How to make the perfect form (for closed species adoptables)

[G1 Sunstreaker]

Ah forgot to mark this! The tools section is very useful. vuv

[Greenfriedenvy]

Hey! This looks like it is quite a nice guide. I must say, however, that, like Takura., I too have something of an issue with one particular part of it.

my only issue with it is the disorders thing - as someone with clinically diagnosed disorders/mental illnesses (anxiety and depression) it's offputting for users to use disorders/mental illnesses to make a character "interesting" or to seem "cool".

As someone else who suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, I can say that it really isn't that big a problem. If a character has a condition/disorder such as "depersonalisation-derealisation disorder", that makes your form stand out and it does make it more interesting.
This is not saying that disorders are a good thing, but you cannot say that no one can give their character a disorder because it's rude to you. If someone is writing about a disorder and giving false information then fair enough, but saying that you can't give a character a disorder no matter what is like saying you can't make a character homosexual because someone may get upset. You don't own the copyright on the disorder.
It also means you're not creating an all perfect character.
I appreciate what you're saying, but I disagree. I recently gave a character ADHD and a friend who has ADHD thought it was really cool. People can't leave something out of their form because a couple of people might get offended. The only person deciding to be offended is you.
And I don't think you're being rude ^^ I hope I'm not coming across as rude either.

Okay, so first things first, consider your audience. You're on a children's website. Of course, there are some older people who play, but for the most part, chickensmoothie is meant for children. While I understand (or hope, at least) that you don't mean to give every character a mental illness, disorder or disability, as this would be inappropriate, you must understand that some people reading this may well take the information and decide to give every character a mental illness which they may not know much about - after all, it is known that not everyone does their research. For this reason, I would recommend a change at the very least to remind users that not every character should have a mental illness.
Second, while your personal experiences are one thing, you must always be mindful of others. Just because you think that this is okay, many do not. Just because your friend thought it was cool, many do not. In my experience, many people who have a mental illness or disorder aren't offended by someone giving one character a disorder, of course, but you must be aware that it can be seen as very offensive when people pile disorders and mental illnesses onto their characters, particularly for the sake of making them seem 'cool' or 'interesting'.
This brings us to my third point. While giving a character a mental illness may make your form stand out, it may be for the wrong reasons, and I fully believe that you should never, under any circumstances, give a character any form of illness (be it mental or physical), disorder or disability to make them seem 'cool'. Much of the Internet, particularly places like tumblr, continuously romanticise mental illness and make it seem like something 'cute', hence why, on tumblr and similar places, you will often see posts about things like depression, anxiety and anorexia. These are portrayed in a much more positive light than they are in reality. People will feel sad, or nervous, and will say that they have the said disorder because they have been presented with this softened, 'cute' image of it, when there are people who struggle with the true forms of these things every day, and feel like they can't ask for help because everyone around them supposedly has the same thing. Ask anyone with a mental illness. They will surely tell you that it isn't fun, it's not cute or cool, and it's not funny. Giving a disorder to a character to make them seem cool or cute or more interesting is wrong, period.
Furthermore, you shouldn't rely on things like disorders and mental illnesses to make your characters seem interesting. Not every character has to be a special snowflake. People who have no disorder or mental illness are interesting on their own, they have a life too, they have secrets, they have lies, they have a personality. There is so much you can do with a character's personality without giving them a mental illness that you really should not need to give a character a mental illness just to make them interesting. Plus, not every character needs to have some extraordinary life/style: proportionally, there should be more characters who live a normal life, go to work, go home, watch tv, etc.
Finally, I must express that I'm not saying that no character should have a mental illness. If it links into their backstory and there is a valid, developmental reason for them to have the said illness, go for it. But that is not to say that every character should have a tragic backstory resulting in chronic depression or the equivalent. If people want to add a disorder to their character, they will. If they need to be told to do so 'because it'll make their form more interesting', chances are it has nothing to do with the actual character and should not be included. I find that saying that people should include mental illnesses or disorders in their forms is very irresponsible in insensitive. That will be all for now.

[Arthur Morgan]

Hey! This looks like it is quite a nice guide. I must say, however, that, like Takura., I too have something of an issue with one particular part of it.

my only issue with it is the disorders thing - as someone with clinically diagnosed disorders/mental illnesses (anxiety and depression) it's offputting for users to use disorders/mental illnesses to make a character "interesting" or to seem "cool".

As someone else who suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, I can say that it really isn't that big a problem. If a character has a condition/disorder such as "depersonalisation-derealisation disorder", that makes your form stand out and it does make it more interesting.
This is not saying that disorders are a good thing, but you cannot say that no one can give their character a disorder because it's rude to you. If someone is writing about a disorder and giving false information then fair enough, but saying that you can't give a character a disorder no matter what is like saying you can't make a character homosexual because someone may get upset. You don't own the copyright on the disorder.
It also means you're not creating an all perfect character.
I appreciate what you're saying, but I disagree. I recently gave a character ADHD and a friend who has ADHD thought it was really cool. People can't leave something out of their form because a couple of people might get offended. The only person deciding to be offended is you.
And I don't think you're being rude ^^ I hope I'm not coming across as rude either.

Okay, so first things first, consider your audience. You're on a children's website. Of course, there are some older people who play, but for the most part, chickensmoothie is meant for children. While I understand (or hope, at least) that you don't mean to give every character a mental illness, disorder or disability, as this would be inappropriate, you must understand that some people reading this may well take the information and decide to give every character a mental illness which they may not know much about - after all, it is known that not everyone does their research. For this reason, I would recommend a change at the very least to remind users that not every character should have a mental illness.
Second, while your personal experiences are one thing, you must always be mindful of others. Just because you think that this is okay, many do not. Just because your friend thought it was cool, many do not. In my experience, many people who have a mental illness or disorder aren't offended by someone giving one character a disorder, of course, but you must be aware that it can be seen as very offensive when people pile disorders and mental illnesses onto their characters, particularly for the sake of making them seem 'cool' or 'interesting'.
This brings us to my third point. While giving a character a mental illness may make your form stand out, it may be for the wrong reasons, and I fully believe that you should never, under any circumstances, give a character any form of illness (be it mental or physical), disorder or disability to make them seem 'cool'. Much of the Internet, particularly places like tumblr, continuously romanticise mental illness and make it seem like something 'cute', hence why, on tumblr and similar places, you will often see posts about things like depression, anxiety and anorexia. These are portrayed in a much more positive light than they are in reality. People will feel sad, or nervous, and will say that they have the said disorder because they have been presented with this softened, 'cute' image of it, when there are people who struggle with the true forms of these things every day, and feel like they can't ask for help because everyone around them supposedly has the same thing. Ask anyone with a mental illness. They will surely tell you that it isn't fun, it's not cute or cool, and it's not funny. Giving a disorder to a character to make them seem cool or cute or more interesting is wrong, period.
Furthermore, you shouldn't rely on things like disorders and mental illnesses to make your characters seem interesting. Not every character has to be a special snowflake. People who have no disorder or mental illness are interesting on their own, they have a life too, they have secrets, they have lies, they have a personality. There is so much you can do with a character's personality without giving them a mental illness that you really should not need to give a character a mental illness just to make them interesting. Plus, not every character needs to have some extraordinary life/style: proportionally, there should be more characters who live a normal life, go to work, go home, watch tv, etc.
Finally, I must express that I'm not saying that no character should have a mental illness. If it links into their backstory and there is a valid, developmental reason for them to have the said illness, go for it. But that is not to say that every character should have a tragic backstory resulting in chronic depression or the equivalent. If people want to add a disorder to their character, they will. If they need to be told to do so 'because it'll make their form more interesting', chances are it has nothing to do with the actual character and should not be included. I find that saying that people should include mental illnesses or disorders in their forms is very irresponsible in insensitive. That will be all for now.

I understand what you mean about people piling them on and I will put a warning not to, but "interesting" means that that something is of interest. It's different. Acting like mental illnesses are the worst thing in the world (although they are certainly not the best and that's not what I'm saying) just makes people feel worse about them. That's why you don't treat people differently because of them. And if someone's not going out to offend people, then people need to chill out. By giving a character a mental illness you're not saying that the mental illness is good, you're saying that it's normal.
So no, I'm not going to take it out because mental illnesses should not be made into a taboo subject.

Again, I'm not trying to come across as rude. I will put a warning about overdoing it, but at the same time, I don't think it's fair to say that no one can do it because some people might get offended. People can get offended over anything and really, we need to chill out. Obviously, people should do their research, but as long as they're not being mean, there's no problem with it. Few people go out to offend. It's something that only the offended can control.