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I posted a version of this to Tumblr and fully expected to catch flack for it...and haven't. In fact I have received a really saddening number of tags/reblogs from people who have, unfortunately, been completely driven away from playing their characters due to other healers' bad behavior. So I figured, heck, let's put it here as well in a more RP-centric hub. Plus some refinement since I've had more time to sleep on it and flesh out some thoughts better than a single Tumblr post generally allows for. I jotted it down rather quickly and I think on my phone in the bathroom, which isn't really the most...eloquent way to do anything...look, I never said I was a paragon of good habits. So I've been playing Nevivi as a conjurer and chirurgeon for a couple of years now, and she used to be my main, but after actually experiencing how healers treat other healers in RP I got a foul taste in my mouth over it and haven't gone back to it. And I am not even remotely the only one to have experienced this. Healers in general are so hellbent on being THE HERO OF THE SCENE that they'll scene-crash, god-mod over other writers' boundaries and autonomy, push other healers out of the way, and generally trample each other into the dirt to get to the spotlight and claim it. It's pretty gross behavior, and it wouldn't be tolerated from any other role, so why is it this prevalent and generally accepted for healer characters? It shouldn't be. So here. The ten commandments of RPing a healer without being a jerk to other healers. I follow these. I hope you’ll consider doing the same. Injured characters are not stepping stones to making a scene all about you, unless it really is already your scene. Leave the spotlight where you found it. Other writers always have bodily autonomy over their characters no matter how accomplished your character is. Your job is to facilitate what they will allow to have happen to their character, within your character’s abilities. Anything else is god-modding. If someone says they don't want to be insta-healed, you don't get to insta-heal them. If they want to have a lasting scar, or a disability, or even die? That is their call. Don't go around trying to 'fix' someone's disabled character who doesn't want it. Just like (I hope) you already know you shouldn't god-mod your fist into someone's face, do not god-mod your healing abilities into their face either. It's no different. If someone’s character is injured and someone else is there first, tough. They got there first. You may ask to join, and you may be told no. Respect that. Stumbling onto a scene that your character 'would want to help!!' in doesn't mean you actually have the right do jump in, just like any other scene. Healers ain't special. Scene-crashing is still incredibly rude and uncalled-for. It isn’t always your job to jump in and patch someone up. It might well be someone else's based on pre-existing group dynamics or rules. If you’re RPing on private property, in a moderated open world event, in an open forum, or otherwise in a venue or group with a hierarchy that includes a healer, and you’re not that healer, you don’t do their job for them unless asked. It’s not your scene. A lot of events, such as fight clubs, have their own healers on staff, and that job belongs to them unless you OOCly discuss who's doing what and come to an agreement. If you have subjects you don’t want to write about, you have the right to be clear and firm about them. You aren’t a real doctor. Nobody actually dies if you pass on a scene that could harm you to participate in. You have the right to end any interaction that crosses a boundary, on the spot, and without explanation until and unless you’re calm and able to do so. Even RPing a healer sort there can absolutely be subjects you don't want to touch, and that's your right to not get into them. If it's something that your character would do but you as a writer don't want to deal with, handwave it. If you don't even want to be involved? Don't be involved. It's that simple. You aren’t a real doctor. You won’t know how to handle everything realistically and that’s okay. Do research as you want/need, but don’t stress about it. Anyone who gives you shit for doing it wrong needs to take a step back. It's just a story, after all, and there's no need to get bent over a missed detail or something. You are within your rights to tell them to back off over it. There is no shame in researching anything you don’t know. Try adding “for writing” to searches. You’d be surprised how much of the heavy lifting has been done already. Don’t be afraid to gloss over things, too, there's a reason it takes 10+ years to become a doctor in real life. Expecting that of yourself or others for the sake of a little RP is just silly, but Google can be your friend if you really need some information quickly. You have the right to tell anyone else butting into a scene that you are already part of to butt right back on out. It’s your scene if someone approaches you for healing. It’s your scene if it’s pre-negotiated. It’s your scene if it’s your own character being injured. It’s your scene if you are the healer in attendance for your group. Tolerating a scene-crasher, no matter how well-intentioned, is not something that any RPer has to do. Don’t be a douche. Don’t be a scene-stealer. Don’t be a spotlight hog. Don’t be more powerful than your patients want. Don’t forget to communicate. Don’t get so swept up in being important that you fail to be thoughtful. You can't be part of the solution while you're being part of the problem. Real people are on the other end of every single character, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect. Do have fun and be polite and respectful to each other. There’s enough RP to go around. There really is! I'm serious! And if there’s not, we’re all capable of finding or making some. You’re only entitled to scenes you have a legitimate claim to, whether it's because you started it, you're on staff for an event, or you were given the go-ahead to join. Honestly, an enormous amount of the RP in this game boils down to "oh no so-and-so got hurt!!" just because of the nature of the setting and the types of conflict that happen. Healers are not lacking for something to do, and if you are, there are several healer linkshells and organizations that you can get together with and flex your doctor muscles. The entire list comes down to three really simple, overarcing things: communicate, respect, and don’t scene-crash. That’s it. That’s literally all. It’s easy to feel like healer RP somehow has a different code of ethics than other RP, but it doesn’t. Yeah, your character totally would, if they were a real person in a real situation, run in and try to save someone in trouble. Even if other people were doing the same. This is a completely normal impulse! And you’re not bad for having it. Humans are just this good at empathy. A bunch of pixels or words on a screen displaying distress can kick you into surprisingly high anxiety about the outcome, and it’s easy to accidentally get wrapped up in that feeling. But your character is not a real person and they're not in control of your actions. I don't care how strong your 'muse' is, you're the real flesh-and-bone person at the real plastic-and-silicon keyboard, you're making the decision to behave with manners or not. Someone’s character in danger in a scene that you’re not necessarily part of is categorically not the same as a real person in danger. In real life we are all in the same scene, all the time, it’s actual life or death, and yes, you really should help if you see something bad happening. In fiction, it’s not a real person, you do not have to canonically even exist on the same timeline as them and might not “be” present despite being there, and your sense of immersion does not trump their right to have the scene carry on how they want it to. Even if your guy could snap his fingers and put the other guy's intestines back where they're supposed to be. Ask before you rush in. Don’t be a jerk to people. If someone’s a jerk to you, stand up for yourself respectfully but firmly. And talk about your expectations and listen to the other writers’ expectations, and figure out what works for everyone. It’s exactly the same as all other RP.