I play Dungeons and Dragons.
Should be no surprise given my geek credentials. LOL!!… :)
For those that are not familiar with the game think Lord of the Rings: Elves, Dwarves, Orcs… You create a character… You can be a fighter, a sorcerer, a thief, an assassin, …. The field is as wide as your imagination…..and go through adventures with a group of people: fight dragons, search for treasure, find lost cities, etc…. All guided by a Game Master who helps facilitate the action.
Games have a loose structure and can last one sitting or go continuously over years. It depends on what you want to do with your character. It is sort of story telling through the use of improv in a group setting.
Given that group dynamic you can get emotionally tied to the characters and the action in general. Even characters that are not played by someone in the game can create an emotional bond with those playing the game. As often happens the Game Master will need to have a character to facilitate the action and thus create a Non-Player Character (NPC) to fill that role. Often they will be a barkeep or merchant you interact with briefly to get information or acquire a needed item. But sometimes they are more important and travel with the party as part of the adventure. For example the banished royal whose hired you to bring him back to his homeland safely.
One type of character that immediately elicits this is a child.
In many games I have played when children are involved or in danger the players uniformly jump to their aid. In one game demons were coming to invade a local town and the first response from everyone in the party was to evacuate the populous, especially the children, to safety.
It is a natural reaction.
Keep children safe.
September is Suicide prevention month.
In fact September 6-12 was suicide prevention week.
LGBTQ youth are 5 times more likely to attempt suicide.
Regardless of your belief system children dying is bad. Period. Regardless of their sexual orientation.
Even fictional children in a Dungeons and Dragons game.
Sometimes all it takes is reaching out. And telling someone you care and they are valued. It may be scary to do, but funerals suck. So take a moment and reach out. It could mean the world.
But there are also services that help.
The TREVOR PROJECT is the leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth. They. Keep. Kids. Alive.
You can call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7368 or they are on the web at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/
The suicide prevention hotline is: 1-800-273-8255
Please use these resources if you have or know someone that has been having difficulty.
As always I hope this helps. I look forward to continuing the conversation. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
All the best,
Dave Terné
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