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badgerface
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17 Dec 2014, 5:44 am

OK, he's an odd one. For as long as I can remember, I've had a daydreamimg/fantasy "thing" whereby in my head I have created an alternate life for myself as a (ASD-free) Celebrity; a Movie Star with Martial Arts background to be precise :oops:

I remember thinking of it as a kid, and in my head I was 20 years older than I was at the time. Weirdly, this has never left me and I find my mind wandering off to this even today, to the point where I have imagined Movies in quite a lot of detail that "I" was in, also creating a backstory and lots of detail about the "Movie Star Me" . . . . anyone else have anything like this?


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17 Dec 2014, 5:52 am

I have this all the time, I daydream about extreme success all the time (don't feel like going into detail..) The only thing for me is I don't act on those daydreams and I don't pressure myself to be anything I'm not, but it does help me pass time.


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17 Dec 2014, 7:20 am

I have always had an active imagination which includes lots of daydreaming and occasional attempts to put stories together on paper.

Though the character and story evolves and isn't totally fixed, it does tend to establish and reuse certain versions. So I probably have 4-5 alter ego versions built.



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17 Dec 2014, 8:36 am

I can't remember ever not having fantasy alter-egos. IN some I was rock star in others a famous writer or artist and others a major political figure. I've done it all, I suppose.

My latest one which I even wrote a short story for myself is a product of getting older, I suppose. I started to imagine what if there was something to this reincarnation business and I could come back and be a child again. Well I thought of my own childhood which was deeply unhappy. So, I imagined one where I was once again a little neurotic aspie but living in a more liberal and enlightened era with liberal, enlightened and very affluent parents. I tried to imagine that I would basically be the same person I am and was as a child but under much more favorable circumstances. I think I now dream more about that than being a star.


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badgerface
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17 Dec 2014, 8:50 am

I'm so pleased to read these responses . . . it didn't bother me one way or the other if this was something other Aspies had or did, I was just intrigued.

I was happy keeping it to myself, imagining for 25+ years all these fictional Movies; and some real ones in fact, I "wrote myself in" as James Bond in Pierce Brosnan's place in the 1990's) and "retired" from the role, handing it over to Daniel Craig when they made Casino Royale; after all, I was 26 in real life at that point, but my imaginary me was pushing 50 and I thought it was logical to step down from Bond at that point!

I'm now 34, and the "other me" is 54. I've just finished filming a Steven Spielberg movie about the Bigfoot phenomenon, alongside Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey. I don't want to spoil the Movie for anyone, but it's seen from different perspectives (believers and cynics), presents various "evidence" and scenarios, ultimately leaving the audience to decide for themselves. Due for release early next year :)


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agwood
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17 Dec 2014, 8:54 am

badgerface wrote:
OK, he's an odd one. For as long as I can remember, I've had a daydreamimg/fantasy "thing" whereby in my head I have created an alternate life for myself as a (ASD-free) Celebrity; a Movie Star with Martial Arts background to be precise :oops:

I remember thinking of it as a kid, and in my head I was 20 years older than I was at the time. Weirdly, this has never left me and I find my mind wandering off to this even today, to the point where I have imagined Movies in quite a lot of detail that "I" was in, also creating a backstory and lots of detail about the "Movie Star Me" . . . . anyone else have anything like this?


Looks to me like a defense mechanism against feelings of low-self worth and/or insignificance in society.
Probably matched with general boredom.

I used to imagine myself having an extra role in several movies I watched (in which I was a cool character of course). For instance, in Star Wars, I imagined myself being a secret villain that had an important part in all of the films.

It's a very normal reaction. If we're in a bad place, we like to fantasise about being somewhere much more grand & majestic.
I can only begin to wonder what Jews in the Nazi concentration camps were fantasising about to cope.



r2d2
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17 Dec 2014, 9:05 am

agwood wrote:

Looks to me like a defense mechanism against feelings of low-self worth and/or insignificance in society.
Probably matched with general boredom.


I think there are very few people on the Autism Spectrum who do not engage in a great deal of daydreaming and fantasizing. I think this has more to do with the way people on the Spectrum tend to overstimulate thus triggering a need for withdraw into one's own world. Basically the same reason why many - if not most people on the Spectrum feel a need to find regular times to be alone with minimal stimulation to recuperate from overstimulation.


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badgerface
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17 Dec 2014, 9:12 am

agwood wrote:
Looks to me like a defense mechanism against feelings of low-self worth and/or insignificance in society.
Probably matched with general boredom.


Yep. I agree. The earliest I remember doing it is daydreaming at Primary School and on the way walking home; I'd get lost in my head imagining scenes from fictional Movies I was in, and even having "Red Carpet" interviews in my head . . . I was very easily distracted and bored at school, and I got to like doing it so much it spilled over into the rest of my life and has stayed with me ever since.


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agwood
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17 Dec 2014, 9:17 am

r2d2 wrote:
agwood wrote:

Looks to me like a defense mechanism against feelings of low-self worth and/or insignificance in society.
Probably matched with general boredom.


I think there are very few people on the Autism Spectrum who do not engage in a great deal of daydreaming and fantasizing. I think this has more to do with the way people on the Spectrum tend to overstimulate thus triggering a need for withdraw into one's own world. Basically the same reason why many - if not most people on the Spectrum feel a need to find regular times to be alone with minimal stimulation to recuperate from overstimulation.


Or it could be a lack of stimulation that the real world provides?



badgerface
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17 Dec 2014, 10:50 am

I think it's a mixture, for me anyway. It's definitely escapism; the fact that I've been doing it for 25+ years means it's a consistent thing, something that's always there, and has been added to, changed and evolved over time so that it stays relevant and "accurate".

Even though it's pure fantasy; I have always tried to maintain a sense of realism. In other words, the cast members of these films have always been realistic in terms of their ages, the Directors and their styles have been incorporated into the scenes and narrative imagined, and even down to building a realistic "Filmography", for the "other me".

One of my "traits" is a strong desire for a clear separation between things that are real, and things that are not. This is something that was picked up on in my diagnosis - I have no problem with the concept of (and Movies about) Ghosts, Aliens, UFOs, Psychic abilities, near-death experiences, Astrology etc etc, as long as it's grounded in a work of fiction. The moment this spills over into the real world, I have a problem; these things are not real, and are always very easily explained by the use of common sense, Science, basic knowledge of Human psychology and how the brain works, or a bit of research. I digress, but the point is, that even the Fantasy version of me is as realistic as possible, feasible if it were to be true.


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Shelldor2015
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17 Dec 2014, 10:57 am

I do that all the time. My dream alter ego is JR Ewing. Not just for the evil part. Great conversationalist when he wanted to be and could charm the pants off of anyone he chose to do so. That and the money and nice car wouldn't hurt either.


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agwood
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17 Dec 2014, 11:00 am

badgerface wrote:
I think it's a mixture, for me anyway. It's definitely escapism; the fact that I've been doing it for 25+ years means it's a consistent thing, something that's always there, and has been added to, changed and evolved over time so that it stays relevant and "accurate".

Even though it's pure fantasy; I have always tried to maintain a sense of realism. In other words, the cast members of these films have always been realistic in terms of their ages, the Directors and their styles have been incorporated into the scenes and narrative imagined, and even down to building a realistic "Filmography", for the "other me".

One of my "traits" is a strong desire for a clear separation between things that are real, and things that are not. This is something that was picked up on in my diagnosis - I have no problem with the concept of (and Movies about) Ghosts, Aliens, UFOs, Psychic abilities, near-death experiences, Astrology etc etc, as long as it's grounded in a work of fiction. The moment this spills over into the real world, I have a problem; these things are not real, and are always very easily explained by the use of common sense, Science, basic knowledge of Human psychology and how the brain works, or a bit of research. I digress, but the point is, that even the Fantasy version of me is as realistic as possible, feasible if it were to be true.


Here's a movie to put yourself into: Eraserhead



badgerface
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17 Dec 2014, 11:07 am

Cronenberg. Genius. 8)

My favourite of his films, however (and one of my favourite films full stop) is 'The Fly' . . .


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17 Dec 2014, 1:00 pm

agwood wrote:
...Looks to me like a defense mechanism against feelings of low-self worth and/or insignificance in society.
Probably matched with general boredom...


It might sometimes be that, but I don't believe that is always or perhaps not even normally the case.

My imaginary life, if anything was just as active during very busy and high esteem periods as during dull and semi depressed ones.

I think, at least for me it has to do with all these thoughts that are often incessantly generated in my brain. It is nearly always active and has a surplus of mental energy maybe. I have often read others here describe very active or over-active minds. So perhaps it is just a way to process it, or a thing to do with it, that is pleasant. Or maybe its a sort of mental stimming.



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17 Dec 2014, 1:33 pm

I have multiple alter egos, but most of them aren't very vivid. My most realistic alter ego is the healthy version of me. The healthy version of me has a clear head, no autistic traits, an okay career and a good social life. I'm really hoping that can be reality. I also have alter egos that I act out on the internet.


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17 Dec 2014, 5:38 pm

I have this particular character for almost 6 years now. The most active of all was based on my role in some online game. (Not exactly role like roleplay, but sort of my 'status' on that online game). A motherly regent of a dark king leading an army of perverted adults... (Yes, you read it that way.) The chattiness is based on my online game persona, and people around her is based on how I kinda see the others. The location and geography is also based on the game.
I'm rather tempted to get rid of her for some reason. o.o But imagining of successfully assassinating her doesn't worked out or 'turning real' within that imagined world. Until now.

And that's just one of the many. The rest is based on what I kept watching or reading or wondering about.


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