Dear Journal: I'm Crazy is a Doug One-Shot Fic written by Rinpoo.
Doug Funnie has a mental disorder, and he is taking anti-psychotic medication to help tone down the delusions. However, as the days pass, he slowly finds it harder and harder to accept the reality he lives in.
The story can be read here
.
All spoilers are unmarked!
Dear Journal: I'm Crazy provides examples of:
- The '90s: The fic was published in 2020, but it takes place between the months of February and August 1994, though no mention is made to the popular culture around that time.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Judy is a lot nicer to her brother Doug than in the main series. Justified, as it's heavily implied that she was always nice to her brother, but he didn't realize that until he started the medication.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Subverted. Doug's peers having different colored skin is actually the result of his mind distorting his perception of reality.
- Character Tic: Subverted. In truth, Skeeter's constant honking was actually a result of Doug's mind warping how he sees his peers.
- Dark Secret: Doug treats his mental disorder as one, as he is afraid to tell Patti or Skeeter about it for fear that he might accidentally hurt them. Luckily, he finally gets the courage to tell them, and they end up completely understanding of his situation.
- Dashed Plot Line: Extremely downplayed, as the story takes place over the span of a few months, and some entries in Doug's journal are only a few days apart, The biggest Time Skip between journal entries is between April and July 1994; during which time, Doug was at the psych ward, and he wasn't allowed to have pencils or anything that could be used as a weapon.
- Deconstruction Fic: This fanfic explains that the eccentricies present in Bluffington, including the Amazing Technicolor Population, are the result of Doug's fractured mind. As the fic is from his own point of view, he did not realize until he started being on the medication that the people around him were completely normal.
- Disabled in the Adaptation:
- In the show proper, Doug seemed like a normal kid, albeit painfully shy. Here, it's heavily implied that he is schizophrenic and is taking medication to help with his symptoms.
- Also in the show, Roger has no physical disabilities, and his knees being bent most of the time is only part of his character. Here, it's revealed that his bent legs are a result of rickets from a Vitamin D deficiency. Even Doug can't help but feel bad for him.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Downplayed, but Roger looked clearly hurt when he couldn't get a rise out of Doug like he would before Doug started his prescription. Even after Doug apologized to Roger for pushing him down the stairs, he still brushes it off and states that Doug couldn't hurt him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Doug spent many months recovering in the psych ward, to the point where he has missed the rest of his school year. By the time he completes his therapy, coupled with a refill of his prescription, he is a completely changed person, finally at ease with himself, and in a relationship with Patti.
- First Girl Wins: The day after he is cleared to leave the psych ward, Doug finally musters up the courage to tell Patti everything, including his crush on her. Luckily for him, she understands everything, and she reveals that she has been feeling the same way about him for a long time. From that day on, Doug and Patti are in a committed relationship.
- Freak Out: After weeks of not taking his medication, Doug has an extremely violent psychotic episode on April 22nd, 1994, where he, believing to be superspy Smash Adams, had pushed Roger down the steps of the school thinking he was rescuing Patti from the clutches of "Dr. Klotzenstein". Doug doesn't remember what happened in the days afterwards, however.
- I Reject Your Reality: To say that Doug has a horrible time adjusting to the first few days after taking the pills would be a massive understatement.SKEETER ISN’T BLUE! I refuse to believe it! I went to school for the first time today, and everyone was DIFFERENT! Nobody was beautifully colored anymore, NOBODY! Skeeter! He was blue, I swear it, or at least I swore it until I came home. I checked the photo album of pictures I took since we became friends, and even in those pictures, he ISN'T BLUE! They all are so bland and boring now, with very few colors. Mr. Dink isn't purple, Roger isn't green, and Skeeter isn't BLUE!—Doug's Journal Entry, Thursday, February 10th, 1994
- Sanity Slippage: As a result of him running out of medication, the things he saw, from his peers' abnormal skin tones to Skeeter's honking, slowly come back to haunt him. It all comes to a massive Freak Out weeks later, leading to Doug being committed to a psych ward.
