that messed up pervy stuff so they can continue to entertain me while I simultaneously weep for humanity for many years to come.

Of course! The horrible stuff is only fun if its got a purpose! Okay, that’s a lie. Sometimes its fun to write horrible shit just to write horrible shit. But it’s more fun to read when it’s got a point! … Okay that’s a lie too. Stories I like best are the crazy, pointless, horrific shit I wandered onto via pure, unadulterated morbid curiosity. 
I forget what I was trying to say...

I kinda had the same issue, not knowing how much was too much. I think I’ve only rated ++ on one fic, and that’s just because that fic had a few really violent sex scenes and human trafficking was a recurring theme in detail. So I pretty much agree with the others – the subject matter plays the biggest part in my decisions. Like if a fic had a lot of really graphic sex but was a standard erotic romance, I wouldn’t tack on that extra +. Unless that romantic erotica involved like… scat. Or super graphic vore. Okay I gotta stop thinking of things I’d go ++ for. My depraved imagination is having a little too much fun with priests and tentacles now. 

You will be weeping forever, my friend. 

Those are CHILDREN? I thought they were like, really ugly strippers 

Noooo! Not until I’ve backed up all that messed up pervy stuff so they can continue to entertain me while I simultaneously weep for humanity for many years to come.

It’s only irrational if the stories aren’t really out to get you.
I dunno, these fic-jugglers still give me panic attacks. I’m just going to hide in the corner and grumble bitterly to my pug about all these crazy multitasking shenanigans going on around here. He gets me. I think… It’s hard to tell. Sometimes he snores when I’m talking to him with his eyes wide open.

I kinda had the same issue, not knowing how much was too much. I think I’ve only rated ++ on one fic, and that’s just because that fic had a few really violent sex scenes and human trafficking was a recurring theme in detail. So I pretty much agree with the others – the subject matter plays the biggest part in my decisions. Like if a fic had a lot of really graphic sex but was a standard erotic romance, I wouldn’t tack on that extra +. Unless that romantic erotica involved like… scat. Or super graphic vore. Okay I gotta stop thinking of things I’d go ++ for. My depraved imagination is having a little too much fun with priests and tentacles now.