jmathieson-fic:

animatedamerican:

buckyballbearing:

No for real in 2k15

Can fandom bring back the concept of a squick

A “squick” was a trope or topic that made the reader deeply uncomfortable, even might cause anxiety or intense emotional reactions

Everyone’s squicks were personal and diverse, and it was considered polite to say, “sorry I can’t read this because it squicks me, but you have fun in your corner doing what you doing”

Can we bring that back and reserve “trigger” for MI people who mean “if I see this I will have flashbacks and dissociate for hours”

I wasn’t aware this concept had fallen out of fandom.  Seriously, bring it back, it’s useful as hell.

Key to the concept of “squick,” as it was first explained to me lo these many years ago, is that it is not a value judgment.  If I say “mpreg is gross,” that’s a negative statement about mpreg (and, by extension, about those who enjoy writing or reading about it).  If I say “mpreg squicks me,” that’s a value-neutral statement about me and my emotional reactions and how they affect my enjoyment of fiction.

And, as OP says, it does not carry the implications of intensity or trauma that “trigger” does.  (Although I will point out that a trigger doesn’t have to cause flashbacks or dissociation.  There are people a lot better qualified than I am to talk about that.)

Yes, yes, yes please to all of this!

squick: Something that makes you go “ewwww” and wish you had never seen/read it. Something that makes you deeply uncomfortable. Something you’re not interested in reading/seeing/thinking about, ever.

trigger: Something that you associate with/reminds you of a past trauma (mental, emotional, or physical) and therefore triggers your personal reaction to trauma (be it flashbacks, panic/anxiety attacks, unhealthy behaviours, a crying jag, whatever).

Please, please, please don’t use them interchangeably.