So, I was reading a book, up to the scene where 2 lovers (Sa and Sh) are about to consummate. And it was really moving, how they finally got together and all that, and I was on the verge of tears of joy, and all...

Then, Sa said something unbelieveable (well, actually pretty consistent, plotwise):

(Paraphrase) "This is just sex. Afterwards, let us return to the way we were."

It was like a bucket of ice-cold BATTERY ACID was just dumped on my head. I thought I was going to faint.

Even before I read beyond the "This is just sex," I started acting out an alternative continuation scene that existed only in my head. My shoulders started shaking, tears streamed down my eyes, my voice choked and quaked with pain. First I muttered the words, barely controlling my anger, until my voice became more and more violent.

Me as Sh: "How... can you say such a... after... get out... Get out. GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!!"

I practically saw Sa in front of me, cringing from my anger, which made me even more angry, because now I'm also angry at myself for acting this way towards the one person I loved more than anything else in the world. I felt my heart would burst from the emotions I barely held back. As soon as Sa left the room, I screamed my head off.

Yeah, so that's how deeply I can immerse myself. I literally felt/did all that. And I didn't have to draw up emotions from "past experience," such as "OK, in order to make myself this angry and sad, think back to when me and XXX broke up 2 years ago." No, the only thing in my head was Sa and Sh, and what they went thru.

I can do this while composing my own stories too. I act out the scenes, complete with emotions and mannerisms and all, while the voices I hear are not my voices, but those of my characters. I've even cried while acting out my own scenes when it's sad, even though it should be impossible because it's not a surprise since I wrote it. And again, I don't have to dredge up my own "past experience."

Well, I think it's pretty cool. Makes stuff more fun.

I can get pretty angry when playing video games. Usually, the 'immersion' is between my fist and the TV screen. :)

But seriously, I haven't been truly immersed in a game or story in a very long time. I didn't bat an eyelash when I found I was Darth Revan in Knights of the Old Republic, and I didn't feel a thing when Aeris died in Final Fantasy VII. The last time I truly felt attached to a story was during the final scenes of Final Fantasy X. But that was a long time ago- I've since grown detached to a lot of things, stories especially.

Lastly, Sa and Sh? What the fuck kinda names are those? Seriously. The names sound like they came from a bad fanfic.

Someone
I can get pretty angry when playing video games.

That's not immersion. That's frustration. :\

Someone
The last time I truly felt attached to a story was during the final scenes of Final Fantasy X.

The last time I felt truly attached to a video game story was Lunar Silver Star Story. There were games that were fun and memorable, but Lunar made me teary-eyed when it ended, because it ended.

Someone
But that was a long time ago- I've since grown detached to a lot of things, stories especially.

That's a sad state of mind. Why?

Someone
Lastly, Sa and Sh? What the fuck kinda names are those? Seriously. The names sound like they came from a bad fanfic.

I didn't type out their names in full, because it would then be spoilers for ppl who happen to be reading the story.

mlai

Someone
But that was a long time ago- I've since grown detached to a lot of things, stories especially.

That's a sad state of mind. Why?

I honestly have no idea. Maybe I stopped giving a damn, maybe it's because I can't help making bad jokes while watching TV. :)

Come to think of it, I do get a bit attached to stories- just not nearly to the extent you do.

I leave my continuation of the story in my head to after I put the book down and turn the light off for the night. :X It's why I don't sleep much and lie in too long.

I'm very conscious of people seeing changes in my expression, etc. when day dreaming like that though, so I don't show it much. Sometimes I'll walk faster or ignore things around me without noticing. Usually it's just that time flies.

To tell the truth, I picked up the habit from my brother (not sure why or when), he used to do voices and everything. o-0 Then he'd walk out of his bedroom at four in the afternoon and announce 'General Nimwa has invaded Poland AGAIN'. Him and his war-based computer games...

I got attached to all of the books in The Dark Tower series. I felt what the characters felt. Even after reading the last word of the final book I ended up sitting there for three hours or so and just thought about it all. To me it wasn't even like reading, I just kind of saw it all in my head like a very vivid memory.
As far as video games go, well the only one that I ever got attached to was Resident Evil Zero. I ended up going through the entire game in one sitting. Since then I've not found another game that made me feel much more than frustration from time to time.

I am just like you mlai - I probably get overly immersed in my books but my movies are to a point that if I find out there is something wrenching at the end, I just won't watch them in public. I tend to gasp and cry and all that jazz when reading books, comics and especially watching movies. I think it's an important part of storytelling myself so I try not to turn that kind of emotion and immersion off.

That probably sounded so much more "emo" than intended.

I've gotten to the point I was so lost in a book my mom upstairs thought I was in a fight with someone.

what? Stop talking to me, I'm busy watching TV!

Somehow it's always been easier for me to attach to created characters... Animated, drawn or written.

I can't empathize with actors between; I feel like they aren't as real... "It's just acting!" But the purely fictional characters exist only in the fictional world. Thus they are living, breathing persons.

And hell yeah have I cried after FFX and several others :'D
Also, I love to switch places with the characters.. What would I say? How would I react?

oh man, oh man, I'm like that too!!!! ^_^ I tend to get more emotionally attached to fictional characters than to actual people. well, that sounds really pathetic but makes sense in an odd way. I can get so involved in a fictional world that this one seems like a pale shadow in comparison. I mentioned that to my sister and she told me I have mental problems... I think it's cause I'm imaginative. ^_-!

Me too. I get very into stories (good movies/TV too, but much more with stories -- power of imagination...) and very empathetic with fictitious characters. I cry a lot. Some parts of books have gotten my heart pounding, and I've felt such relief after a tense moment, that I had to put the book down and recover. With a good book, I can feel every pain and joy of the characters (or at least a main character).

Stories I'm writing are often worse than ones I'm reading. I can't explain why that is, since I've invented the characters and situations, so I know they are fiction. When planning one scene, I got into a mindset and ended up in tears. My brother kept pressing me for what was wrong. He never did believe that I was "just brainstorming."