Other Using genetic disorders in RP.

[Lord Aphrodite]

It was a subject I found myself wondering about, should genetic disorders be used in a roleplay, and should you use only negative disorders, or can you use positive ones? (If they exist...)

Some negative disorders, like Autism and Down Syndrome could be used. (correctly!) Or Marfan syndrome, which causes abnormal tallness, coupled with ligament and heart problems. Another one comes to mind, I think it’s Osteopetrosis, which makes your bones super dense. I read one source (that I can’t find, take it with a grain of salt) that this disorder makes your very resistant to breaking bones. But on the downside, you can’t swim and you’ll have autoimmune problems.

Should you use genetic disorders in your RP, or is there a risk that you’re just ‘begging for attention’?

 

[Lord Aphrodite]

I found the dense bone thing I was talking about here.

 

[adrian_]

There is no real begging for attention in an RP because these disorder exist irl. However i want too add that autism as a whole is not a "bad" group of mental disorders. Including Down's. Things like Asperger's are just a social phenomena and Down's, although debilitating, can result in good natured, legitimately self-sustaining people.

 

[Onmyoji]

As with everything else, ask yourself if that is necessary for the character and why? How does it affect the character and interaction with other characters? Is it used to create unnecessary drama or it is a legitimate feature of the character?

As with everything else, it's not about what you use, it's about how you use it.

But illness, be it mental or genetic, may be a trigger for some people. You don't need to think about it every single time but you should be prepared it may happen. It's a rather sensitive topic for some people and can't really blame them.

With that said, you are free to write about that if you consider it is needed. But think how it may affect your writing.

 

[Damafaud]

The opinion on the usage of genetic disorder (or disorder in general) may differ, but if you do rp disorders...

Please, please, please research about them. No being a bipolar is not fun. No having autism doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. I'm personally okay with disorder but when they are represented incorrectly, it just feels like the rp is undermining the real disorder.

 

[Idea]

When considering the topic of when an element in writing should or not be used, it pays to consider two separate questions: When it shouldn't be used and how does it contribute (positively or negatively) to the narrative.

I believe that any topic needs to be given the level of research and accuracy as the seriousness with which it is meant to be taken and with the serious with which it takes itself, and at last twice that much thought ought to go into it. This is to say, something like a joke can perfectly go off a minimal grain of truth like what is found in a stereotype, because the stereotype is part of the "funny" part of the joke (hopefully). Mental illness and any other disorder or religion likewise should be treated with this criteria I believe.

If you are going to be innacurate then all you have to do is make sure to convey to the audience through your work that you understand and don't expect them to assume (nor does the work itself) that what's in there is a fair representation. For instance, I often get mad at the depictions of religious people and the church in particular in media of all kinds as a result of many of those narratives actually seeming to treat those characters as somehow valid representatives of religion or religious people when they are undenieably skewed. However I believe that the depiction and discussion of religion in something like Angel Beats is quite interesting, and that the reversal of roles in something like Gabriel Dropout is hilarious and respectful, not slanderous.

So if you want to say, show genetic disorders, make sure that the narrative does not try to spin the character as some kind of representation of the larger group. The character is a fictional individual and that means that their actions as just if not more caused by how they are as people than due to their disorder and their actions are not treated as universally justified, universally condemned or universally part of those with genetic disorders. I would advise against using very specific genetic disorders, but that be harder with this particular topic.

There is, however, one exception to the recommendation (not the rule) and that is if you're specifically looking for an RP centered around exploring the thematic around these genetic disorders. In that case you are expecting to be taken very, very seriously, so as stated, make sure you quadruple check every source and depict the character's emotions in an accurate and honest manner.


Now, moving into the next point, I will have to respectfully disagre with Onmyoji on one aspect: Something does not need to be necessary to a narrative or character in order for it's inclusion to be valid. An element can contribute to a character or narrative through the atmosphere it creates, by rounding them out, or any number of functions that aren't strictly necessary. Even just taking on a random hobby to a character can humanize them, even though it is not a necessity or even something that takes that much thought.

Now, it did occur to me that perhaps what you meant by "necessary" was anything which contributes to the narrative or character in which case I take back my statement of disagreement.

That said, this is why it is important to ask how does something benefit the narrative and character? Honestly this is a bit too case by case to really form much of a comment on. Generally speaking it invites drama, which is a double edged sword, something that is true for many of the aspects brought by any painful controversial subjects like this. So, in that regard Onmyoji 's advise "it's not about what you use, but how you use it" is really the thing to go for.

Hope this helps, good luck and happy RPing!

 

[Onmyoji]

Now, it did occur to me that perhaps what you meant by "necessary" was anything which contributes to the narrative or character in which case I take back my statement of disagreement.

yes that was what I meant by that. Maybe I should have worded it differently, but you still got the idea ^^