Rin: thalidomide *and* crazy?

[Minister of Gloom]

I just played through her path again, and it suddenly striked me that between her charming nonsense talk and some interesting(and somewhat unexpected) exhibitions of high intelligence(I wonder who would score the highest on an IQ test among the girls. Shizune seems to be the most "classically" intelligent of the five, but as I said, Rin has some subtle signs), she also displays some very disturbing behaviors that(while I am not a psychiatrist) I believe could be linked to possible psychological/mental disorders. I wonder why it seems nobody else ever noticed- within the game world, or among the fandom.
I mean, maybe she isn't talking seriously or is lying(though she doesn't seem the type to do either thing), but at one point, when she discovers that she spent a whole day standing in the middle of the street staring at the sky instead of working on her mural, she mentions something like "Now I am going to crawl into the fetal position, throw up a little, and then I will think about something". This is not how mentally healthy people deal with stress. At all.
And when you think about it, standing all day long without moving, eating, or speaking in the middle of the street staring at nothing is also not exactly what well balanced people do.
And a day(a few days, maybe?) later, Emi wakes up in the morning and finds that Rin has been sitting outside the dorm doing nothing and not sleeping the whole night. That's also a little scary.
I would expect a place like Yamaku to have a very good school counselor on staff. And if one exists, I would expect him to at least notice that something seems to be horribly wrong with that girl.
Am I the only one who thinks so? Do you have any thoughts on the subject?

[Leotrak]

Rin is Rin *shrug*


Being more serious, Rin does come off as somewhat unhinged, or something. But whether it's actually a mental condition or just her way of going about business as usual, I don't really know. But I'm leaning more towards business as usual...

[Sajomir]

she mentions something like "Now I am going to crawl into the fetal position, throw up a little, and then I will think about something". This is not how mentally healthy people deal with stress. At all.

If taken literally, no. However, you've seriously never once said "oh crap someone just shoot me," or "I'm gonna go crawl under a rock now," or any similar sarcastic phrase? Never wished you could stick your head in the sand to hide? Mentally healthy people wouldn't want these things to happen, but we say 'em anyway. I just figure Rin is just being Rin and saying a slightly unusual phrase of this kind.

[Minister of Gloom]

she mentions something like "Now I am going to crawl into the fetal position, throw up a little, and then I will think about something". This is not how mentally healthy people deal with stress. At all.

If taken literally, no. However, you've seriously never once said "oh crap someone just shoot me," or "I'm gonna go crawl under a rock now," or any similar sarcastic phrase? Never wished you could stick your head in the sand to hide? Mentally healthy people wouldn't want these things to happen, but we say 'em anyway. I just figure Rin is just being Rin and saying a slightly unusual phrase of this kind.

As I have already said, maybe it's just that. But she looks awfully serious to me when she says that... I don't know. Maybe I am just looking at it way too deeply.

[Leotrak]

Maybe I am just looking at it way too deeply.

This gets my vote >_>

[Panty Supervisor]

She's not thalidomide anymore. I think that idea was dropped at a very early point during development. It probably wasn't moe enough. I can understand that, I prefer the "stumps due to birth defect" as well.

As for her personality, I don't really understand it. I have no idea what she likes and what she doesn't like. Does it even make a difference to her if Hisao is with her or if she's alone? What can he do to make her happy? It's so difficult to tell because she hardly shows any emotions, and if she does, she does it in a way that is very hard to understand. I think it's great that she is a non-generic non-stereotype character, but then, what IS she? I wish I knew more about her, because then I could tell whether she is an interesting character or just plainly boring. But then again, this "I wish I knew more about her" is pretty much a definition of the word interesting, so maybe, she's not so bad after all. I think I has an confuse now.

Also, there's a funny thing about her. Sometimes, the things she says sound a lot like something a mathematician would say, although I am pretty sure that wasn't the intention of the devs. I've got no examples right now, but I felt it several times when I played her route.

[Bara]

I've heard it said that the whole human race is "crazy"; it is just a matter of to what extent individuals can function that separates us into normal and abnormal. *shrug* DamnifIknow if that is true or not, but I think all artists tend to be a bit more or less toward the abnormal side of things since they are expressing a desire to communicate their ideas through non-verbal media.

Not that I'm any sort of mental health expert to be chucking around my opinions like they are gospel. Take the above opinion with two aspirin and post again in the morning if you are not feeling better.

[Minister of Gloom]

Also, there's a funny thing about her. Sometimes, the things she says sound a lot like something a mathematician would say, although I am pretty sure that wasn't the intention of the devs. I've got no examples right now, but I felt it several times when I played her route.

That's because mathematicians are the kind of people who frequently say very smart things in a way that sane(less intelligent?) people can never understand. That's what I meant when I said that I wonder if she might be a genius(or at the very least, extremely gifted. I mean, being an excellent artist is already considered a sign of high intelligence, and she doesn't even have hands!)

[Guest Poster]

Yeah, the thalidomide was changed to a (generic) birth defect.

As for her personality...she always came across to me as having a bit of an autistic streak, the incoherent way she seemed to be thinking coupled with the fact she seems oblivious to the fact she weirds people out, but like others said...Rin is Rin. Best not to analyse her too much and simply play her route(s) when the full version comes out...I have no doubt we'll get to learn more of her and we may even get an insight or two in the way she works.

[Smoku]

Rin is not talking nonsense, actually.
I've seen weirder trains of thoughts. It just takes some time to get used to it.

[Caesius]

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Rin is normal in her own way.

[Leotrak]

That one's Epic, Caesius ^_^

If there's any Truth in this world that needs to be accepted, it's that one

[Csihar]

I wish I knew more about her, because then I could tell whether she is an interesting character or just plainly boring.

This brings up a good point to remember - none of us know much about her, or any of the characters, because act 1 isn't really long enough to allow for a ton of character development. Something tells me people's opinions of the characters will be a bit different once they've gone through their different paths.

Also, FWIW, I had a girlfriend once who was every bit as quirky as Rin, and although she did have some mild OCD and depression, she was basically completely sane. Just really unconventional.

[Leotrak]

Also, FWIW, I had a girlfriend once who was every bit as quirky as Rin, and although she did have some mild OCD and depression, she was basically completely sane. Just really unconventional.

You should get the two of them to "meet"

[Caesius]

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And of course we all know that high school kids can range from "well-adjusted" to "psychotic."

"Psychotic" isn't a word I would use to describe Rin though. She seems a lot more composed and reasonable than the stereotypical batshit insane ex-girlfriend. She's just hard to understand sometimes and prefers to say the first thing that comes to mind rather than fumble with words when she doesn't really know how to express her thoughts.

The only thing I find truly "weird" about her is that she would find Hisao interesting, given that almost by definition he is the least interesting character in the game. Maybe she doesn't.