Young men (or older) what is your honest reaction?

[CytricAcid]

im nonbinary transmasc, close enough
my hair's already turning white, so my initial response is "whatever." but the shock I had when i first saw my grey hairs was mostly "haha oh man, i can't believe im going white at 23." and now its getting worse.
Honestly my hair going white would be the least of my worries if i was trapped underground for years. if anything, a minor "oh wow" would be the most i'd feel.

[Puck]

At the age of 21 I thought it would be kind of cool to turn grey because I looked way younger than 21 at that age, I think the shock
came from the fact that my 2,5 years older brother was already balding and I thought that the grey hair could be a sign for it.
My gut reaction as a 13 year old would have been shock&panic, what´s going on, I need to speak to my mum
and my gut reaction with 21 was the mix of ugh, an unwanted change which & yeah cool

[therosesword]

This is where I learn that I need to be much more concise in my questions.

The boy is 13 and has become trapped underground now.

He was imprisoned before for years and that's why the panic because this is bringing up all those old memories.

What I failed to mention was with this new trapping underground, he gets out in a couple of hours which is why the shock at turning white, not a few grey hairs but completely white.

My apologies to everyone, I really failed to word this properly.

[therosesword]

Thank you. yeah, I loved it at 16 when I got a few and was disappointed when they went away. (how that happened I have NO idea.)

[nixwhale]

If I looked at my mirror and my hair had turned white ofcourse I'd instantly freak out to a point of dropping the mirror then start crying, screaming breaking everything in the house saying things like"no that's not me!it's impossible!"things like that " you know a self denial situation
Because ofcourse a 13 yr old boy is gonna be concerned about how he looks well that's just me thinking

[Siromany]

I mean I feel like in that instance, he'd probably be more worried about what happened? The hair change could potentially be addressed later when things set in. You have a character with his own specific background and traumas, so asking for a general reaction for it from people with varying different experiences isn't gonna yield something too uniformed. I feel like it'd be better to focus on why this character would be upset with how it would tie in more with his own view and anxieties. Trust your gut sort of thing. We don't know your character, we aren't your character, so there's gonna be just a lot of different answers.

Also does he come to this realization alone? Where is the friend he escaped with? Did his friend point it out? Did he find a reflective surface? Depending on where he got the news first can also change his anxieties on how he feels about it, whether he was alone or with someone when he realized.

[therosesword]

Hi, you asked a bunch of questions so I assume you'd like some answers, I'll try my best.

I mean I feel like in that instance, he'd probably be more worried about what happened?

Not sure if you mean what happened that he's trapped or that his hair changed. I'll assume (oh, I hate that) that you mean how he got there. That's not really relevant to the question of what his reaction would be about his hair changing. Although I understand how you would want to know.

You have a character with his own specific background and traumas, so asking for a general reaction for it from people with varying different experiences isn't gonna yield something too uniformed.

This isn't a question you ask but I do have an answer. Think of this as a word association game. I give you a word and you give me the first thing that pops into your head. I have several different reactions that I could have gone with on my own but asking a few people for their ideas broadened my base.

I feel like it'd be better to focus on why this character would be upset with how it would tie in more with his own view and anxieties.

Umm, again, not a question but I'm not sure how to answer it. Sorry.
But that does lead into your:

so there's gonna be just a lot of different answers.

Yup, exactly what I wanted, to get others emotional responses.

Also does he come to this realization alone? Where is the friend he escaped with?

I do say he is with a friend, so I guess I thought the implication was that the friend was there.

Did his friend point it out?

In this case he did but I didn't consider the friend's reaction relevant, I was only interested in the boy's reaction.

Did he find a reflective surface?

Again, not relevant to me for the response.

Depending on where he got the news first can also change his anxieties on how he feels about it, whether he was alone or with someone when he realized.

Again, I did say he was with a friend.

Hope this clears up your questions.

I really was hoping for that quick word associations type visceral reaction. A little like when you're give a one word writing prompt and you have to create a thousand word fiction story about... elephant.

Thanks for your comments. I've learned quite a bit with today's questions and have gotten some great takes.

Write hard, write true

[Siromany]

I was not asking questions. I was giving advice. Most of those questions were rhetorical, answered by me saying "Depending on where he got the news first can also change his anxieties on how he feels about it, whether he was alone or with someone when he realized."

Reactions very much are fueled by how characters view and interpret things from their own perspective. You're the character's writer, you would know him best on how to react to the situation, and where it and how it would play out.

[Siromany]

If you were trying to make a fun creative exercise out of this, it would help to state that in the first post, because it looks more like you're asking for writing advice in the form of asking what people would do in the situation, and trying to figure out what best option to pick for how your character would do in that situation.

[SaxofonSislak]

OH, sorry for the misunderstanding hahaha

Hope you find inspiration in the next replies, good luck!

[therosesword]

Hi. I'm well aware what motivates characters and how they view things. But I'm also not 13 and not male so I wanted a different gut reaction perspective. As there are many younger men on this site I thought I'd ask.

[therosesword]

Not to worry at all, I very much appreciated your answer, it also pointed out to me that need to be much more precise in my questions and explaining specifically what I want. Any opportunity to learn is a good opportunity. I'm used to working with improve actors and they tend to grab a word like it's a soccer ball and take off with it.

Again, thank you, many of the answers I got were excellent.

[therosesword]

I

If you were trying to make a fun creative exercise out of this,

Nope, not trying to make a fun exercise, and yes, I would have said so. In my answering of your questions (that were rhetorical, my error) I was simply using that as an example.

because it looks more like you're asking for writing advice

No, not asking for advice, simply asking how people felt they might react in a shocking situation.

Very sorry I didn't word things more precisely for you.