Death, Suicide, Disabilities, Mental Problems, Abuse,..., When in doubt, don't do it. Options

[Hades]

On Death, Injury, Disorders & Disabilities

VH is a place people come to escape. This means those with a difficult life in the real world also want to escape the difficulties they face on a day to day basis by playing in a fantasy world. This goes for any chronic illness as well as certain other RL problems.

Using a chronic illness, a disability, a mental illness just so you can be different on a Harry Potter Role Play site is offensive to those who deal with these issues on a day to day basis, or who watch loved ones go through them.

Don't get the point yet? Read on....


Death/Suicide, Self-Mutilation & Other Kinds of Self-Harm

Every year in the history of this site, we have been witness to at least one (attempted) suicide of a character, some instances in which it was strongly hinted or fully RPed out that a character was trying to solve their problems by inflicting pain on themselves (e. g. cutting) and several other forms of making a character unique.

Let it henceforth be known that anyone who tries to kill their own or someone else's character shall be banned immediately. No discussion. The incident will be magically erased from every other character's memory and will never have happened.

Whenever we have to read that a character is performing self-mutilation, the least they'll be in for is a severe warning and a suspension if not a straight-away ban. This is often a form of mental illness, and can set off those who suffer from it when they read about it.



Disabilities

We have noticed a trend towards characters with disabilities, and from our experience the disabilities are only there to create drama for a little while until the character's puppeteer grows tired of it and miraculously gets healed.

Should your character be blind or deaf or or mute or anything else before they come to Hogwarts, you have the option to either have yourself healed immediately in the Hospital Wing or to keep the disability forever, which would probably be the end of your career at Hogwarts. In other words, a deaf, mute, and/or blind person would not be able to cast spells. Period. This will not be debated; there will be no exceptions.



Mental Problems

This has also seemed to be somewhat of a trend if not that popular and noticeable. But just to prevent any future problems with it, we'd like you to take note that mental illnesses, e. g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and similar issues, are not the way to make your character unique. Some of our users may have family members who suffer from something like this and might find it extremely insensitive how you depict such an illness and use it as a means of having fun with your character. Those who insist on RPing with any of these illnesses run the risk of suspension or banning.



Abuse

This site is not the place where we want to read about characters who were abused in any shape or form. We trust that you can find other ways of making your character unique than to treat something as terrible as child abuse so lightly and casually in your RPs. A lot of children suffer from abuse every day, and it has an impact on them far into their adulthood. They don't need to see anyone using the "my character has been abused by <insert name> and that's why s/he's so aggressive/shy/whatever" plot line. Those who insist on graphically exploiting the bruises, the beatings, the yelling, the degrading, or any forms of abuse will be handled as the mods see fit.


In a nutshell:

Be considerate. We love realistic characters, but don't take it too far. We're still playing in the Harry Potter universe and would rather you concentrate on its magical aspects than on how to best make your character suffer. We have Death Eaters for that job. They think of nothing else but how to best leave a memorable impression of constant terror in your minds. If your characters aren't scared and paranoid enough by all the war and destruction in the Wizarding World, the Death Eaters should probably do a better job. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

There are many other ways of making a character unique. You don't have to give them mortal diseases, mental illnesses or disabilities.

[Hades]

Frequently Asked Questions

Death and Suicide

Q: Are Death Eaters allowed to murder another player? If so, why the distinction between suicide and murder? What if the person tried to cast Avada Kedavra with a backfiring wand?
A: No character on this site can be killed without their consent. A Death Eater therefore can't hit you with the Killing Curse unless you want to be killed. As a result, both suicide, murder and "accidents", including but not limited to backfiring wands, are causes of death that lie exclusively in the doomed character's responsibility.

Q: So my character can die?
A: Not exactly. If you RP that your character dies, the account will become unusable. We have no such thing as "a student who died." Depending on how gory you choose to make your exit, you may even find that we won't allow you back with another character. So decide wisely whether a little drama that will be removed from public viewing after a few minutes is really worth it. Please acquire that kind of "fame" elsewhere.

Q: Oooh, but I want my student character to become a ghost when they die!
A: No student will ever die to become a ghost. Period. If you RP your death, you're banned. If you want to RP as a ghost, you must apply for the position of one when we announce that we're accepting applications for creatures/ghosts/staff.


Scars and Bruises

Q: Do bruises and scars count as self-mutilation?
A: If they're the result of it, yes.

Q: Hang on, does that mean I can have scars from self-mutilation or suicide attempts?
A: Of course! If you never ever mention them, never talk about how you got these things that you never ever mention, and never bring up your previous problems with self-mutilation that led to these things that you never ever mention. So really, what would be the point? I guess it's a No, after all.

Q: I want my character to have been abused by someone. Can I have scars from beatings and such? It's really important for my character's personality to have been abused!
A: No. We understand that things like these may happen to people in real life, but we're playing a game here. We want realism in the Harry Potter sense of the word, not realism as in "all those things happen in real life, you know." In real life you don't get to learn magic and fly on a broom either. So draw a line between real life and the Harry Potter universe.

Q: Can I have any scars at all?
A: Sure. For example, if you stumbled and cut your knee when you were a toddler or fell over when riding your bike while you were still living as a Muggle. I know, having scars from that insignificant sort of stuff just takes away all the "fun".


Other Forms of Self-Harm

Q: Can my character have an eating disorder of some kind?
A: Absolutely not. There are people playing on this RPG who may have had problems with that before. Please be considerate and don't remind them of those things while they're trying to escape their real life problems for a while. If that's not enough to convince you, how about we say that, for the sake of this RPG, we consider an eating disorder a form of self-harming?


Insinuations and "Accidents"

Q: So… *rubs hands together* Can my character have lots of accidents in which they injure themselves?
A: Accidents may happen. BUT! Do not make their consequences gory and don't spend more time in the Hospital Wing than in class. All in all, if you use your common sense, you'll have no problems.

Q: Alright, I'll be sneaky. Can I RP that I'm picking up a razorblade, thinking something about how miserable I am and how I need to do something to make my emotional pain go away? I won't really say what I'm gonna do *innocent look*
A: Uh… No. People are not silly. They can read between the lines just as much as you can. We don't even want you to hint at self-mutilation. Understood?


Miscellaneous Advice

Q: Which things should I never do unless I want to risk banning due to (attempted) suicide?
A: You should NEVER:
-> make your character injure themselves on purpose.
-> make an accident result in the death of a character.
-> make it seem like a suicide attempt
-> include non-PG goriness when you RP having an injury.

Q: Any other hints for me?
A: Yes. If you refrain from "boohoo, I'm so lonely, I wish I was dead" RPs in which you then proceed to have an "accident", you'll not have any problems - unless you're very creative and find other ways to "accidentally" attempt suicide *frown*

Q: Oh dear, I just saw a thread in which someone did those horrible things! What should I do?
A: Press the "Report this post" button. You don't even have to comment on it. Just send it, and a moderator will take care of it as soon as possible. If you see a moderator online, you can also try PMing them; and even though prefects or professors may not have the power to move the thread away (don't edit it unless you made a screenshot beforehand!), depending on where it was posted, they may know how to reach a moderator or be in contact with one of them somehow. VH is a well-organised network. Information always reaches the ears of someone who can do something.

Q: Alright, so can my character act like they're going to kill themselves? I'm planning to get saved at the last moment!
A: You ickles are good at finding loopholes. The answer is no. No suicide, no attempt, no last-minute-saves.

This post may be edited as the need arises.