Can chars have mental illnesses?
Yes. Â They can.
Should you be playing one with such?
If the answer to this involves "I don't want to do the research to portray it correctly and without being an asshole to the people who also have it", the answer is probably no.
This shit is complicated. Â
There's an old term for RPers who do it shittily, "Fish Malk", referring to the "Lol so randum" portrayals of insanity in RPGs from the mid/late 90s in stuff like Vampire the Masquerade. Â It's stuff like that that trivializes the struggle with these conditions in real life, and marginalizes the people who have to deal with it.
Being someone's joke, someone's punchline, being handy attention seeking hook of the hour, is not how any mental illness works and if it's being played as such there's probably a long walk off a short plank you should be contemplating because, I hate to tell you, you are the asshole here.
Now, if you're still set as playing mental illness as a facet and a condition, not a quirk of the hour, a cute thing that is extra cute to add to cute, or the extra tortured soul who is more tortured than thou I mean look at this really, the worst gib sympathy plz, then read on.
Look up how these things work. Â How they change perspectives. Â How they grind the edges off things like enjoyment and satisfaction. Â Some do it fast, some do it slow, some do it dramatically. Â See how it's going to lash out against those around you.
It's called an illness because it inhibits, not because it's neat., Â Mental illness prevents you from operating at a baseline point. Â It doesn't just come up whenever it's convenient.
Which makes portraying it hard.
Really: I'd recommend not doing it. Â It's really easy to be an asshole instead of being interesting with it. Â Personality traits are one thing. Â Actual conditions are another. Â They arn't fun and, for the most part, we're all here to have fun.
Yes. Â They can.
Should you be playing one with such?
If the answer to this involves "I don't want to do the research to portray it correctly and without being an asshole to the people who also have it", the answer is probably no.
This shit is complicated. Â
There's an old term for RPers who do it shittily, "Fish Malk", referring to the "Lol so randum" portrayals of insanity in RPGs from the mid/late 90s in stuff like Vampire the Masquerade. Â It's stuff like that that trivializes the struggle with these conditions in real life, and marginalizes the people who have to deal with it.
Being someone's joke, someone's punchline, being handy attention seeking hook of the hour, is not how any mental illness works and if it's being played as such there's probably a long walk off a short plank you should be contemplating because, I hate to tell you, you are the asshole here.
Now, if you're still set as playing mental illness as a facet and a condition, not a quirk of the hour, a cute thing that is extra cute to add to cute, or the extra tortured soul who is more tortured than thou I mean look at this really, the worst gib sympathy plz, then read on.
Look up how these things work. Â How they change perspectives. Â How they grind the edges off things like enjoyment and satisfaction. Â Some do it fast, some do it slow, some do it dramatically. Â See how it's going to lash out against those around you.
It's called an illness because it inhibits, not because it's neat., Â Mental illness prevents you from operating at a baseline point. Â It doesn't just come up whenever it's convenient.
Which makes portraying it hard.
Really: I'd recommend not doing it. Â It's really easy to be an asshole instead of being interesting with it. Â Personality traits are one thing. Â Actual conditions are another. Â They arn't fun and, for the most part, we're all here to have fun.
![[Image: tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/224cfbd6e79103f0520a30eabfc5085d/tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif)
