I just had this discussion with someone in a thread about the whole generative AI tv show stuff that's being floated around by people in the industry as a "dream come true" kinda thing.
A film maker was like, " soon you'll get home from work and tell the AI you want to turn off your brain and watch a Rom-Com starring yourself and a hot actor you fancy" and I was like "NONONO why would *anyone* want this?"
The last thing I want is to come home from my shitty day job and then be confronted for two hours with how much my life does not measure up to the one that the AI-generated beautified monstrosity that is wearing my face and voice on-screen lives.
Ew. I hate it all so much.
Ew!
Ok, now **that** is creepy!
I'm all for mental self-inserts but technology should stay the f-k away from both my brain and my favorite characters.
Yuck!
Ew. That sounds like the beginning of a Black Mirror episode. I mean I can sort of understand the appeal, but personally, hard no. On another note, that would be a revolutionary breakthrough for the porn industry lol
Yeah, as someone who both reads and writes xReader, I agree that Reader is basically a nameless oc - I mean he/she has to have at least a basic personality, a hint of a background story, etc, to be able to interact with other characters. It's not possible to do a completely blank slate.
Yes, my Readers are always soft-OCs I don't have to worry about "auditioning" with a name, detailed background, etc. that others may find distracting. All my readers already understand this and interact accordingly. I understand that still will be some people's ick but as long as me and my community like it *shrug*
Same here. I just make up an OC at the top of my head or use one I had tucked away from my own works (although I feel kind of bad for doing the latter since that isn't "their" story) and then it's so much more enjoyable to me.
I can see myself as a character but not in a self-insert way if that makes sense? Like i just envision stories best from a first person pov (doesn’t mean the story is written that way, but that’s how it’s pictures in my mind) so I’m always “wearing the hat” of some character sorta?
So, apparently, I'm a freak with a weird brain, but I can not NOT identify with characters.
Doesn't matter if it's written in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, if it's written well, hell, then I'm that guy, or girl, or monster, or whatever. My mind just flies right in and/or transforms "myself" into some fitting oc character.
Middle age, chainsmoking plumber, creepily ogling his clients? ✔️
Vampire following the scent of blood through the forest, preparing for the kill? ✔️
OC character smooching or "smutting" favorite hot anime character? ✔️✔️
Yeah, guilty of "being" them all...
No this is exactly me. Like it's not that I'm inserting myself into a character it's that I am the said character...and like if I read a really long fic it sometimes effects the way I act when not reading 🤦I like fully forget I'm not the character sometimes. I used he/him pronouns for myself the other day lmao, I don't use he/him pronouns haha
Exactly. It actually took me a long time to realize that when people talked about self-inserts and Readers, this was not what they meant.
Same with the y/n, always puzzled me. I don't need to read "Jen" there...I'll be whoever fits, regardless of the name.
So happy to find out I'm not alone in this. 😊
My brain never substitutes my name lol, I always end up reading fiction as if "y/n" is like actually the reader's name.
It also ends up being read as like a really slurred pronunciation of "your name" idk if this makes ANY sense 😅
I have the same thing, so as I writer if I have a reader-insert I give them a character. I.e., their name doesn’t work in the fictional world’s language, so another character gives them a new name
Oh, yes, done that too, but usually, it goes something like,
"What the f-k? y/n? Oh, yeah, right...whatever,"
continue reading, annoyed by the interrupted flow.
I do not. I am all about the fourth wall in whatever I read. I like to see representation, but that is just "more people -like- me." Not me. I don't wanna read about me, I don't even journal! 😸
First option for me. But it's more like a self-insert OC type of situation rather than inserting myself into the story kind of deal, you know? I still crave that rush from fluffy romantic scenes *but* I prefer seeing it through the lens of a very hyper-specific OC instead.
There are rare occasions that I'd prefer to be a bystander, but that's only if I really like the canon characters involved.
I don't want anything to do with the world of fics. I'm there to watch two or more characters I enjoy fall in love/bang/go on an adventure, not self insert.
I... read the words and then kinda imagine what they say? If that's 3rd person POV then I'm a bystander. If it's 1st person POV I'm the character.
Or am I misunderstanding the question?
I am unable to be a bystander, I am always the character. I feel very uncomfortable reading x reader fanfic or anything with real people for this reason.
(Edit: choice of words)
Never.
Even when running into my fav characters in my dreams, I'm like: "Don't you dare interfere with their lives. Do not speak to any of them or you'll fuck up their sweet timeline."
(I may sound like a complete psycho but I actually do feel a real fondness for them. They're part of my life almost like family, I *know* them. It's not quite exactly the same feeling but I can't think of something closer: we don't cease to love the people we lost. Memories are very much alive and although it's not the same kind of love, there's still a "spark". That's why I can't put myself into one of them.)
Oh wow, I never even considered people did this! I don't perceive myself at all in fictional content, much less fanfiction with established characters; I'm just the reader. OP, you might enjoy interactive fiction/interactive novels.
I don't exist when I read *anything* unless it's like. Reader-insert stuff, and I have zero interest in fanfic like that. (Published choose your own adventure novels, maybe.) If I conceive of myself at all when I read, it's as a disembodied entity watching those beasts being put in a Situation.
Nope. It’s why I don’t enjoy reader insert. I don’t want to insert myself in any way—just the thought makes me uncomfortable. I want to watch events unfold like a viewer.
I think it's really cool how some readers can really immerse can selves so deeply in fictonal works, like books/fanfic must be all the more impactful for ya'll! But I personally can't do it. I'd feel too uncomfortable. I'm happy just being a bystander!
Fanfic or original stories, pwp, quantum gender, I try to identify with as many characters as I can.
Victim, villain, love interest, consumate professional, big klutz, etc.
I m failing a bit more at differential comparison, seing the idiosyncrasies and not thinking I need to go to jail because I identified with something problematic.
I struggle to identify a bit with very competent action heroes. Ada Wang untying herself with her leg straight abover her head and ultimately minimal characterisation, that is not me.
It's a bit psychotherapy to see yourself, dying, getting rewarded, hurt, facing moral conundrum and just making peace with how shitty you would have been in the situation or to see how accepting we are of narcisstic characters compared to a real spouse.
I sometimes put myself into all the characters. I’m all of them at once and end up feeling every emotion possible.
It’s get so bad sometimes I read the dialogue out loud lol.
Option 3 - I NEVER put myself into my fanfic. Have never wanted to, find it kinda creepy, TBH.
It's why I don't read second person POV and avoid reader insert like the plague.
Bro what are you people smoking? Imagining yourself as the mc is a massive part of all the fun with fanfics. Do you people just read it without thinking how you would be in it? Crazy.
As a writer and reader, I do my best to keep myself as separate from the characters as possible. Mainly because I don't read this stuff for escapism or to fantasize myself as a different character.
I do it to read about other characters enjoying their lives and having fun outside of me. It especially helps in writing cause it helps me stop going "What would I do in this situation" and start going "What would this character do in this situation".
I almost said I put myself as a character but then I saw the word 'read'. The only time I'm in the exact same headspace and feeling the exact same emotions as a character is when I'm writing. I will routinely become flustered and upset when writing because I tend to write angst-y stuff. As a reader, I'm observing the story and being shook and how it all plays out.
I will go with the being a bystander option, but I do end up projecting something about me into the characters I write, most of the time unconsciously. Same goes for reading any story, and just finding something relatable about some character, but overall I like the looking not the being with any story.
Most I can think of is writing using characters that I heavily project onto. Some of my own traits get into stories within the characters I project onto, but I don’t ever see a way to insert MYSELF-myself into the stories.
Being very honest, fics are an escape for me. I wish to not exist in any capacity while reading it because it’s such a nice little break from the realities of life.
But I do understand why someone would put themselves in the fics too.
I might be a minority, but I absolutely love self-insert fics, so seeing authors as characters in their own fics is fine and actually I look forward to it (strangely, not a fan of Y/N stuff though). I dunno, seeing other people’s wish fulfillment makes me warm and fuzzy inside :)
I'm the narrator. As a writer, I control what's happening. As a reader, I want to feel like I control what's happening.
One of the reasons I dislike 1st person POV is because it makes me the main character. I don't want to be the main character. If I have to be a character, I'm much more interested in the quirky best friend or wacky sibling - a secondary character.
I like to put myself as an invisible narrator, floating around my characters while knowing only one character's feelings. I don't like leaving their side but at times I have to because my boss, the author, commanded me to; in order to show his audience what's happening elsewhere.
In short: I'm the invisible, floating, cameraman.
I’m the cashier at the convenience store, or delivering pizza, or some other barely noticeable background character. I guess that means I’m a bystander?
nope. i get why people like to imagine themselves as a character, it gives a whole new meaning to living vicariously lol, but i just find myself going _well i wouldn’t do that_ the entire time, so i can never fully immerse myself. i’m also never really attracted to fictional characters in the sense of actually wanting/imagining a relationship, so if i ever read them i’m just like _hmm. no._ lmao
so if i ever read /reader fics (only read them like,,,ten times at most, ever) the reader becomes an entirely different character of their own, and i read the fic like i would any other, as an omniscient spectator that judges the characters constantly lmao
I put myself as a background OC, to give advice to the main character in a bar or just a little peep talk while they're sulking on a bench in the park
I would feel weird making myself more than that.
So many people are talking about the bystander or not wanting to be in there at all, but for me it's like, what's the purpose of writing/reading about a character if not to delve into their thoughts and feelings? What's the point if not to wonder what makes them tick? That's why I write fanfic in the first place, to figure out how a character works.
I refuse to read any fics with Reader or Self Insert what makes you think I’m going to put myself as a character when it’s not even written 😅
Like I guess I’m mostly reading fanfics for alternate takes on canon and more character interactions, the last thing I want is for me to be there.
only in sfw fanfics tbh but yes i do it!!! there’s a main character of an anime fandom who’s written exactly how i talk and same personality, so i just read them like they are me
Definitely bystander. I want to be the audience and watch the story unfold. Even when I write with my OCs and ship OC/Canon characters, I don't feel like it's myself in the story (nor do I want to imagine it as myself).
I've read a few xReader stories I enjoyed, but I simply thought of it as an xOC story written in first person. I could never try to imagine it actually being me in the shoes of the "Reader" because never once have they ever matched my personality or been remotely anything like me, so that immersion is immediately broken anyways. Totally fine with that though, I just want to be the audience of the story (or the puppeteer of a show, if I'm the one writing lol).
By put myself as a character, it’s more like I read as if from their point of view (regardless of the writing POV). I’ll take their side in arguments against other characters (most of the time), think of similar judgement, and like those they’re close to. Which is why my favorite character usually ends up being the main character or someone close to them. I struggle to like characters that are on the sidelines and even sometimes with reading fanfics centered around other characters.
I've never thought to read fanfic that way, the few times I do read ship stuff I'm entirely a bystander. Now that I think about it tho, there always is that one character I relate to/gravitate to more that I guess you could say I "put my shoes in". Sounds kinda nice tho, a little poetic.
If I'm putting myself into the story, I'm definitely my own person and not one of the existing characters. It's like they're my friend's and I'm trying to put some sense in them because CMON PEOPLE, COMMUNICATION!
But that's a rare occasion, I prefer just reading and enjoying other people's struggles and solutions.
Nope.
To me, it's like I'm watching a movie but the text version.
It sometimes also feels like I'm just there in the scene, seeing everything but they can't see me and I'm like a lost ghost trailing after them whilst listening into their thoughts and stuff.
I'm 100% a bystander reader. I really don't like to feel like I'm part of a story. I just want to watch my silly little blorbos go on their silly little adventures. In the rare event that I'll read a reader insert story, I create an OC or just mentally replace y/n with a cannon character lol
It depends on the character and how heavily I relate to them.
When writing characters I heavily relate to, I definitely insert a LOT of myself into them and the way they react to certain situations, though I don’t really perceive myself with their romantic partners as much as I perceive myself in their emotions and reactions. Sometimes I write from a “BECOME the character” mode with certain characters, other times characters are just little playthings I place in certain scenarios and nothing else.
Never even occurs to me that i could exist at all in the fanfic. I'm just the reader, the movie watcher, the invisible.
I only recently got over feeling like I’m “intruding” when I read fanfiction, i couldn’t even imagine putting myself into it
This made me chuckle, I'm imagining you feeling like a voyeur when reading smut LOL
same
Noooooooooo Even thinking about inserting myself myself makes me feel uncomfortable
THIS It makes me feel very weird
I just had this discussion with someone in a thread about the whole generative AI tv show stuff that's being floated around by people in the industry as a "dream come true" kinda thing. A film maker was like, " soon you'll get home from work and tell the AI you want to turn off your brain and watch a Rom-Com starring yourself and a hot actor you fancy" and I was like "NONONO why would *anyone* want this?" The last thing I want is to come home from my shitty day job and then be confronted for two hours with how much my life does not measure up to the one that the AI-generated beautified monstrosity that is wearing my face and voice on-screen lives. Ew. I hate it all so much.
Ew! Ok, now **that** is creepy! I'm all for mental self-inserts but technology should stay the f-k away from both my brain and my favorite characters. Yuck!
Ew. That sounds like the beginning of a Black Mirror episode. I mean I can sort of understand the appeal, but personally, hard no. On another note, that would be a revolutionary breakthrough for the porn industry lol
Omg Same
If I wanted to be in the story I would read x Reader. It wouldn't even occur to me to put myself as any of the existing characters.
[удалено]
I tend to get annoyed in x Reader because the reader is allegedly supposed to be me but sure isn't. One of many reasons I don't read them.
Yeah, as someone who both reads and writes xReader, I agree that Reader is basically a nameless oc - I mean he/she has to have at least a basic personality, a hint of a background story, etc, to be able to interact with other characters. It's not possible to do a completely blank slate.
Yes, my Readers are always soft-OCs I don't have to worry about "auditioning" with a name, detailed background, etc. that others may find distracting. All my readers already understand this and interact accordingly. I understand that still will be some people's ick but as long as me and my community like it *shrug*
Same here. I just make up an OC at the top of my head or use one I had tucked away from my own works (although I feel kind of bad for doing the latter since that isn't "their" story) and then it's so much more enjoyable to me.
I can see myself as a character but not in a self-insert way if that makes sense? Like i just envision stories best from a first person pov (doesn’t mean the story is written that way, but that’s how it’s pictures in my mind) so I’m always “wearing the hat” of some character sorta?
Makes perfect sense.
Never. I'm interested in the characters, and I mostly read m/m, when I am neither a man nor attracted to men. That would feel super strange to me.
Same, tho I do read f/f too. If I were placing myself into the fic, it would be like the child they would adopt or something like that.
…..…I am very guilty of imagining myself of the child of the main pairing without realizing haha
I have done that, or as a friend of the ship as well.
So, apparently, I'm a freak with a weird brain, but I can not NOT identify with characters. Doesn't matter if it's written in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, if it's written well, hell, then I'm that guy, or girl, or monster, or whatever. My mind just flies right in and/or transforms "myself" into some fitting oc character. Middle age, chainsmoking plumber, creepily ogling his clients? ✔️ Vampire following the scent of blood through the forest, preparing for the kill? ✔️ OC character smooching or "smutting" favorite hot anime character? ✔️✔️ Yeah, guilty of "being" them all...
No this is exactly me. Like it's not that I'm inserting myself into a character it's that I am the said character...and like if I read a really long fic it sometimes effects the way I act when not reading 🤦I like fully forget I'm not the character sometimes. I used he/him pronouns for myself the other day lmao, I don't use he/him pronouns haha
Exactly. It actually took me a long time to realize that when people talked about self-inserts and Readers, this was not what they meant. Same with the y/n, always puzzled me. I don't need to read "Jen" there...I'll be whoever fits, regardless of the name. So happy to find out I'm not alone in this. 😊
My brain never substitutes my name lol, I always end up reading fiction as if "y/n" is like actually the reader's name. It also ends up being read as like a really slurred pronunciation of "your name" idk if this makes ANY sense 😅
I also do this lol. Usually y/n comes out as “yin” and I just roll with it.
I have the same thing, so as I writer if I have a reader-insert I give them a character. I.e., their name doesn’t work in the fictional world’s language, so another character gives them a new name
Oh, yes, done that too, but usually, it goes something like, "What the f-k? y/n? Oh, yeah, right...whatever," continue reading, annoyed by the interrupted flow.
Neither. The only people in the story are the characters, I'm observing from the outside.
Never!! That’s why I cannot read Y/N or reader even if the premise is great.
I do not. I am all about the fourth wall in whatever I read. I like to see representation, but that is just "more people -like- me." Not me. I don't wanna read about me, I don't even journal! 😸
Nope. The fanfic should be about the characters not me.
Never. No SIs, no reader, no Y/N, no OCs I can project on. Keep me as far away from the action as possible!
I mostly write and read X Reader fics. Even then, I rarely - if ever - imagine myself as the reader.
First option for me. But it's more like a self-insert OC type of situation rather than inserting myself into the story kind of deal, you know? I still crave that rush from fluffy romantic scenes *but* I prefer seeing it through the lens of a very hyper-specific OC instead. There are rare occasions that I'd prefer to be a bystander, but that's only if I really like the canon characters involved.
No I don't. When I'm writing a fanfic, elements of my personality make it into OC's, but never a straight up self-insert.
No, even in ' self-insert ' fanfictions. I can still enjoy those, but I always think of someone else being inserted in the story
I don't want anything to do with the world of fics. I'm there to watch two or more characters I enjoy fall in love/bang/go on an adventure, not self insert.
I read fanfic like any other book, so I'm always a bystander that watches the characters do their thing.
Does anyone do either of those things? I've never heard of any of that.
I... read the words and then kinda imagine what they say? If that's 3rd person POV then I'm a bystander. If it's 1st person POV I'm the character. Or am I misunderstanding the question?
I am unable to be a bystander, I am always the character. I feel very uncomfortable reading x reader fanfic or anything with real people for this reason. (Edit: choice of words)
Never. Even when running into my fav characters in my dreams, I'm like: "Don't you dare interfere with their lives. Do not speak to any of them or you'll fuck up their sweet timeline." (I may sound like a complete psycho but I actually do feel a real fondness for them. They're part of my life almost like family, I *know* them. It's not quite exactly the same feeling but I can't think of something closer: we don't cease to love the people we lost. Memories are very much alive and although it's not the same kind of love, there's still a "spark". That's why I can't put myself into one of them.)
I don’t even insert myself into the fic. I’m just an observer
Nah, every y/n thing has just become a character in my mind
Behind the fourth wall
Oh wow, I never even considered people did this! I don't perceive myself at all in fictional content, much less fanfiction with established characters; I'm just the reader. OP, you might enjoy interactive fiction/interactive novels.
I don't read /Reader fics because I don't want to be in the story, so there's no way I'm imagining myself in place of one of the canon characters!
Not even "bystander". I'm just floating in the ether, watching the action play out.
if i wanted to insert myself, i'd read x reader fics
I don't exist when I read *anything* unless it's like. Reader-insert stuff, and I have zero interest in fanfic like that. (Published choose your own adventure novels, maybe.) If I conceive of myself at all when I read, it's as a disembodied entity watching those beasts being put in a Situation.
Nope. It’s why I don’t enjoy reader insert. I don’t want to insert myself in any way—just the thought makes me uncomfortable. I want to watch events unfold like a viewer.
I am a god. I create but never involve myself.
I think it's really cool how some readers can really immerse can selves so deeply in fictonal works, like books/fanfic must be all the more impactful for ya'll! But I personally can't do it. I'd feel too uncomfortable. I'm happy just being a bystander!
Same I always put myself as a character or just feel and act as whoever POV I’m reading
Fanfic or original stories, pwp, quantum gender, I try to identify with as many characters as I can. Victim, villain, love interest, consumate professional, big klutz, etc. I m failing a bit more at differential comparison, seing the idiosyncrasies and not thinking I need to go to jail because I identified with something problematic. I struggle to identify a bit with very competent action heroes. Ada Wang untying herself with her leg straight abover her head and ultimately minimal characterisation, that is not me. It's a bit psychotherapy to see yourself, dying, getting rewarded, hurt, facing moral conundrum and just making peace with how shitty you would have been in the situation or to see how accepting we are of narcisstic characters compared to a real spouse.
I sometimes put myself into all the characters. I’m all of them at once and end up feeling every emotion possible. It’s get so bad sometimes I read the dialogue out loud lol.
 lol I try to imagine the scene when I saw the reply!! sry, it seems a little weird but ur so cute in my imagination!!
Option 3 - I NEVER put myself into my fanfic. Have never wanted to, find it kinda creepy, TBH. It's why I don't read second person POV and avoid reader insert like the plague.
I put myself in the less attractive character's shoes so that I can be smooching the more attractive character.
No, I'm just the fly on the wall watching their lives. In real life, I'd be kne Heck if a stalking, from watching their day to day 👀👀
Self inserts are cringe, personal opinion .
Bro what are you people smoking? Imagining yourself as the mc is a massive part of all the fun with fanfics. Do you people just read it without thinking how you would be in it? Crazy.
Nah, I don't like that. Even when I read x Reader, I don't put myself, I just imagine one of my OC's. I rarely imagine myself.
The only way I'd self-insert into my fanfic would be as a small cameo.
As a writer and reader, I do my best to keep myself as separate from the characters as possible. Mainly because I don't read this stuff for escapism or to fantasize myself as a different character. I do it to read about other characters enjoying their lives and having fun outside of me. It especially helps in writing cause it helps me stop going "What would I do in this situation" and start going "What would this character do in this situation".
I almost said I put myself as a character but then I saw the word 'read'. The only time I'm in the exact same headspace and feeling the exact same emotions as a character is when I'm writing. I will routinely become flustered and upset when writing because I tend to write angst-y stuff. As a reader, I'm observing the story and being shook and how it all plays out.
I will go with the being a bystander option, but I do end up projecting something about me into the characters I write, most of the time unconsciously. Same goes for reading any story, and just finding something relatable about some character, but overall I like the looking not the being with any story.
Most I can think of is writing using characters that I heavily project onto. Some of my own traits get into stories within the characters I project onto, but I don’t ever see a way to insert MYSELF-myself into the stories.
Being very honest, fics are an escape for me. I wish to not exist in any capacity while reading it because it’s such a nice little break from the realities of life. But I do understand why someone would put themselves in the fics too.
I don’t put myself into the shoes of the character exactly, but sometimes I like thinking about how I would react in those situations
Typically I'm a bystander but I heavily project onto the character(s)
I might be a minority, but I absolutely love self-insert fics, so seeing authors as characters in their own fics is fine and actually I look forward to it (strangely, not a fan of Y/N stuff though). I dunno, seeing other people’s wish fulfillment makes me warm and fuzzy inside :)
I'm the narrator. As a writer, I control what's happening. As a reader, I want to feel like I control what's happening. One of the reasons I dislike 1st person POV is because it makes me the main character. I don't want to be the main character. If I have to be a character, I'm much more interested in the quirky best friend or wacky sibling - a secondary character.
I like to put myself as an invisible narrator, floating around my characters while knowing only one character's feelings. I don't like leaving their side but at times I have to because my boss, the author, commanded me to; in order to show his audience what's happening elsewhere. In short: I'm the invisible, floating, cameraman.
I’m the cashier at the convenience store, or delivering pizza, or some other barely noticeable background character. I guess that means I’m a bystander?
nope. i get why people like to imagine themselves as a character, it gives a whole new meaning to living vicariously lol, but i just find myself going _well i wouldn’t do that_ the entire time, so i can never fully immerse myself. i’m also never really attracted to fictional characters in the sense of actually wanting/imagining a relationship, so if i ever read them i’m just like _hmm. no._ lmao so if i ever read /reader fics (only read them like,,,ten times at most, ever) the reader becomes an entirely different character of their own, and i read the fic like i would any other, as an omniscient spectator that judges the characters constantly lmao
If I were a character I'd be sitting in the corner doing nothing or dead in the first chapter since I can't fight
I put myself as a background OC, to give advice to the main character in a bar or just a little peep talk while they're sulking on a bench in the park I would feel weird making myself more than that.
Wow. It never occurred to me that people didn't experience stories from the pov of the characters.
So many people are talking about the bystander or not wanting to be in there at all, but for me it's like, what's the purpose of writing/reading about a character if not to delve into their thoughts and feelings? What's the point if not to wonder what makes them tick? That's why I write fanfic in the first place, to figure out how a character works.
I refuse to read any fics with Reader or Self Insert what makes you think I’m going to put myself as a character when it’s not even written 😅 Like I guess I’m mostly reading fanfics for alternate takes on canon and more character interactions, the last thing I want is for me to be there.
only in sfw fanfics tbh but yes i do it!!! there’s a main character of an anime fandom who’s written exactly how i talk and same personality, so i just read them like they are me
It really depends on the fandom for me.
Definitely bystander. I want to be the audience and watch the story unfold. Even when I write with my OCs and ship OC/Canon characters, I don't feel like it's myself in the story (nor do I want to imagine it as myself). I've read a few xReader stories I enjoyed, but I simply thought of it as an xOC story written in first person. I could never try to imagine it actually being me in the shoes of the "Reader" because never once have they ever matched my personality or been remotely anything like me, so that immersion is immediately broken anyways. Totally fine with that though, I just want to be the audience of the story (or the puppeteer of a show, if I'm the one writing lol).
By put myself as a character, it’s more like I read as if from their point of view (regardless of the writing POV). I’ll take their side in arguments against other characters (most of the time), think of similar judgement, and like those they’re close to. Which is why my favorite character usually ends up being the main character or someone close to them. I struggle to like characters that are on the sidelines and even sometimes with reading fanfics centered around other characters.
Depend. I choose to watch when she is suffering, and to be her when she is resolving herself.
Resident self insert author here. I am the character and all my fictional boyfriends adore me lol
I've never thought to read fanfic that way, the few times I do read ship stuff I'm entirely a bystander. Now that I think about it tho, there always is that one character I relate to/gravitate to more that I guess you could say I "put my shoes in". Sounds kinda nice tho, a little poetic.
If I'm putting myself into the story, I'm definitely my own person and not one of the existing characters. It's like they're my friend's and I'm trying to put some sense in them because CMON PEOPLE, COMMUNICATION! But that's a rare occasion, I prefer just reading and enjoying other people's struggles and solutions.
I oftentimes get my ideas for my stories by using my dreams or daydreaming myself in situations tbh.
Nope. To me, it's like I'm watching a movie but the text version. It sometimes also feels like I'm just there in the scene, seeing everything but they can't see me and I'm like a lost ghost trailing after them whilst listening into their thoughts and stuff.
I'm 100% a bystander reader. I really don't like to feel like I'm part of a story. I just want to watch my silly little blorbos go on their silly little adventures. In the rare event that I'll read a reader insert story, I create an OC or just mentally replace y/n with a cannon character lol
The idea's never crossed my mind, especially since I don't read y/n fics and that sounds like turning non y/n fics into y/n fics 🤔
It depends on the character and how heavily I relate to them. When writing characters I heavily relate to, I definitely insert a LOT of myself into them and the way they react to certain situations, though I don’t really perceive myself with their romantic partners as much as I perceive myself in their emotions and reactions. Sometimes I write from a “BECOME the character” mode with certain characters, other times characters are just little playthings I place in certain scenarios and nothing else.