Anonymous 
OK so my character, Vaun, is a 13 year old kid in CD who has a traumatic back story. Because I am a Psychotherapist- in training-irl, I play him as a child who basically suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has issues with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder,as well as a basic childlike sweetness.
MY DILEMMA:
That being said, because of the nature of inner city America, and what it does to its children,I'm having a hard time making him a totally believable character while still remaining within the guidelines for CD kids.
Here are some of the things I find the most challenging:
PUBERTY
I am always of course, aware of the limitations with regards to sexuality, lol, and As Vaun has just begun to hit puberty this is a pretty steep challenge... by that I do not mean that I want to have Vaun become sexually active or anything remotely similar.. That being said, he is 13, and is in that extremely awkward space that I'm sure we all remember, when we're still little kids and our voices crack and acne and other things torture us lol... As well as the fact that everything our parents do is wrong!!!! XD I think the challenge for me is to play Vaun as a rather streetwise kid within the limitations of the TOS... I am having fun with the challenge though, and I think Vaun's hit a sort of happy medium... where he isn't immature for 13, but he isn't acting out inappropriately either... now the temper thing.. and not listening to parents...and getting corporal punishment at school as well as grounded at home is happening on the regular...as it does with every teen right? BUT.. What's too little, and What's too far? I'm a little stuck.
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Vaun should in actuality be seeing a therapist, but as in real life, he has managed to slip through the cracks.
One of the biggest challenges for me is playing a mentally disturbed child while adhering to the rules and expectations that playing a child character in CD entails. Vaun is disobedient, sells drugs, loves his family and drives them nuts all at the same time. I struggle a lot to bring forth the issues that he has without seeming over the top, but.. having worked as a caseworker last year, I actually find the rules for child avatars to be pretty limiting...which is what has me stumped atm.
The general expectation that a kid that has witnessed and been subjected to all the crap in CD would still be super sweet and untouched by society is impossible for me especially to even consider so.... Vaun sells drugs because he can't go around doing drive-byes, fighting adults and robbing stores at gunpoint as many an 11-15 year old child with behavioral issues in any American city has done. A lot of people would probably complain right now that it's not realistic for him ( or other CD kids) to use and sell drugs/alcohol and be consistently violent towards children and adults at a young age...
I understand the criticism, but.. IDK... are Hathian kids in general average? or extreme?
Because I have PERSONALLY counseled a disturbed 4 year old who'd wielded a butcher knife and threatened to chop the heads off of all of his family members at 3 AM, and MANY other kids whose deeds r too gruesome to tell here, I have a REALLY hard time with this perspective... I mean I seriously struggle...
So.. help a brutha out eh? Tell me...what's realistic and what's too far? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and seriously considered.
PLEASE comment on this whether you think I'm a total idiot or not....I think all input is helpful, and personally I think constructive criticism is awesome, and helps me grow! so... fire away comrades!!!!
