Who is your 'self' character?

[sungila]

Great thread!

Awhile back we had a really engaging discussion that also explored some of the aspects of mutants and x-men as externalizations of identity and vehicles for self exploration, discovery and creation.
http://community.comicbookresources....yth-in-X-Books

For me, being a fan of the X-Men has everything to do with my affinity for the 'mutant' outsider. It's a concept that is real for me and drew me to the comics way before I was consciously aware of that being a deciding difference between the X-Men and other mainstream comics.

& that much has stuck through the decades beyond the comics too.

"I am a mutant" is something that just hits very close to the marrow for me.

Even out of the comics context, the word itself resonates.

[PhoenixStudies]

Jean Grey has long resonated with me, because I have a similar personality to hers. I can be reserved and underestimated by others, but if I'm really passionate about something or really angry, a fiery temperament comes out. I usually don't know if I can do something until I actually do it, kinda like Jean.

Further, her connection to the Phoenix reminds me of the religion/spirituality I was raised with (positive/transcendent aspect) and the anxiety/depression I can struggle with (the negative side/burden aspect of the Phoenix).

[Ulfhammer]

Definitely Cyclops for me. His social awkwardness and difficulty with emotions resonated a lot with me as a kid. I was a rules follower, organizer and a planner. I didn't make any friends by trying to keep everyone else on the straight an narrow either. Oddly enough I went through a metamorphosis in my late 20's\early 30's as well. I made a lot of mistake during that period but I grew by leaps and bounds. Scott is much more of a mirror than I would like sometimes. To find a connection point with a character when your 8 and still feel that connection when your 38 is part of why I'm still a fan of Scott. I don't particularly like some of his choices post Apocalypse but I understand them, more than I'd like.

[Criticalfan]

Another vote for "yeah, my avatar" - I too live on a largely virtual world of old memories, create things, and need technology to survive.

[Heroine Addict]

Nice topic, Sundowhn, and yep, I also remember we discussed it before in a couple of threads.

Throughout them, interesting notions arose such as identifying these 'self characters' as id/ego/super-ego or as RPG characters.

First notion was my own idea, second one was Heroine Addict's...

Ya beat me to it, Ricochet! Yah, we definitely got into into some serious analyzation in that thread, lol. I like miXing the fun with the thought-provoking, no reason the 2 should be mutually eXclusive. Anyway, what I walked away with, was:

...

... "right now, I feel mine come down like this:

Id: Polaris, Dazzler, Archangel, & Gambit
Ego: Iceman?... Maybe, I'm thinkin'.
Superego: Jean Grey & Nightcrawler

But due to that duality I mentioned earlier, that I think each has, they have & can fluctuate between the 3 aspects. This is just where I think they currently sit, based on where their characters are currently at and/or the direction they're seemingly headed in, IMO. Other favorites like Quicksilver & Namor, as well as newer discoveries I've more recently taken eXtra special interest in like Sunfire (REALLY warmin' up to him, and Shiro's lookin' like he might be becomin' my solid #8), Northstar, & Frenzy... are also more "Id" characters. As is Magneto, but Dani Moonstar, she could probably join Bobby as another potential "Ego" character for me. Then there's Cecilia Reyes, another "latest addition", who could possibly be included in my "Superego" category. ... ... ... Whew! Think that's about it... my God, I'm SO messed up, too! :-O


... but EVERY day holds the potential for a new moment of self-discovery. :-)..."



There was A LOT more back & forth prior to, between RR & me, that eXplains how we came around to all this. I'd also like to add--spinning out of CotA's "X-Men or X-Man Fan?" thread--that while I generally & truly LOVE the X-mythos as a whole, there ARE certain characters along the way that I've gravitated towards more. 'Cause they "speak" to me, I've related to them, and... bonded with them, more, as a result.

Oh, and when it comes to bad writing-cum-portrayals, I just ignore them. As this is where templates & head-canon, come in. I'll be back to elaborate on that, and what I like to refer to as, "Marvel's Virtual Character Library."

[AbnormallyNormal]

Probably Doug Ramsey or Forge or Magneto or Legion or Nate Grey

Combo of those

There are others I'm not thinking of right now too though, including some female characters actually that I can relate to in ways. Like Kitty, Polaris, X-23 (only a bit though), Surge, Rachel Summers-Grey, Magik.

[ChronoRogue]

Interesting question! Can't say I know any characters who are similar to me but that isn't unusual. It's hard to see myself as most characters, if I relate to them its usually in distant aspects.

I'd say it's because the X-Men seem more mature than I am personality wise, but then again they have Iceman and lots of students. xd But Bobby's immature in a different way and none of the kids speak out to me either.

Hmm, I guess can relate and even identify with some aspects of Rogue because of her thematic elements (fear of getting close, identity confusion, etc...) but she's pretty different from what I see myself as. I'd say she fits closer to my wish-fulfillment trope, bar her love life which I sometimes find questionable lol.

[cc008]

Great thread!

Awhile back we had a really engaging discussion that also explored some of the aspects of mutants and x-men as externalizations of identity and vehicles for self exploration, discovery and creation.
http://community.comicbookresources....yth-in-X-Books

For me, being a fan of the X-Men has everything to do with my affinity for the 'mutant' outsider. It's a concept that is real for me and drew me to the comics way before I was consciously aware of that being a deciding difference between the X-Men and other mainstream comics.

& that much has stuck through the decades beyond the comics too.

"I am a mutant" is something that just hits very close to the marrow for me.

Even out of the comics context, the word itself resonates.

Yes! This is the thread I was talking about. Great thread. As is this one.

[Dementia5]

That you love him but probably roll your eyes lovingly a lot?

He sometimes narrates himself. And occasionally he’ll make a joke to a camera that isn’t there.

[Michael Watkins]

Vincente.........

[Heroine Addict]

Something just came to me, re. that duality I mentioned, and I wanted to post it real quick while it was still hot & before I forgot. I'm gonna say it stems from their "inner demons", for lack of a better term, and how they each handle them.

The Ids: Lorna & Warren struggle with theirs, wrestle with them, but when they give in... they REALLY give in, and go "FULL tilt", as it were. That's not a bad thing, sometimes you just gotta cut loose. It's coming back sometimes, that's the hard part for them, and staying there. The words unpredictable & volatile come to mind.
Ali & Remy embrace theirs, in a unabashed, decidedly hedonistic way. (Additionally on Dazz, she's VERY comfortable in her own skin. Outspoken, she tells it like it is, but pretty much in a straight-forward, matter of fact, & snark-free way. Lastly, she doesn't weaponize her feminine seXuality... she CELEBRATES it! And there's a difference. The Ragin' Cajun shares many of these charming traits with her... hmmm. )

Ego: Bobby acknowledges his, but with that typical nonchalant, shrug-of-the-shoulders kind of way, he has 'bout EVERYthing. There's much to be said for maintaining the middle ground, tho, but how long can it last? Like Ali & Remy, me thinX he's a bit of a pleasure seeker, too.

The Superegos: Jean & Kurt BURY theirs, lol. They know they're there, they just don't dwell on them, and in fact... go out of their way to avoid them, smother 'em even. They're just not too comfortable entertaining their darker impulses, out of their penchants for both nobility & altruism, I think. God bless 'em, what would we do without them?

I gotta give my Ego Dani & Id Shiro some more thought tho, 'cause they're recent additions & I don't know them quite as well, just yet. 3 other characters that came to mind also, that I'm growing increasingly fascinated by & infatuated with, are Blink, Rictor, & Monet. Oh, and the Proudstar bros!! There's SO many!

[ariwl1]

He sometimes narrates himself. And occasionally he’ll make a joke to a camera that isn’t there.

[Sin Nick]

Wolverine is my favorite, but he's a short white dude who enjoys hockey and has anger issues. I'm a 6'1 black guy who hoops pretty much daily and tries to avoid conflict(when possible). I mean other than being charming fellows, we have NOTHING in common lol. Storm is my 2nd fave, but... she has boobies. Bishop is my number 3, and with us both being black dudes and I did recently rock the dread head, so I guess it's him by default.

[jwatson]

For me it's just the basic overall theme of the x-men alone. It allows me to see through the eyes of just about any mutant. The potential to be discriminated against, feared, even hated for simply being born and the questions that come with that and the answers we find just living through that. The villains i can understand because i think that inherent anger when and if it hits you personally can logically be understood but so could the hope and the naivety that comes with never fully understanding why or what your fighting against other than knowing what your experiencing and have to go through is wrong. It's character shaping.

[Ricochet Rita]

What I found great about this thread is that each poster's reflections about each character make you realize about traits and values which you haven't seen in them before. I mean, when I was younger I used to think 'Gah, I hate X or Y or Z, gets on my nerves!'. As time passed, I learned to appreciate that almost not a single character was useless, whether I like him/her or not. Therefore, now I enjoy the reading even more.

There's a chance that you may be overthinking this.

LOL, isn't it that what we're doing here everyday, overthinking of things that are actually pretty banal? ;D

Who's your favorite character? Chances are that's also your "self character" (as least as I understand the term). Why do you like that character? What similarities do you see between the two of you? Usually if a character is your fave then it's at least partially because you see something of yourself in them.

OK, I'm going to limit myself to my very favorite, trying to find out what's of myself in him.

It's difficult for me to separate Longshot the character from Annie Nocenti's (unbowed critical moral existentialist) discourse, which has such a strong resonance in me and which I made an immediate connection with. I'm going to try, though.

I would love it if I could say that I have such a nice frame of mind and such a luminous spirit as Longshot, but the naked truth is I'm serious* by nature and sort of grumpy (yoga is helping me with this, though).

Nevertheless, I like to think I'm an unselfish person. I also have the strongest inclination to...justice, to do fair, to fix what's wrong. Ethics and solidarity are essentials in my life. 'Purification of motive'.

I'm going to illustrate it with a scene from L#1. His new (paranoid) friend Eliot has sheltered him in his bunker, and Longshot is reading a newspaper (yes, Longshot the interdimensional alien can read English as well as he can speak English. Because comics).

LONGSHOT: Says here a baby was kidnapped. I'd like to get it back!
ELIOT: What? That's just a news story.
LONGSHOT: You mean the words in this paper are made-up?
ELIOT: Yes! Well... No, I guess they're true.
LONGSHOT: Then we must get the baby back.

See? It's logical. As logical as taking profits back from Con Ed because the company is ruining people.

Over time, my activism is diverting to a greater extent from direct action to supporting and dissemination, because I've got now more attachments (in Buddhist terms). However, my thrust to help remains the same.

I share with Longshot, too, a certain tendency to play devil's advocate ('Is that wrong?'). Also I usually put my foot in -in good faith!- by telling things honestly as I see them, so I put people in an awkward position. I'm a mess.

Lastly... I'm a total scatterbrain, head-in-the-clouds, absent-minded, since the day I was born. How could I not love Longshot?

*Serious doesn't mean without a sense of humor, BTW.