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[Neonivek]

Ok so as you may or may not know I am trying to make a point and click adventure and it is very likely never going to happen but it isn't something I am going to let drop. I am putting all the characters together and fleshing them out but I havn't got the overall plot fixed and I don't want to start until I got a good idea of what is exactly happening.

Overall though it is a trilogy, yes I think big, and one of the characters is the son of the lead of the first and second game. (an adult by the game start). Even working the game like that has been something I considered as quite a few of the concepts seemed to work better. For example the Female lead just having a solo game about her winning her independence and ability to chose her own future... which I thought was possibly cliche and maybe even sexist. Yet I kinda wanted to see something that was about a woman who actually did have to struggle with society and actually had to carve things out for herself and not have it handed to her.

Yet the issue I have is that I don't exactly know how child... work exactly. The concept behind him is that his struggle is that he is a rather troubled person who is balancing his near sociopathic tendencies with the teachings and examples his parents gave to him. That he was born a sort of troubled person who didn't have the sort of tools normal people have to distinguish right from wrong and needed an extra push he never got.

While I can easily think of ways this character works. Afterall he is someone who is struggling with the concept of why life itself is precious and wants to learn it on his own terms. I think that it may not exactly work the way I may be hoping.

Can Children just be troubled? Can people turn out to be these troubled people without really having an "as troubled" upbringing? Is it even believable?

[Reelya]

For example the Female lead just having a solo game about her winning her independence and ability to chose her own future... which I thought was possibly cliche and maybe even sexist.

Yeah, I agree a story in one generation that's empowering, could, if set in another generation be seen as patronizing.

Can Children just be troubled? Can people turn out to be these troubled people without really having an "as troubled" upbringing? Is it even believable?

Read about the life's stories of sociopaths and psychopaths. Usually there are signs all along that they were mentally ill (killing cats or other small animals etc) as a child, it's not always a "troubled" upbringing - many of them come from normal homes and their siblings do not turn out like they do. Also, mental illness can strike young adults (e.g. people for whom schizophrenia has a late onset).

My suggestion is to do research into life histories of those with disorders like Antisocial personality disorder, "troubled" just sounds like short-hand for stuff that hasn't been sufficiently investigated in the same way "instinct" for animals is the blanket answer for any animal behavior we haven't  explained - "instinct" isn't scientific (except as a cop-out), it means "we don't know" why the animal did that.

[Neonivek]

The reason I say troubled is because there really isn't a "fix" for some mental disorders that someone could have (at least to my knowledge you cannot fix some of them) and I didn't want to aim for that.

Afterall the sociopaths and psychopaths you are referencing to my knowledge can never be fixed and there was never a fix or anything that could have been done to change them.

Something I am not aiming for if the child is the main character. Heck it would make a better villain.

Though antisocial personality disorder could work so long as it isn't all pervasive. Which from what I am reading it apperantly seems to be.

THOUGH I don't have to ever say what it is, since it isn't a modern day game anyhow, so the vagueness works since this exists... But is it believable enough for someone to struggle through it through strength of will or character?

Yeah, I agree a story in one generation that's empowering, could, if set in another generation be seen as patronizing

Yeah it is why I didn't want to do it. I thought there was a lot of potential given the game is set in a quasi-medieval / Renaisance era (fantasy world). Yet at the same time it kinda is on thin ice and the effect of it isn't there.

What makes it so hard to drop is I kinda like the idea but not the context of how it applies today. I don't believe I could tell the story in a uninsulting manner or well enough to be considered worthy of exploration.

(What REALLY hurts things is that... usually when I write female characters or think them up I thought them up as solo characters first. She was written as a character meant to be the antithesis of an already existing male character. Yet It makes her characterisation much weaker)

[scriver]

Number one reason for being "troubled" without having the shittiest upbringing ever? Didn't get hugged enough as an infant. Not getting enough attention as a newishborn can disrupt a persons ability to bond with other people (simply put, not developing this ability as a baby can have consequences for the rest of their lives). Not being able to bond with other people to the same extent as others makes it harder to sympathize or empathize with people as well.

[Neonivek]

Oddly enough now I am actually starting to feel powerful overwhelming anxiety.