Tough Calls

[somasatori]

@Jumpscare said in Tough Calls:

I would prefer to play a dumb (likely brain damaged) and loud character who rushes headfirst into things, who is obnoxious and meant from a OOC perspective to be taken as a joke, while still having serious moments as it happens in rp. Is there a way for that to be okay?

ah yes, brain damage. what a laugh riot

also, I played on Silent Heaven for all of a couple weeks (much respect for it though), and yet I’m very certain that the vibe of the game isn’t “comedic levity”

[Pavel]

I’m naming my next character Ogrin P. Vandagyre

[Wizz]

@somasatori said in Tough Calls:

ah yes, brain damage. what a laugh riot

I gotta be honest, that alone would probably be enough for me to tell someone to take a while to reflect and grow somewhere else before trying to play a game I ran again.

I knew someone personally before and after a traumatic head injury and how it changed their entire life is still one of the most tragic and depressing things I’ve ever seen.

[SockMonkey]

@Wizz said in Tough Calls:

@somasatori said in Tough Calls:

ah yes, brain damage. what a laugh riot

I gotta be honest, that alone would probably be enough for me to tell someone to take a while to reflect and grow somewhere else before trying to play a game I ran again.

This. Media already tries to humorize or romanticize physical, mental, and other struggles enough. It’s triggering. I had someone pull off this ‘grand’ and ‘hilarious’ plot twist in a scene where their character was revealed to have a brain tumor so not only did that 1) Make all their actions ok it 2) Made my character and asshole for not instantly supporting them and me oocly an asshole for removing my char from the story and hook.

My husband was still dealing with his brain tumor at the time. Did the person know that? No. Should I have to tell them or explain how “brain tumors aren’t comedic content” for them to have common sense? No.

[RightMeow]

@SockMonkey said in Tough Calls:

My husband was still dealing with his brain tumor at the time. Did the person know that? No. Should I have to tell them or explain how “brain tumors aren’t comedic content” for them to have common sense? No.

In my very misguided youth, I thought I had to over explain every decision I made. I still over explain when I get in panic state that I think I’m offending someone but that’s a me thing. I stand very very very firmly in the thoughts that NO ONE is entitled to any of your RL information. They don’t get to know your story if you don’t want to tell it. They don’t get to have any of that. Also, no one is promised anyone’s time. I’m sorry that happened to you. There is nothing worse than a ‘surprise’ RP mechanic (good or bad) aligns with a RL event that there are feelings around. For me (as I can only speak to that) it’s like getting emotionally ambushed. Not intentional on the other person, but damn.

Also as a person that likes to inject comedy in serious, you have to learn to read the room. I think silly/comedy comes from doing things to lift a serious game as the brain can read it and put a person RL in that state, so a little light RP is good too. But, time and place.

My idea of humor (which may fail as humor is subjective) is falling over a stranger’s lap and ‘swooning’ for him. Luckily, the person that it happened to went with it.

Or playing a game of dares or something that leads to an end point that both people are laughing OOC and like WTF just happened.

Or making comments. Or taking the fall instead of being a hero but doing it humorously.

Or collecting a specific thing for no reason other than humor or seeing how many they can end up with.

Maybe I don’t understand silly, goofy. I don’t think it’s game disruptive though.

[SockMonkey]

@RightMeow Yeah I wasn’t even personally offended by that aspect because I knew they didn’t know, but when I tried to distance myself and they reacted with aggression I went to ‘Nope’. I understand the over explaining and panic state exactly. I still struggle with boundaries, but thankfully I’m a lot better.

As for humor, I view it similarly to pranks or jokes. If the target or participant doesn’t find it funny? Stop. If the purpose is truly to cause levity then you (general you) will feel remorse when that isn’t the resulting effect. If the purpose is instead self entertainment and attention seeking, you defend instead of take accountability.

There have been plenty of times I’ve meant something in good nature or with positive motive and it turned out otherwise. I’ve apologized and remembered the scenario years later in my head while trying to sleep…not tried to guilt the other person.

[RightMeow]

@SockMonkey Do we share a brain? Because all of this. I understand (and have done) all of this.

[SockMonkey]

@RightMeow THAT’S why I space out randomly! You’re using our shared brain. It all makes sense.

[Gashlycrumb]

Aside from brain damage not being very funny, this person did outright say that they wanted to RP an obnoxious character.

Boiled down, the conversation seems to amount to:

PeeOften: I want to RP a disruptive and annoying character, specifically. But you won’t tell me how to RP a disruptive and annoying character without it being disruptive and annoying, you big meanie you.

[somasatori]

I did want to note that I have no issues with levity or characters being silly or humorous when the time calls for it. It can’t rain all the time, etc.

To me, it seemed like this particular person was really focused on playing a comic relief character as his whole shtick. This kind of comes down to fictional and cultural touchstones. Silent Heaven’s nearest cultural touchstones are Silent Hill and the TV series From. Both of those series have moments of humor (“It’s bread.”) The question here is: would either of those properties be improved if you had a character most likely to be played by French Stewart kicking around?

@SockMonkey said in Tough Calls:

I had someone pull off this ‘grand’ and ‘hilarious’ plot twist in a scene where their character was revealed to have a brain tumor so not only did that 1) Make all their actions ok it 2) Made my character and asshole for not instantly supporting them and me oocly an asshole for removing my char from the story and hook.

ugh, I’m sorry you had to deal with this. This is an awful, unnecessary, and annoying thing. How on earth is a brain tumor funny in any sense?

[SockMonkey]

ugh, I’m sorry you had to deal with this. This is an awful, unnecessary, and annoying thing. How on earth is a brain tumor funny in any sense?

Yeah this is why (aside from maybe a couple friends) I no longer trust anyone when they say “I have an awesome idea, but I want it to be a surprise.” Even if I don’t think the person would pull anything like that it just gives me anxiety.

I do think any struggle can be approached with a defiant humor, but that’s the decision of the people experiencing it. We named my husband’s tumor ‘Tina Tumor’ and when we found out it was gone we went out with our friends and my toast was a very bad Arnold impersonation.

[Wizz]

@somasatori said in Tough Calls:

To me, it seemed like this particular person was really focused on playing a comic relief character as his whole shtick.

“comic relief” stemming from a grossly inaccurate caricature of a severe impairment. they were basically asking for staffer permission/endorsement to mock a person with disabilities. the yikes factor is pretty high on this one for me.

[Gashlycrumb]

Oh, it’s a troublesome character even if you remove the ableism.

Deep in my little black heart I have this desire to app a comics game as the demon Baytor, a sort of tube with teeth that shouts “I AM BAYTOR!” a lot and does little else.

This is a bad, bad idea, obviously bad. It might be okay if I made sure Baytor could only be found where it’s found in the comics, working as a bartender at a certain pub, completely easy to avoid, and treated it as a sort of NPC I depict while playing a reasonbly PC-written-PC primarily.