I got suspended from my job because my characters have potty mouths.

I teach. Christian school. I started writing fan fiction out of boredom during Covid, and used to share excerpts on social media, years ago. A parent somehow found them. Like they actually took the time to scroll through years of old posts, and came upon those excerpts, then shared them with our principal, demanding I be disqualified from teaching because… my fictional characters curse during intense situations. You know, like in real life?

Remember, this is from things written and shared years ago, during a pretty stressful time in our recent history. I think I had chosen a means to release some tension in a relatively healthy, constructive way. Never once have I used foul language I front of children. In fact, I don’t curse even in private. But I believe in the integrity of my characters, and in a realistic situation, under the conditions they find themselves in, of course they’re gonna curse.

I just can’t believe they’d get so indignant over stuff I’d written years ago, and haven’t touched since. What, would they prefer I channel stress in more overt ways? So asinine.