When your OC's takes over your mind too much

[Klaustasya]

Did it ever happened to you?
You create a couple of Oc's that you really like at first, then you also get a good story for them and in the end you slolwly developp some kind of strong obsession towards them, till the point where it's hard for you to focus or enjoy other stuff because you always have them stuck in your mind, or you keep linking other things that happen to you to them like "I really had fun tonight with my friends" and suddenly "...i wonder what my Oc's would do or think about this situation."?

In my opinion is such a pleasant thing to love your own original characters and give them all your love and efforts, but at the same time when you overdo it too much you start feeling that mental weight and exhaustation and you just want to think about other already existing characters, dedicate a fanfiction or a fanart to them, you know, just getting back into a fandom, but you CAN'T because everytime you start fantasizing about existent characters of other fandoms or people your OC's just take the whole trope or scene for themselves automatically without you even realizing and at the end of it you feel satisfyed but at the same time "blocked" because it took another way...the same way.

I don't know but after a whole year experiencing this with my OC's i'd like to focus on other characters as well, like genuinely involve my work with them or just for fun and for the sake of "fangirling" but i'm too obsessed with my characters that i'm incapable of deeply thinking about "the rest"!

Did it ever happened to you? If yes, any suggestion about how could i possibly "get away" from them, even just temporarily to give my mental space and maybe art as well for other characters? Because it's becoming a little bit frustrating to just feel kinda "apathic" to everything that is not your-oc-related.

[stingblaze]

Oh I have that same problem! It can be good at sometimes but at others I feel like I'm VERY VERY obsessive

[Klaustasya]

Yeah....I'm tired of only thinking about my Oc's all the time, for how many original feels i could ever get, at some point is just tiring and i wish my already existent ships could breath sometimes.
Too bad seems like many people are seeing this topic but didn't answer because i really need some support

[gh0stcr33p]

yeah, it happens to me all the time. it's a huge obsession for me. I have the same problem with feeling apathetic when it comes to things that aren't about my characters... you're not alone

[Klaustasya]

This kinda makes me feel better, but at the same time i wish i knew about a way to detoxify myself from the a little...

[yozhikisblue]

Haha yes, definitely. All the time.

Frankly I think the only thing that really helps detoxify me is to just draw or write the stuff out- much like some people use mood journals to express overpowering emotions so they can finally exorcise them. Telling stories is a form of therapy for me in general- everything I write about is to some extent based in personal demons or trauma, as dark as that may sound- so the methods of cognitive behavioural therapy- journalling, thought exercises and so on- are kind of translated into a more creative form.

Being forced to work on other projects- illustrations for other projects or short stories for anthologies for instance- also clears out my mind. I may not "get into it" at first, but I sort of brute force my way through the initial apathy or disinterest, continuing to engage until I start to feel something for them out of sheer commitment.

Hope that helps?

[AllynCrowe]

I am not sure if it's categorised as the same, but I more or less start method writing. Similarly to method acting, but instead my mind gets so into my characters that I begin acting like them and emulating them. It even gets to the point where I act out scenes with myself, talking, walking and gesturing as different characters - except it's just me.

If anybody ever watched me do that they'd probably think I'd gone mad xD

[pterodami]

Well, my case is a bit different. The obsession goes and backs depending on how lonely I feel.
Getting into fandoms and writing stories about my characters help me a lot.

[Shanny8]

I've never been a big proponent of fan art. I like other characters, but it really takes "an act of God" for me to get out of my zone and do a piece of someone else's characters- I'd have to be REALLY interested in drawing that character. I love drawing my OCs every chance I get!

When I feel I'm getting OC overload. I'll take a break from drawing altogether...I can count one hand the number of times I've done fan art of someone else's character over the past 4 years- three times.

[punkarsenic]

im an obsessive by nature, so this has definitely happened to me. im inclined towards absorbing the personalities of people im around, characters i see in media, and characters i make myself - so ive had times before when a really big character has taken over my own character a fair bit.

being autistic, i find myself latching onto ~special interests - and for the past few years, my main special interest has been my comic (/ comics in general.) ive had other passing special interests in that time - technical theatre, various books and films and tv shows, community always rears its head now and then - but thats what ive leant back to as obsession number one.

im not really sure how to kinda... water down an obsession. ive had many that have gotten overwhelming - things ive been so obsessed with that i cant engage with content for them without getting overwhelmed emotionally. i just... disengaged. after a while you find something else to latch onto. we live this life leaping from obsession to obsession, our only respite is the brief leap inbetween

[joannekwan]

I believe I had similar experiences when I was fairly young, maybe 12 or so? But usually when I obsess over something, I do everything I can for it (more often than not art), then the obsession usually passes.
I think it could help to get all that knowledge out of your system. Carry around a notebook and jot down all your thoughts and things related to your OC wherever you may be. It could also be a useful reference later down the line.

[stingblaze]

It can get to the point where I wish they were real or that I could travel to their world, just to be with them.

[hjfsdh2222]

OC’s have been controlling my mind since I was 9:/ It was my method of escapism that help me get through some very horrible times in my childhood. I just got used to it. But usually when I make a character to lovable I fall out of love with them. So I just never fall to much in love with them.
Plus, I’m already always very enveloped with the real world. I’m good at focusing.

[indagold]

I don't have a problem were I dote over an OC like a child its more I keep coming up with goddamn stories for them and knowing every little story I daydream about is like 100+ more pages of bonus comics and I need to write it down and I need post production work and i'm livid because I know I'd burn myself out haha

[dawgofdawgness]

I don’t constantly think about my OCs and obsess over them, but I Do definitely feel like they’re my ACTUAL children. When people refer to their own characters as “awww my SON!” I think it’s because they literally feel like they gave birth to them. so yeah, my OCs come up in my brain every once in a while but I’m fine with that because that means I can get to know them better and write them better as characters :^)

[Zaboem]

Reportedly, Anne Rice had this problem. Lestat the vampire was overtaking her creative process. She killed him off to break what was becoming a toxic relationship between her and her favorite character. ...reportedly. The entire story seems fishy to me.

I cannot say that is a problem for me. Maybe my background as a roleplaying gamer makes me inclined to view characters as disposable entities who need to serve their purpose and then die. Maybe I'm not imaginative enough.

The only character of mine who takes up any significant amount of head space is Isis. She's the main character from my novella, The Queen in Yellow. Even before that she was my attempt at creating a tulpa. As such, she is very compartmentalized. I would probably be better off if I gave her more attention.

[LordSeriphus]

I have a different problem that derives from my characters subconsciously taking over too much of my thought-process.

I started saying the c word and cur from an old character I wrote in an rp, but I fell out of that.

But I actually click my nails under stress, a ahbit I picked up from the delusional protagonist of my main, current work, Lucrys.

It's like hanging out with people and slightly grabbing some of their vocabulary after a few months, then realizing it.
But I left Alex behind, and I stopped saying the other words excessively. (I loved his character, though. xD)
I know that when I leave Lucrys behind and finish his story, a day will come where I don't look crazy when I'm stressing out. xD

@AllynCrowe This shit... Back in my high school days, I was acting out a scene after a shower in the bathroom and my brother heard me and gave me so much shit for it, and I finally gave up and told him "I was exercising my writing." It's pretty great. I try to keep the out loud stuff to a minimum and started talking to my characters and watching them interact, instead. xD

[fdkljfhtur]

I have a bnha oc which I am really obsessed over. I worried about finding a healthy relationship between the real bnha world and the bnha world which my oc is in. In the end, I just came to the conclusion that I should only think about my oc to fill in time, or just completely ignore her when watching/reading bnha. Might not be the best method but oh well, it works for me

[irotanagatchi333]

I do that all the time. Not sure why you think it's a problem. I say embrace it🤷🏾‍♀️.