Experiences Too close with my OCs

Wyosch

The Demonic Wolf
Heya!
So ... yeah eh. *akward*

Let's just start with what I want to say.
Anyone else ever been too close with your OCs?

I - definitely - am.
I give a part of myself to every OC, be it their past, their behaviour, their personality, their fears, etc.
It makes it easier for me to rp with them then.

HOWEVER -
The struggle is real.

I feel with my OCs.
When one of them is sad, I am depressed.
When one of them is angry, I am filled with rage.
When one of them feels alone, I do too.
When one of them feels jealous or betrayed, so do I.

It does help me rp and really get into it, but it isn't that pleasant either... like I literally cried for hours yesterday because one of my OCs felt as if his wife would leave him bc of his mental disorders. I've cried too before when he felt jealous or whatsoever.

Anyone else like me too or am I just really the overreacting emo? xD
 
It's pretty normal to become slightly attached to characters that don't exist. If a person cries during an episode of one piece because their ship sank, then certainly someone can cry over an rp character.
 
It's pretty normal to become slightly attached to characters that don't exist. If a person cries during an episode of one piece because their ship sank, then certainly someone can cry over an rp character.
yeah, true. Never really thought of it like that ^^
I just always found it pretty weird for me to feel the same emotions my OC felt too.
 
I have a similar case too, actually...

Well, mine is more of a concern for the characters I make. When I was a bit younger, I was 100% attached to my characters, but I've gone far from the amount I once started with so I'm less attached to them as I am now. It's weird, but I almost always treat them like real people despite knowing full well that they're just fictional.

EDIT: Actually, I do remember feeling the same way as one of my characters do. It's only sometimes, but it does happen.
 
I have a similar case too, actually...

Well, mine is more of a concern for the characters I make. When I was a bit younger, I was 100% attached to my characters, but I've gone far from the amount I once started with so I'm less attached to them as I am now. It's weird, but I almost always treat them like real people despite knowing full well that they're just fictional.

EDIT: Actually, I do remember feeling the same way as one of my characters do. It's only sometimes, but it does happen.

I mostly treat mine too like real people, and feel bad for them when something bad happens, and feel good for them when something good happens. Or I feel all the other emotions they feel too, which can sometimes ruin my day - for example when one of my characters gets into a fight and is angry / depressed, I feel so too and thus I sometimes can't concentrate on school, friends, etc. because of an OWN fictional character I created.
 
I do the same- my character's personalities are all based on parts of me in one way or another.

That being said, all my OCs are pretty unique from one another and none of them are carbon copies of me. I think taking from your own experiences and feelings can help make much more realistic writing.

However, I don't get emotional about their success or failures or heartbreaks, etc. I guess I'm just excited at any kind of development? I'm a huge fan of psychological horror so I like to see how far I can make them fall, honestly. I'm the same when I'm watching TV.
 
I love psychological themes and my characters reflect that a lot of the time. In roleplays, I never get a chance to really build the type of connections I would like because they die faster than i can blink my eye. I can understand crying for their pain and applauding their victories. Every character that you make has a piece of you. Every character I make, I choose one thing about myself that I would like to explore and build around it. Sometimes, it puts me into a headspace that is quite depressive but it’s an eye opening experience. As I grow, my characters grow. I believe every writer builds a special connection to their characters and you are not overreacting for being so in-tuned with them.
 
Depending on how you are constructing your characters, I would say this intense a connection could be an excellent or a bad thing. Basically, if you crafting fully original characters, then odds are either your commitment or your talent in this area is rather outstanding. However, if your characters are heavily based on yourself or something you already loved, like an actor, singer, character, etc... You should probably stop and consider changing it. Self-insert type characters are well-known for self-absorbed their players can be, and if you happen to fall into that category I do think you should reconsider.

Or the reason may be something else entirely, but I thought I'd give my two cents.
 
everything above me.


It's not weird, or strange. Its just being in tune with what you're writing and that's how you know you love writing. Pursue that passion.
 
I think you should be careful though.
Putting a little bit of yourself in your OCs is normal, as is getting emotionally involved in their stories (it happens to me as well).

But I suggest you always keep in mind the difference between yourself and your characters.
Sometimes characters can become idealized, but you should always remember who you are and learn to be happy with yourself.
Not sure if this makes sense or applies to your situation at all, but yeah... just my thoughts on the matter.
Best of luck
 
I've been attached to a few OCs myself, even if I don't use one of them anymore. There's one OC in particular that I've been attached to for over a year now, but they died like 6-7 months ago.
 
I have no idea if it's weird or not, but I dream of my characters future way down in other roleplays and wake up crying...
 
I tend to kill off a fair number of my OCs. Hey, if George R. R. Martin can do it, so can I.
 
i get attached to some of my characters, it's normal and nothing to worry about... in fact, feeling a bit of what they feel and wanting things to work out for them is actually what makes roleplay so fun, at least in my opinion.

i've never had one of my characters die in a roleplay on here before, and i don't really feel like i'm missing out on that experience. it's just not a thing in the genres i usually roleplay, and if it is, my characters have been smart/lucky enough to avoid it. if one of my characters did die though, it would only be in that universe and i'd definitely use them again in other roleplays where they'd fit, as i never 'retire' characters.

so no, i don't think being attached to characters is really much of a problem unless you can't roleplay anything bad ever happening to them.
 
Most of the roleplay OCs I've created have been thought up on the spot, with little to no thought put into what the character I'm creating will be like done until I'm looking over and editing the CS afterwards. But almost all the OCs I create in my free time (it's basically my hobby) have taken some part of my emotional state and personality. They all have something in common with me.
 
I'll give you the same advice I give every writer - don't put too much of yourself in a character. People think it's an amazing idea but it can really drag you down and also cause arguments. Whatever you take from yourself and put into them, you need to twist it so you still feel a connection but don't directly relate. You'll be better off for it.
 
i can honestly say i've sobbed over my characters before! i don't really put myself in them, but i do put a lot of energy and life into them. they're like my kids. so, yes, i feel the things they feel. granted, i sometimes laugh at their misery but that's a different story.
 
You have no idea how many time building a OC that I start playing with them in small spares and what not just to get a feel then suddenly scrapped them and rebuild from scratch just to get a solid idea and personality.

But when the writing is good oh momma It could take me days to brake out off them! It doesn't happen often anymore, Because now a days my job takes more out of me then the characters. So my tired brain will write me off the script and back me into a wall. Or I lost my muses altogether and it's to difficult to slip into that persona just to hash put a few paragraphs.
 
I tend to kill off a fair number of my OCs. Hey, if George R. R. Martin can do it, so can I.
Why simply kill them when you can bring them agony, pain and sorrow BEFORE killing them? Holy shit, I am a horrible human being, and I love it.
 
Why simply kill them when you can bring them agony, pain and sorrow BEFORE killing them? Holy shit, I am a horrible human being, and I love it.

1451882173413.jpg
 
Often times I become very attached if I'm able to get the RP rolling and they start to gain a web of friendships and enemies. Because then they feel human to me.
 
I saw you got lots of answers, but yeah, you're not alone in this. Might be because of my own particularities, but I do feel anything my OCs feel. They're sad ? I'll be sad. They're angry ? I'll be angry. They're happy ? I'll be happy.

And I think creating every OC based on something about you is completly normal. Like Irene Adler said, "However hard you try, it's always a self-portrait" (about disguises). Well, I think it's the same when you create a character. At least for mine, it's always in a way related to me. I often take one of my traits and base my character on that.

So don't worry too much, you're not alone !
 
Heya!
So ... yeah eh. *akward*

Let's just start with what I want to say.
Anyone else ever been too close with your OCs?

I - definitely - am.
I give a part of myself to every OC, be it their past, their behaviour, their personality, their fears, etc.
It makes it easier for me to rp with them then.

HOWEVER -
The struggle is real.

I feel with my OCs.
When one of them is sad, I am depressed.
When one of them is angry, I am filled with rage.
When one of them feels alone, I do too.
When one of them feels jealous or betrayed, so do I.

It does help me rp and really get into it, but it isn't that pleasant either... like I literally cried for hours yesterday because one of my OCs felt as if his wife would leave him bc of his mental disorders. I've cried too before when he felt jealous or whatsoever.

Anyone else like me too or am I just really the overreacting emo? xD

Oh hey guess what, you aren't alone!

I'm the type of person to adopt characters from fictional works and play them. I pour a ton of dedication into fleshing them out beyond their canon works, whether it be a barren backstory or the exploring their emotional reaction to the situations they're placed in within their stories. Therefore, I get extremely attached to them, and whenever I play them I always find myself in the situation where I feel their emotions as strongly as if they were my own.

I also have a tight knit pair of OCs (two brothers and an entity attached to them both) and I always feel their emotions as powerfully as anything else.

If any of my characters are upset or need to work out something, I'll usually write something with them to work out whatever they're feeling.

It's just a side effect of being an empathetic person, and characters are always a very personal thing to people. ^^
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top