As Someone Who Has A Bipolar Parent And Is Bipolar Themselves, Bob Is SUCH An Important Rep Of Us. This

As someone who has a bipolar parent and is bipolar themselves, Bob is SUCH an important rep of us. This is SO important to keep in mind. Bob is more than just a silly little guy. He's a grown man with severe trauma and a disorder that millions of people across the globe have too. He can still be the silly guy, just don't infantalize him or take away the disordered parts of him. REAL Bipolar people can't do that. We can't take the disorder out of us.

I want to talk about Bob.

I want to talk about Bob and how fandom treats characters with mental illnesses, because I’m already seeing this shit.

Spoilers below the cut.

His arc is so good, and yet some people are really just focusing on making him into “UwU babygirl” material. I know, this is tumblr, home of the babygirlified characters.

But there’s heavier context here. We’re talking about someone who survived an abusive childhood and overcame the addiction he used to self-medicate for a wildly unrepresented/stigmatized illness.

His memory loss is not cute. It’s traumatic. He’s traumatized.

Yes, it’s important that he absolutely can be seen as a love interest, as a favorite blorbo, as a comfort character. In fact, I think he will be for many people with mental illnesses. His story resonates.

But there’s a systemic, historic pattern of treating mentally ill folks as children, or incapable.

The situation with Valentina is a metaphor for conservatorship. She handles him, makes decisions for him, all while talking down to him.

Don’t let fandom do that to him, too.