Intense attachment to fictional characters?

I feel similar things when my favorite characters are in any sort of danger. It's like, I feel like my heart hurts and it's for emotional reasons. But then the relief that comes (when they usually make it out safe) is just so satisfying.

I'm friends with my fictional characters. Best friends. As I was typing that, I realized how pathetic I sounded.

Don't worry, Soup. I've felt that way sometimes too. ^_^;;

Hey, I felt that way toward Eliwood and Hector from Fire Emblem. Part of that is because they're speaking to the player, so it feels like you really get to know them.

Mmm. Peculiar.

I have this thing where I fall to a character's represented values. For example, a character where the author manages to actually Show, Don't Tell instead of it being simply an Informed Attribute, and it is a positive one, will get me engaged. Not something simple like the priest praying and being happy and speaking the joys of humility and such though...something more engaging, modern and relevant presented in some bold manner.

To try and put an example, let us pretend a decent author grabbed a hold of Wondie, and in the works she goes about to present some modern points about feminism in a bold, sound manner (Understand feminism under the terms of equality, not Straw Feminism ). Oh boy I am going to fall in love with this story and character.

Problem is how often these stories end up ending badly, and it does hit me emotionally and I try to distance myself from such. I mean, horrible things, I am fine with. Because sometimes no matter how Anvilicious it is, plain old abject horrors like War Is Hell have their point. But simply crappy stuff for the sake of crappy stuff seems downright sadistic to me.

I have this issue at that point looking at it as "It was just a story", and more like a "It is some person promoting some real fucked up ideas, and people will follow up on them because the story itself is good. Are they even fucking paying attention to what they do, or just trying to be Darker and Edgier for the sake of playing Badass?". I have some examples but, I do not believe they are appropriate at all to share, with how much of a Base Breaker I know they can be.

And yes, I am aware that makes me sound like a Moral Guardian, but if anyone gets frustrated at this, trust me, it is me.

edited 9th Jun '14 9:35:48 AM by Aszur

No offense meant, but I feel slightly offended by that, Rosvo.

Okay, I apologise for my tasteless joke.

I probably should have known better.

Now, on topic, I got a crush on Twilight Sparkle.

Yes, really.

Who's that?

A pony character

Thank you.

Not a crush or anything but I always felt oddly overprotective of Neville Longbottom, and then super proud of him.

I've always had certain Mama Bear instincts over most of Eva's charcacters simply because while I'm not in the same situation, I've been the one sane individual in a group who have mental issues.

It's why I make a point of helping anybody who has mental problems, even if it's just talking to them. I don't know what I'll stop, it may be nothing, but anything I do stop I'd rather NOT know about.

That sounds sweet. :)

I sometimes judge characters on how attractive they are. Or how attractive I can make them in my mind.

I've had crushes on four fictional girls - Midna, Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, Bianca, and Coco Pommel. I... sort of need to get out more.

There's sort of a trend. While the bonds were formed for different reasons in all cases, half of those girls are sort of quiet and defenseless and make me feel as if they need to be protected, while the other half are more outgoing, boisterous, and independent, which makes them seem all the more fragile and vulnerable during their emotional moments. I'm not sure what this says about me, but it seems ominous.

It might sound ominous if they were real people, but it's perfectly understandable for fictional characters and might even be intentional on the part of their creators.

When I think about characters I feel strongly about, once in a while it just hits me out of the blue that they're not real and they never will be. That always makes me feel sad.

I know that feeling. It makes me wish I had one of those magic typewriters that make the things you type about happen in the real world.

I don't think I've ever really had a crush on a character, exactly. I've found characters attractive, but emotionally I've always felt something more like a Big Brother Instinct for characters I love. I want them to be safe and happy and in some cases I want them to end up with the right person, but I've never imagined myself being that person...instead, I want whatever random character I randomly ship with them to be that person for them.

In an RTS or Squad-based setting, have you ever felt like you'd be proud to be in the protagonist's team even if all you did was carry their luggage or complete their paperwork?

I can say from personal experience that getting attached to a character from an obscure series really, really sucks. There's hardly any (good) fan works, nobody knows what you're talking about whenever you bring it up, nobody seems to care about it enough to give it a more prominent revival... it's just a mess.

edited 11th Jun '14 7:10:48 PM by Midna

I can relate to that. Ever heard of Vexx?

Nope.

I'll give you a hint, he's my avatar. Was from an obscure platformer game that was a great idea, but badly executed due to the fact that the company that was developing it (Acclaim) rushed it, cut so much content that it's technically still functional and still tried to pass it as something better than Mario (Which could never happen because he is credited with saving the whole video game industry).

I thought your avatar looked familiar!

His obscurity is understandable. Anything that bills itself as a "Mario killer", besides Sonic back when Sega and Nintendo were still rivals, is doomed to begin with. No one's going to slow that juggernaut down anytime soon.

I guess I should be thankful... As obscure as Panel de Pon seems to be, especially in the west, you sometimes dredge up a fan or two during internet expeditions (but usually only if you're really looking for them, not everyone's as open as I am). Vexx - even to me, Mr. Obsessed with a Video Game From 20 Years Ago himself - is just a hazy memory from the early 2000s.