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Creator In Their Creation's Universe
8 years ago
General
One thing I am often asked is if I insert myself into my characters' universe, or more specifically, their lives, with some even asking if I go so far as to draw myself (or my anthro persona) having intimate relations with my created characters.
No.
A more elaborate answer would be if I ever appeared in one of my images it would be in a background, non-interacting role, for example a dump truck driver puttering along on the city street in the background in an outdoor urban scene with my characters as the focus or something along those lines, in short a minor cameo designed to be a part of the backdrop, a sort of Easter Egg. What I strive to avoid is author (or in this case, artist) insertion into my characters' lives, especially in any intimate fashion; I find that last idea cringey in the extreme.
The way I see it as the creator of the universes my various characters inhabit, it would be a major violation of them if I imposed myself upon them, and it would be imposing myself (since I would have all the control as the creator), not to mention completely dismissing and disregarding the personalities that I built up in them over the years, robbing them of their agency (I know they don't *actually* exist, but in a way, in my mind, they are real enough).
So there you go, I feel it is both my responsibility as a creator and respect for my creations that keeps me from directly interacting with them within their story universes.
No.
A more elaborate answer would be if I ever appeared in one of my images it would be in a background, non-interacting role, for example a dump truck driver puttering along on the city street in the background in an outdoor urban scene with my characters as the focus or something along those lines, in short a minor cameo designed to be a part of the backdrop, a sort of Easter Egg. What I strive to avoid is author (or in this case, artist) insertion into my characters' lives, especially in any intimate fashion; I find that last idea cringey in the extreme.
The way I see it as the creator of the universes my various characters inhabit, it would be a major violation of them if I imposed myself upon them, and it would be imposing myself (since I would have all the control as the creator), not to mention completely dismissing and disregarding the personalities that I built up in them over the years, robbing them of their agency (I know they don't *actually* exist, but in a way, in my mind, they are real enough).
So there you go, I feel it is both my responsibility as a creator and respect for my creations that keeps me from directly interacting with them within their story universes.
Words to live by.
"Wow, nice suit!"
"ZIP IT STAN LEE!"
I'd say it's almost like writing a biography in real time, only you're creating a false reality around yourself to play out the story. Who can do that without buckling? Though it was a heck of a lot of fun at the time to try.
All that just for me to get out that I understand and mostly agree, it's best to leave your characters and their world untouched by your paws. Once that line is crossed, everything is sullied. Even the attempt to formulate a character based on yourself makes for a mess. Our characters and worlds they live in take on their own life, existing of their own accord, almost without us. We don't belong in them.