Use of real people/cartoon characters as "emoticons&quo

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Does (or did) anyone else here use pictures of people or cartoon characters to represent emotions? The general premise is that you can't see the emotion, but if the character demonstrates (or elicits) the emotion strongly enough to register you associate the emotion with the character and the character effectively becomes an "idol" or "goddess" for the emotion.

Most of my initial characters were developed from second season of the anime series "Star Blazers", which was popular when I was roughly 10 or so. Nowadays, many of these characters have been replaced by real people -- who have the unfortunate tendency to come out one-dimensional as a result!

Prince Zordar (chaotic evil bad guy): power, determination, chaos, immense strength. This guy wound up representing progress in the fight against the AS in that he was overthrowing the status quo. Zordar is notorious for trying to conquer Earth and blow up the moon.

Earth Commander: discipline, order, calm: He represented everything good. At the time, I didn't know the "good" stuff he was representing was the AS. This battle was eventually won by Zordar, which caught me completely off guard as in the TV show Earth wins (the result wasn't pretty!).

Trelaina of Telezart: Love, passion. I bought the DVD of Star Blazers and looking back on it as an adult -- for the first time in 20 years -- the show goes on so much about her love for Mark Venture (the navigator of the main characters' ship) that it would have gotten through even to me. For a long time, I was partial to blondes because Trelaina was blonde.

Mark Venture: Weakness, inability to function. This character was often incapacitated by his crush on Trelaina.

General Bleak: Self-confidence. He's one of Prince Zordar's generals, and he confidently orders all his ships to go after the Earth forces with disco music blaring in the background (he eventually destroys most of the Earth ships).

There was a whole set of characters, including those which (in retrospect) I very likely created and either forgot -- or more likely CENSORED -- because they were too...shall we say...mature for the time. There's evidence they existed but I somehow "encouraged" myself to not think about them.

People fortunate enough to actually manage to link to me with their full complement of emotions "intact" (this can only happen when I'm caught off-guard by something) wound up being represented as "demigods" in my imaginary world, with an imaginary ("emotional") parent. For instance, girls I liked during adolescence were represented by characters which basically amounted to "real girl + Trelaina" -- that is, normal relationship plus passion. A religious friend of mine wound up "friend + God".

You may be interested to know that the imaginary character representing God was the Dark One from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series -- the friend was almost like one of the Forsaken!

You will notice that almost always the "emotion" is assumed to be an enemy -- minion of the evil god, character trying to conquer Earth, etc. Even Trelaina was partially "evil" as she caused a "good" character to not function properly.

Nowadays, modern relationships and emotions tend to be referred back to "demigod" relationships (in effect, inheriting the imaginary component through them).

Does anyone else do this? If so, which emotions tend to be personified?

Thanks in advance,

ACG

I don't think this is exactly what you are talking about, but it is similiar.

I tend to think of people as characters in certain shows or books, which helps me understand them and their relationship with me better.

I'm currently "obsessed" with Neon Genesis Evangelion, a very popular anime.

I see myself as Ayanami Rei, the cool, unemotional, logical, and contemplative one. She is unpracticed in the art of human interaction, and has a difficult time understanding others, just like I do.

I see my close friend as Ikari Shinji, because he is Rei's semi-love-interest, and there is also an odd familial relationship between them. They act really more like brother and sister or son and mother, but neither of them really gets the relationship. Shinji is also unsure of himself and quiet, but very helpful, and likes to cook, just like my friend.

I see another of my friends as Soryhu Asuka Langely, because she is firey and loud and confident. Sometimes we get into disagreements, like Rei and Asuka often do. My friend is a lot nicer than Asuka, but she has a mean streak like her at times.

My father is like Gendo Ikari, the father figure to Rei. He is cool and detached, but can show warmth and kindness, and was very dedicated to his wife, like my father is.

My mother is like Gendo Ikari's wife, Yui Ikari. Warm, considerate, caring.

Another of my friends, and my apartment mate, is like Misato. She is very fun and has a great sense of humor, but there is also a calmer side to her that comes out.

I could go on, but I'll stop there.

It definitely sounds similar -- we're both trying to understand people's emotions by referring back to previous experiences (in this case, reactions to other characters or people) which had a strong effect on us.

I'm so glad I am part of this online community. I also tend to identify myself and the real life people I know with the personalities in the books I read. I thought I was the only one who did this!

One of my obsessions is pre- and post-Roman Britain, including Arthurian history (as opposed to the more familiar and ridiculously inane Arthurian legend). I just read an absolutely awesome book this week: Firelord, by Parke Godwin. As real and historical an Arthur as I've ever encountered. I thought Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset was excellent, and I still do, but Godwin's book beats Sutcliff hands down.

Well, as a newbie who wasn't even aware sites for Asperger's existed, I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this behavior. My current special interest happens to be Guys and Dolls (a SUPER musical that our school put on in September), so this is my list right now:

Sergeant Sarah Brown: In the musical, a high-ranking Salvation Army official who was raised by her grandfather. I "become" her when I want to be proper and pious. She also falls in love with a gambler with a heart of gold, so it may be partly wish fulfillment.

Sky Masterson: The aforementioned gambler. He hides his true self quite a bit, as is evidenced by the name Sky (his real name is Obediah, but no one except Sarah ever finds that out). He seduces Sarah pretty thoroughly, so I take on his persona when I'm feeling sexay. (Yes, that was intentional. Stop laughing at me. )

If anyone here has seen Guys and Dolls, shoot me a PM, as I would be positively tickled to meet an Aspie who shares my obsession.