You ever make a character just to be for goofy fun times, and then you realize something about them that makes them the perfect conduit for expressing something about your experiences that are otherwise impossible to convey? Mm.
EDIT: Thanks but I don't need an e-hug! I'd much rather hear your thoughts.
I think many people in the fandom have questioned what their true self is and if it exits at all. Growing up i often changed my behavior to fit in into the group I was currently in. Parents, school, close friends, extended family. I'd behave differently each time. It wasn't even like a conscious decision, but something i only realised years later looking back. Only after getting into adulthood and living on my own for a while. I have pondered also if I got the chance to be turned into my donkey if would take the chance. When I was younger that question was leaning more no, but as I grew older it shifted towards yes. Because in the end what makes me me is my mind, not my body.
Little tangent: I just fished reading dungeon crawler carl book series. It's about aliens making humans fight for their amusement in a hellish dungeon for their amusement. One of the characters (Katia) gets changed into a doppelganger, a creature that can change shape freely, kinda like a ditto. But the ability didn't come with any skill in using it. So she was struggling with losing herself. The person looking back from the mirror no longer herself. Since being liked by the aliens is very important to survive, she eventually abandons her original looks to be less boring.
And she also ponders these questions. After weeks of grueling near death experiences and having learned how to imitate others to gain an upper hand, who even is she? The timid art teacher, or the behemoth mowing down enemies by the hundreds.
I think many people in the fandom have questioned what their true self is and if it exits at all. Gr
I'm not an artist but I have made a few characters in the past. Sometimes what we are now came at the cost of what we were or wanted to be in the past. And as we move forward the layers or rather the "armor" in this context grow thicker until that's all your familiars know. I don't normally comment this much on anything but this is a serious topic as I believe it's something everyone has struggled with at one point or another.
I'm not an artist but I have made a few characters in the past. Sometimes what we are now came at th
That's honestly the power of characters, to express though into a 2D plane, ones which we might not feel comfortable speaking out loud. Obviously not all art one makes is meant to define them as a person, but when they say it does, best be listening.
That's honestly the power of characters, to express though into a 2D plane, ones which we might not
Since you asked for thoughts. For myself I think I've spent some time mourning for who I used to be in the past. The version of me that wasn't aware enough to grasp a lot of my problems or understand I was an outsider in most social circles. Innocence you could say or naivete, same end result.
Eventually though I started to view all states as transient. Nothing is really permanent and that's okay as long as you choose to direct the change into a version of yourself that you like. Giving up control of how I changed out of grief for what had already changed was the biggest mistake I made for many years, and choosing to lead that change has done wonders for me. I'm not perfect and I'm not always happy either but accepting that being me means change that I get a say in helped considerably.
Since you asked for thoughts. For myself I think I've spent some time mourning for who I used to be
I’ve been figuring out for a bit how I wanna phrase my own response to this, because I do get the feeling of using characters like armors, and I heavily understand the feeling of, not having a true self, with how much I tend to shift my personality slightly between talking to different groups of friends and the things i repress both for my own feeling of morality and to not weird people out, i get the feeling of “who are you underneath it all”
But the main struggle im having is primarily the fact that i think i make characters a little bit, differently?
Without getting too into it, im autistic, and my government mandated autism specialization stereotype ™️ is writing, I love writing, its how I became a role player and met a lotta people through it, wether its character, collaborative stories through stuff like roleplays, even if it comes down to just suggesting scenarios back and forth, even if mine can be dogshit, I love it, but for stuff like character writing, I’ve always had a belief in the best way make a character is to take a character premise, and then, sprinkle a little bit of yourself into it, not Necessary what makes you you, but the experiences that led to you now.
I think a example that hopefully won’t foottrail me a bit is this: I was raised Christian (still am, but one of those “I hate every other Christian around me using it as a bullshit excuse to hurt people” Christian, debrainwashed Christian) and with that, for a bit, I struggled with feelings for the horniness I feel now, so recently, I’ve been taking that experience, and putting that into a character named Jacob, a priest who’s power (ironically) deals in utilizing magic (usually for kink scenarios) based around the classic seven deadly sins, wether that be powers based on the sins themselves, or summoning creatures based on the deadly demons classically associated with them.
My process for creating characters is basically like that, maybe not as direct, but I’m someone who wears both my heart, and my inspirations on my sleeve, and I feel like my method of writing characters reflects that.
I apologize if this wasn’t what you wanted, I just saw the excuse to just, share how my brain works between the self and character and I just sorta, went for it
I’ve been figuring out for a bit how I wanna phrase my own response to this, because I do get the fe
