Unnatural Extended Content Warnings
Major Depictions/Events:
Homophobia/transphobia
- Seminarian – Seminarian deals quite explicitly with homophobia at the hands of a religious leader. This piece specifically explores evangelical Catholicism, and all the language and bible verses used are from the Song of Solomon, from the NIV translation of the Bible.
Infanticide
- Mother – A baby squid, which is referred to as if it is a human baby throughout the piece, is violently shaken to death by Mother’s partner, referred to as “my husband”. This is described in detail and we relive this moment.
- Child (Epilogue) – A two-headed goat referred to as “the baby” has both its necks snapped.
Sexual Assault/Abuse
- Sibling – Multiple descriptions of two terminally ill children being sexually abused and exploited by doctors and carers. At the end of the piece, several doctors detail having sex to the sounds of the arrhythmic heartbeats.
- Teenager – A major plot point in this monologue is a violent sexual assault that Teenager experiences at the hands of Charlie. The description of events and actions begins in a realistic way and describes the exact events, then abstracts the language to portray the internal distress and trauma instead of depicting the literal act of sexual assault.
Ableism
- Sibling – Derogatory descriptions and depictions of a young boy with a chronic terminal illness. These are frequent throughout Sibling and range in severity and tone. A young boy, referred to only as “my brother” by Sibling, has a rare and incurable heart condition that leaves him bedridden and requiring palliative care. In this piece, “brother” is sexually exploited for profit, as the sound of his heartbeat is sold to fetishists. “Brother” is consistently described as suffering, being in pain, and wanting to die.
Death
- Child (Prologue) – Many deaths are described, from the absurd to the graphic
- Bereaved – Dad dies
- Sibling – Brother dies
- A scene takes place at a funeral
- Teenager – Charlie is killed violently.
- Child (Epilogue) – A two-headed goat is killed
Mentions Of:
Slavery
- Automatons/AI beings in a speculative fiction retelling of the future are referred to as “slaves of humanity” repetitively.
Genocide
- Mentions and allusions of a mass genocide on the human race, and of violence occurring at protests.
Violent and upsetting imagery
- Spoken descriptions of violent acts performed on the human body. These range from brief mentions, i.e. in Child, “Pressure-washing a head in half”, to more evocative and detailed descriptions seen more frequently in Teenager, wherein a rapist is violently killed in a revenge fantasy.
Suicide
- The word suicide is utilized and the act of completing suicide is referred to and mentioned. Sibling’s father, referred to as ‘Dad’ is mentioned as having attempted suicide.