Hi, it’s me the “characters have a life of their own” anon. It’s…both scary and reassuring that others experience this, and that they confirm it’s not quite normal. For further context; I like having several “characters” in ACNH. If I can change my hair and eye colors, and my skin tone…why wouldn’t I, right? So I have several. Some are just nice outfits, there’s a set of four who are elementary schoolers (those blue shirts with the name tags are neat). The best way I can compare this New Guy to the others is to talk about Jayden. Jayden doesn’t exist, not really. I was messing around with hats and stuff and I liked her look. She’s neat, she has a name, but she is firmly an OC, not a person in her own right. Playing the game while dressed up as her doesn’t really impact my mood or mindstate. But this new guy? I dressed up as him, and I could almost feel him grab my shoulders and excitedly peer over. He reminds me of this “imaginary friend” I used to have…it’s weird. If I settle into him enough, it almost feels like he takes over. Like he enjoys watering my flowers and catching fish and bugs.

by on February 6, 2023 at 9:25 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

It’s always fascinating to compare the difference in those internal experiences!

We in Sinister also sometimes write characters who are ‘just’ characters, and sometimes we write character who are inhabited by a system member, and sometimes there’s something in between.

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im also baffled about having characters take on a mind of their own NOT being the norm. I’m certain that I don’t have/experience? (not sure of the correct way to say it-) any sort of plurality. I do, however, get what I like to call ‘muses’ whenever I roleplay, and sometimes while writing fics. It’s not as strong an experience as what the first anon was describing, but i do kinda get,, ‘taken over’ by the muse of the character when im writing as them. i feel like im in conversation with them, because most of the time my muses are murderous little bastards and i have to rein them back in to avoid the rp being ended due to the other pcs death. its like the muse is saying ‘i really want to do X Y or Z right now’ and i have to go ‘no absolutely not’, and then figure out a solution that both myself and the muse is happy with. i will say that this is NOT a totally involuntary, i literally cant override the muse type of deal, if i want to i can entirely ignore them, but since theyre my little writing helpers i dont. idk i just think that the intersection between this and plurality is really interesting. also this was really rambly and im sorry about that, i find it hard to explain this properly lmao. i think this is just a result of my brain being highly imaginative with fiction, possibly also influenced by the years i spent/still kinda am spending maladaptive daydreaming. i think the other important distinction is that i actively want to create a muse whenever i rp. the creation isnt something i really control consciously, but it is a positive for me and something i enjoy immensely. the muses also only make themselves known when i am talking/thinking about them or writing for whatever media they sprung from. so im aware that this is a very different experience from having a system, and that my muses arent actually fully formed people/personalities. anyway ill shut up now i just love ranting about them sdfhjsdfhsdfhj

by on February 6, 2023 at 9:25 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Thanks for sharing your experiences here!

It’s a really fascinating spectrum of character autonomy that people have.

You might be interested in checking out the concepts of soulbonding (read about at @soulbonder ) or tulpamancey if you’re curious about other people who may have similar experiences near the same area of the spectrum as you.

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