I don't know what stressed me first, how the pressure was fed
But I know just what it feels like to have a voice in the back of my head...
An entire clan of Vampires, all crazy as loons. The mad prophets of Gehenna, proclaiming the end times and spreading their madness to all who would listen. Unpredictable killers who are as dangerous to other vampires as they are to the mortals they walk among. What's not to love? These guys totally rule. Slingin' around Dementiate is probably the most fun you'll ever get out of a Discipline, and being a cool mad-looking vampire is probably one of the most fun things you'll find in the Word of Darkness.
Being insane is inherently cool, as sick as it sounds to say so. It makes you stand out from the crowd. Deviance in general is a good thing, you can't be any more of a deviant than a Malkavian. Even the Nosferatu have some sort of norms; every Malkavian you'll meet is totally different (or at least they should be). Along the same lines, a Nosferatu will clash with the other members of his party, but will act sort of similar to any other Nosferatu. Not so for Malkavians. You could have an entire coterie of Malks, and wouldn't that be fun?
One sad thing about Malkavians is that despite the large number of web sites out there devoted to them, most of them seem to be Weird Al-wannabes who think that all Malkavians do is sing funny songs all day. I have no idea where they got this impression from, because it certainly wasn't given by either the rulebook or the clanbook.
Speaking of the clanbook, I didn't like the emphasis it put on pranks the Malkavians pull. It said that often a Malkavian's social standing is based on how good these pranks are. I think that this takes away from the seriousness of being crazy and makes them look more like Pooka changelings than insane vampires.
Meanwhile, Malkavians are cool by association with Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, because "Lithium" makes such a great anthem for them.
These guys are coolest when they serve as the seers of the coterie. They're not the leaders, but will often come up with insights to help move the plot along and to get the attention of their group. That's another neat thing about being a Malkavian. It's way too easy in roleplaying games to get overlooked, as you just sit there and the GM is paying all their attention to one or two players. Well, if you're a Malk it's easy to get back into the plot. That's because when you start spouting words of prophecy you can either believe it or think it's bull, but you can't ignore it. This isn't just a cheap way to get back into the story, either. It's a great way to remind yourself that Malkavians arne't just vampires with Dementias, because any vampire can have those. Malkavians are crazy for a reason.
So to sum up the Malkavians are incredibly cool, insane and dangerous.
Anatole, RIP