The brain is a strange thing (RP)

[thistlechaser]

Nowadays all my RP is on WoW, and all my IC characters are elves. In case you haven't seen one before, blood elves have really long ears (random image, first one on Google's image search). I love writing about the nonverbal, the way a gaze moves, lips pressing together, fingers moving restlessly, etc. So for these elves, the ears are generally something I'm describing (they change positions with emotions and reactions, twitch in annoyance or at some noise, etc).

I've been RPing characters with long, mobile ears for so long, I feel like my RL ears are the same.

It's the strangest, craziest thing. This morning I was remembering something embarrassing I did when I was younger, and I swear that I felt my ears pressing back against my head in embarrassment. Not my little people-ears, it felt like I had long ones and they were pressing back. Then I thought to myself 'Wait, I don't have long ears!' and the feeling faded somewhat (didn't totally vanish though).

I wonder if it's related to the phantom limb phenomenon? I've been RPing elves a while now (more than a year), but not anywhere near as intensely as I used to RP (sometimes I even go a whole day without any RP at all!). It's kind of sad, my new state of RPing*. I remember how cool (and scary!) it was to have a character's voice in your head all the time, being able to see the real world through their eyes, hear their opinions on things, I miss that. (Though I do feel a lot more sane with only one voice in my head!)

(* Edit: This is not a passive-aggressive comment at anyone, it is not a hint that anyone is not RPing with me enough, or that I'm unhappy with anyone. The amount of RP a person gets is a direct result of that person's effort to get RP. :) )

Comments

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

I have phantom wing pains. =o

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Feeling like you have wings would be cool! Right up until the point you were standing on the edge of something high. :P

[fealubryne.livejournal.com]

I remember how cool (and scary!) it was to have a character's voice in your head all the time, being able to see the real world through their eyes, hear their opinions on things, I miss that. (Though I do feel a lot more sane with only one voice in my head!)

I know this exactly. I would RP/think about Lee so much she became her very own person, complete with thoughts and feelings that were almost disturbingly different from mine. It's funny, though. In a way she's what helped get me through some of the hard parts of my teenage years, simply because her views on things made me look at my own situation differently. Sometimes I miss having her sitting at the back of my skull making dry comments. Heh.

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

Seriously, if you ever watch me long enough, you'll note that I twitch at my shoulders a lot. That's when I get the phantom wing pains.

I do also have a bit of the ear thing, but depending on what I'm playing that will change. The wing pain is almost any time.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

simply because her views on things made me look at my own situation differently.

Even little things, like once I looked at the frozen food aisle of the supermarket and thought... I can't remember now, but something radically different about how it should be organized to make more sense, an idea I would never have thought of on my own because I was too familiar with it. (And doesn't that sound just totally insane?)

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

I like to pretend Lu gives erroneous emotional cues sometimes, with her missing left eartip. XD

ANYWAY I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, you know, that's a great idea! Keen got the tips of both ears bitten off a couple weeks ago... it really should muddy his responses more than it does.

[socksofjello.livejournal.com]

I've never had the whole 'second person in my head' thing, which is sort of surprising considering I think about my characters all the damn time. I know exactly how they speak, how they walk, their common gestures, their tics...but I'm not always certain precisely what they're thinking, which trips me up sometimes and makes me feel like a bad RPer. :|

I do get the phantom limb stuff (flattening/perking/swiveling/flicking ears, swishing tail), but I think it's just because I'm a big closet furry. It's weird enough that I actually feel kind of embarrassed about it; this is the first time I've admitted it to anyone.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

Lu says, it was trolls, wasn't it? Fucking trolls. At least they only got one of mine.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Keen, after a long pause and much not-meeting-of-eyes, admits that yes, it was a troll. What he won't speak out loud is that the troll then ate his ear tips, and why he did it: To supposedly mark Keen as his.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It's interesting how many folks get the phantom limb thing. (And no worries, I almost deleted this post right away... then I figured that my whole flist must already think I'm a giant freak. :P )

but I'm not always certain precisely what they're thinking, which trips me up sometimes and makes me feel like a bad RPer. :|

Gah, I get that too sometimes! But I think/hope that other people don't notice as much as I do.

[socksofjello.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure no one else really notices the little mistakes or slight breaks in character, but we just [i]think[/i] they do because we're too critical of ourselves. :P Not that realizing this has ever made me feel any better when I think I've screwed up.

[socksofjello.livejournal.com]

Goddamnit, I can't stop using BBCode. :|

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hee, I can read the bb code, no worries! :D And totally agreed!