Character Assisted Lucid Dreaming - CALD

Yawn …It’s late.

Talon, I doubled-back to read through your tutorial, and it looks more or less like the methods I use when developing characters for my stories… And, the “writing technique” for dialogue sounds like the phenonemon: “automatic writing”…

(I’m really trying not to be so skeptical on the subject, but part of having an “open mind” is analyzing something from many perspectives.)

The way you describe how characters will “speak” to you sounds like allowing for free-form thought almost… Now, when communicating with your characters, how vivid is their voice supposed to “come to you?” In the same clarity as normal internal monologue? Or at a higher frequency? That is predominantly the area I am having difficulty understanding - if you gave them “life” how can you be so sure you are not the one supplying the answers to yourself? Is it just a feeling? I believe most people here are probably having trouble grasping this particular aspect.

Other than that issue, I’ve selected a DC to establish. Thus, Steps 1 and 2 are complete. No real trouble there. Because of my choosing a DC, “personality” in Step 3 has been foundated, somewhat. Step 4 I can grasp, if not limitedly. Enacting scenes in my mind is easy… the communication is very ventriloquistic at the moment, though. Half of Step 6 is easily taken care of, being that my character is a DC, specifically, the first division of Step 6 is automatically accounted for. I believe my only problem here is relinquishing my character of her “puppet strings”…

The entire process for me actually took no longer than a day once I chose my DC, which means I’ll be exuding the majority of my effort into giving her “life” of her own; i.e. automatic communication.

Also Talon, if you don’t mind, could I request a tutorial on this specific excerpt from your post: “Characters can be useful when the issue is something personal, or something only you can do. You can confide in them, and use them as ways of expressing yourself, whether it be in drawings or stories, or just someone to rant to when no one else is there. They can help you go lucid, or keep your stress down, even encourage you to do that one thing you’ve always been too embarrassed to do, but that’s an entirely different tutorial.”

I’m interested to know the full potential of these characters…

Hmm. well, I was talking to her all yesterday afternoon, night and a little this morning. I havn’t had much of a response when I ask her a question, Like I say ‘How are you’ I can’t really pick up any response, so i just fill in the blank with a ‘Yeah I’m good thanks’ So far, I’ve heard something or a response randomly, Like I was listening to music and suddenly i heard footsteps as though they were on a stone floor, It couldn’t of been in my house and nor the music, It was really clear too.
Also, I was looking out my window and i saw a woman walking up the street, and I suddenly heard a message in my head, It’s really hard to explain how I picked it up. but she said said something along the lines off ‘So, why is she so hot?’ and I was like ‘!! Who said that??’ And I wasn’t even thinking of my character at the time, I was pretty preoccupied :tongue:

What is there left to do? Do i keep talking to my character until i get a few responses? Also, what about the sound of their voice, is it a message? I can’t remmeber how my character sounded, it sounded more like a female talking. Also, do your characters speak the language/Accent as you do?

You’re welcome, thanks and good luck :smile:

Woot… My comment generated a series of really interesting ones…

AngstyBoy, your post made me feel like I was reading the book again :razz: Anyhow, I suppose the whole “incompetent Gods” idea is pretty interesting, and correct. If you consider several cultures, such as the one of Shamans and such, they believe we have an “Inner God”, mostly related to the SC in some cases, but to the mind itself in others. Both have creating powers, in a way, I suppose :smile:

By the way, guys, just a side note on character creation. Don’t try too hard, that’s the idea. Samuel just showed up while I was in class. I wasn’t even really thinking about him or the idea of characters, when I look at an empty chair and visualize a man with black clothes sitting on top (!?) of it. I tried naming him, and “Samuel” was the first name to show up, so I sticked with it :happy:.

Well. I’m not the best drawer, and I know it sucks but heh. I got my webcam out, Don’t work either, Crashes every 10 seconds with a blue screen about USB debug :confused:… So in that 10 secs i managed to get a shot

img518.imageshack.us/img518/8154/140539ut1.jpg

I know! It’s crap but I have a better mental picture. :razz:

Also, sorry for the lack of quality.

Nice drawing that.

This is really cool, ive gotta get me some characters made up. :happy:

Do they actualy talk to you in WL! Self induced schizophrenia = AWESUM!! :razz:

I have very few LDs at the moment, hopefully this will help.

I know that’s Sarcasm :razz: but hey, Thanks.

Yes

Wow! There’s so much to do… ummm…

One thing though-- All of this you speak of is so facinating! All of this I post in this thread, I have gained from much contemplation and creation in myself, learning that others have created similar concepts just shows me, YES! there are those out there with similar understandings of the world. Or at the very least have made conclusions similar to mine… This is all very encouraging, I am happy that there a number of people who seem to draw similar theories-- If a particularly interesting book somes to mind for you, would you list it please?

ANYWAYS~

WELL, first of all, their voices range from very specific ( as in I can hear distinct tones and quality, such as male) to just the outlines of words, the knowledge of the words rather than ‘hearing’ them in my head. It is much like the neutral tone of voice in my head I use to think in, when the conversation is not before bed, or I am not in deep concentration over the matter. If I get very very involved in the conversation, usually the realism of the literal tones of their voice is heightened. What I mean by this is that it is no longer just a knowledge of what they say, it is also the tones of their voice, and their specific sound that characterizes them. E.G: Talon has a more high-pitched, quick way of talking, while Naknus’s is MUCH MUCH lower, slower and methodical. Depending on how comfortable you are with talking with your characters, the clarity of the voice may go from just the knowledge of what they are saying to how they are saying it. It all depends on the person-- without actively working on it, it tas a long while before I started hearing specific tones-- I was very happy just to know they were replying.

As for the ‘how do you know you’re not providing the answers’ part…Generally, it starts out feeling like I am talking to myself in third person-- which is odd, but after that process of giving small details to the characters, and solifidying the idea of them being ‘real’ in my head, that feeling of talking to myself goes away. After a bit, it is like talking to another person, and I lose the feeling of ‘being alone’
For example: When talking to another person you take a bit of concideration into your words, versus being by yourself, where you don’t need to be nearly as careful.
I generally start to concider my words before telling them to my characters-- this obligation to concideration in my words tells me I am talking to another, and I stop feeling as though I am supplying my own replies-- instead, my characters are providing them.

There is however, an everlasting sensation that vaguely their replies are vaguely similar to my own in some aspects. That will always be there, but mostly I don’t notice because it is much the same as talking to someone who is like you in their interests-- You can’t predict their exact answers, but there is a feeling of familiarity in their words to your own.

This differs, of course, when I only give what my characters would PROBABLY say, or the gist of what they are saying when I am roleplaying or trying to make an answer on the forum shorter. In this case I am basing the answers off of either what my character has actually said and I am shortening it for the benefit of the reader. Or I write what I think he/she would say based on their personality, and my knowledge of how they generally reply to things.

I am very happy to hear of such wonderful progress in such a sort period of time! It makes me very happy :3 Relinquishing her ‘puppet-strings’ will just require some time, patience, and the strong belief in yourself that she is a seperate entity, though she has stemmed from you. Treat her as such in all of your talking, taking some conciderations to her feelings and thoughts. It will seperate you two, and the close connection between maker and character may be severed enough that you will not feel forced when answering…

OK! I hope I have answered all of your questions!
I will work on the tutorial after I have answered the next few posts, as I haven’t had a chance to read them yet-- I will work on it when I finish any needed responses-- Hopefully, by the time you read this-- that tutorial will be up! :smiley:

With much admiration to your vigorously analytical curiousity,
~Talon!

Wow! Great prgress, I love how it seems to be going!
Well-- yes, you should talk with your character and establish whether or not it is that she just doesn’t talk much- or maybe you don’t know each other enough for her to reply continuously… But you’re doing great! Don’t be too worried about the actual sound of her voice-- the knowledge of what she is actually saying is very good, perhaps a vivid tone in her voice will come with practice. You character is giving comments without you asking for it-- that’s great! You’ve gotten far… Maybe with a bit more talking, she will answer reliably almost every time… Talon and Naknus don’t always, but mostly only when it is a question they don’t feel obliged to answer!

As for my characters, they all have different tones than me, mostly cause they’re all guys except for Talon… But no… their accents are very different than mine.
Talon speaks aikuun, be cause she IS Aikuun-- specifically she speaks dhayugan, as she is a dragonic aikuun. Talon, Takone, Kazurai, Azen and Leon all speak Aikuun (pretty much) fluently, Nakarus understands it with some difficulty. The aikuun accent tends to make them slur their words, with sharp "S"s accented. Their "m"s are kind of held longer…Itg’s hard to describe an accent. But mostly only Talon speaks with an active accent, the others tend to only have very mild ones.

I created the language for them…so I understand it too–So I’m good, no mis-understandings here! XD

I hope I have answered your questions well–
Good work! Keep on going you’re doing great!

-Talon

^^ Cool! It’s true that spontaneous character creation is great! More than half of my characters were made that way… but sometimes effort is needed for some, catching and creating a character can be very beneficial for creative processes…XD But Samuel sounds so very cool! I like the sound of him…

Thanks~!
-Talon

Ahhh! She seems cute…^^ If you have a good mental picture, that’s all that really matters! ^^
If you like though, I’ve done this for others before-- You can give me a specific description of her, and I can draw her for you… I can’t guarentee it’ll be great, but I can try!

It’s quality is as good a webcam could do^^ Especially if it keeps crashing-- AGH!

I look forward to your response!
~Talon

Hehe! ^^ Please put any progress in here? And if you have questions…Me or people who understand this well I’m sure, can answer! :smiley:
By the way! Schizophrenia would be if you confused your perception of reality… That wouldn’t be any good!
Make sure you keep the thought solid in your mind that the characters will never exist on the same plane as yourself-- It is important not to warp your perception of reality!

Good luck! ^^
-Talon

Thanks for the encouragement, It’s what keeps me going.

And these are actual accents right? Not languages. Do they in anyway reflect onto what accent you have? or are they completly made up, If so, that’s quite an amazing acomplishment, Makes them even more personal towards you, as though no-one else can understand them :tongue: (Me and my friend in Junior school had our own made up language so only us knew what we were talking about, but it was mostly something similar to pig-latin xP)

Well, I’ve put alot of detail into the picture, and Rendering that in my mind is hard with all the detail, like I always seem to forget her watch when I picture her.

wow, I really do appreciate it if you could, thank you so much :aww:
Description:
Medium size, I would say about 5ft 6
Slim
Long brown hair (I wasn’t sure how to do it in my picture so i just did curly short brown)
An elf (Want some origonallity about her )
Clothes she’s wearing, well, nothing too fancy.
If possible, could you do it in black & White, It’s less to render in my head
Thanks again, I really do appreciate it

Just a question while I’m here, When I create her history and personality, how do I actually apply it to the character?

With great appreciation
~Al

Well, I must say, you certainly are a busy girl on this thread, Talon ^^ I much appreciate your ready replies. All of us do, I’m sure.

It’s interesting - I would say the majority of the participants have created characters of opposite gender from themselves. (In the case of you, Talon, because your characters are predominantly males, you no less apply.) This occurrence reminds me of something of Jungian philosophy commonly known as anima/animus…

However that may be, I believe my DC is better defined by the “shadow aspect”… The dream account for which this character first debuted is below, at better convenience than directing you to forage through my DJ…

…In a familiar dreamscape I step up into a schoolbus, on my way to school. Sitting in the front seat, behind the driver, I feel a slight dose of femininity and become perceptive of a shadowy existence looming over my shoulder. (I felt like I had become female, while still retaining my masculinity… Now, I believe it was the powerful, yet subtle presence of the shadow girl that imposed such a feeling.) Though I cannot see her, I am omnisciently aware of her appearance: Ling Xiaoyuesque girl with long, black hair and mischievous eyes of an indefinable color. (Her hair was similar to that of Feng Wei’s alternate hairstyle in Tekken 5. Her eyes, though, are what intrigued me the most. Seemingly an undefined color - an amalgam of emerald, sapphire, ruby, amber and fuschia… Different from simply taking the mentioned colors and blending them with an art medium or lights or even defining the sight as a rainbow in effect… I could see all the colors, but they were one.) Apparently, I’m the only one who can sense her… She’s whispering in my ear. She wants me to do something. She can sense my frustration and encourages me to hijack the schoolbus. I’m hesitant; conflicted. The bus stalls at the next stop - the school. The bus driver gets up disappears toward the back of the bus. I decide to listen to the strange ghost of a girl and steal the driver’s seat, putting the gears in drive and joyriding with all the school students and the bus driver still aboard. Down familiar streets of a previous dream I pull into a convenient store parking lot and abrupty stop the bus when I see a police cruiser, lights flashing and siren blaring, appear from a cul-de-sac. I exit the bus and run between a sports utility vehicle and a sedan, making my way to the convenient store. But I stop and rush back to grab my backpack and wipe down the steering wheel of my fingerprints - to keep from an records being used to track me. (Interesting. How many people would even consciously think to do that?) The shadow girl is fanatical - she’s enjoying the panic. I kidnap the bus driver as she urges me to and sexually assault her. The shadow girl becomes aroused, near orgasm…(My anima? Maybe. At first, I thought back on “shadow aspect”. The shadow girl certainly fit the general description - she emanated negative vibes, but she was also hypnotic. It was like she was in my mind - inside me. And she fed off my inhibitions and negative thoughts/emotions. The definition of anima doesn’t quite fit the personality of this particular dream entity. So, I believe this was shadow aspect in effect. I’m especially intrigued by her schizo attitude toward the event and her indirect orgasm from my… coitus…)

So, you can probably decipher why I chose to build a… “relationship”… with this character; because of her nature. Maybe I’ll draw her later - when I’m not feeling so lazy. I’m content with my mental image already, so it really doesn’t matter. Though, I don’t think a penciled sketch - no matter how artistic I make it - would do her justice… it will be mainly for everyone else to view.

As for my progress in communication, I pretty much practice it daily - mainly because I do it with any character I’m developing. (I become meticulous in how they would behave under certain conditions - specifically what I may be doing at the moment or what we would be doing at the moment had they been of corporeal form. I simulate such situations in my mind, then. Because of such, creating characters and bringing them to a certain level of “life” really is only a matter of doing it - nothing difficult for me… but you, Talon, do this on a different - almost schizophrenic - level. That’s what interested me.)

My DC has no name or real background yet, but it does not detract from her real character…

Do these characters of yours interact with you independently of your requests? Or do you have to initiate a conversation for them? In other words, how limited are their interaction capabilities - aside from their obvious nonphysical existence…

Ah boy~! Here we go Stretches

Benefits of Character Creation.

In this, we will cover benefits of characters, both independent and not.
Characters who are independent will react without forcing the creator to make the response for them “free will” if you please. Dependent character, obviously, will seem much more puppet-like, but can be very much more useful for visual release of pent up emotion. You may draw a dependent character in any way without insulting it if it has no life of it’s own. For a tutorial on how to create independent characters, please go here:
https://community.ld4all.com/t/character-assisted-lucid-dreaming-cald/25286&&start=30

Anyways, this ‘tutorial’ will be split into the following categories,

Independent and Dependent characters.

It is advised to have a small skim through the tutorial listed above to allow a more thorough understanding of the independent section. This tutorial is based off of how I apply my characters to my own life, this may require considerably more work on other’s parts to make work…so questions are definitely encouraged.

Dependent Characters

Creating characters in itself can be very fun, and mentally stimulating. Their entire existence would rely solely on you– as you create their bodies, personalities, histories, anything, really.

When in a state of stress, sometimes it is better just to let your mind focus on something else, character creation is a good example of this. Once you start to create a character, you can immerse yourself in the process of creating that character’s world. Their friends, family, entire life and culture is at your hands. This can be very amusing, and can give a sort of feeling of freedom once you go about your creative stride. Character creation and development can be a great way to defeat boredom!

Afterwards, after your character has been established, what else is there to do? Well certainly, you can draw them if you quite like to visually release emotions. When overcome with joy, a good quiet outlet for that can be to draw your character in a happy situation. A more simple way of expressing your own emotion is to express it through your character’s facial expression or body language. It can be a challenging task to do this, but rewarding in the end.
A common venting method for anger, stress, and other negative emotions visually is to draw your character either mauling something else, or being mauled. It may seem cruel, but it is better than taking out frustrations on others. Also, dependent characters generally don’t get offended– they have no life of their own to do so.

However, not everyone enjoys drawing– So how else could one express themselves? Music and literature is just as good as an visual means of expressing one’s self.

Characters can be an inspiration to write about in songs, once you know their history, put your empathy to the test, and see how they feel about their lives. This can help develop a character well as a further understanding of them is made. Besides that, it can make it easier to write songs that don’t actually have to do with your own life– this is the same for poetry!

Writing stories can be very fun– while many do not enjoy writing formal, well anything really, stories just for fun can be involving and amusing. No one ever has to see the stories you write, it can all be for you– and all stories need characters! After you have made characters, just putting them in situations with each other, and writing a story about it is a great productive way to beat boredom.

Dependent characters are great ways of venting, and simple things to help beat boredom.

Independent Characters

Considerably more complex than dependent characters, independent characters can be much more helpful than dependents. With a life of their own, Independent character will be defined in this tutorial as characters who can act on their own– At least mostly– independent of the creator’s will. A link to a tutorial on how to create these characters is available above.

Before we continue, it is important to remember at all times with the occurrence of independents – Characters are not on the same level of existence as you, and never will be. Make sure not to let your perception of reality ever get warped.

With characters that speak on their own, a whole new level of complexity is added. Benefits that can come from them can include such things as:

Somebody to talk to,
Moral Support,
Making personal decisions, an even
Controlling emotions on an inward level.

After a bit of practice, characters who have been made independent will start to speak freely. After that, since they reside purely inside yourself, they can become valuable sources of advice. Talking with a character can be a good way to work things out inside yourself. If the matter is a personal one, this is a good method to work things out by yourself, as the answer to most personal questions can be retrieved this way, like a sort of personal guidance councillor

E.g:

I don’t know if I want to go with [person 1] or [person 2]

Character: And?

Well, who should I pick?

Character: Well– [person 1] is very nice to you, but [person 2] seems sort of…distant.

[person 2] is very nice- just quiet!

Etc., etc. etc.

Characters, however, should not ever be considered a first-choice way of handling serious subjects. People around you can provide insight and different views on subjects you could have otherwise not have thought of. Characters can do the same, but are more you-oriented.

In cases where one does not have a lot of belief in themselves, independents can be very useful then as well. It may be more difficult to grasp the idea of “inner strength”, with characters the idea of having someone else rooting for you can be much easier to hold onto, especially since the character would be a creation from you, so bonding can be much easier, and less intimidating. More complex versions of this, can be to establish a system for your characters to help control your emotions, E.g:

Say I have 3 characters:

Talon, Naknus, Kazurai.

I want to control my emotions more effectively, so…

I put the happiest one in charge of my happiest emotions, and ask that she keep those up… When I am heading towards a stressful situation, I can ask her to remind me and keep my state of mind positive.

For my most negative emotions, I’ll put my most negative character in control of that. That way, he assure I vent what ever I am feeling negative about, and can help me pinpoint the sources of that, then help me eliminate it through talking about it, then having him suggest an appropriate solution (e.g. venting).

Then I have a character to make sure that I stay at least fairly neutral most of the time, so I put a very calm relaxed character in charge of that. He keeps me mellow in times where I should be stressing, by assuring me that things will pass by.

In this way, characters are very useful.
Practical things you can do with your characters, can even be to help you study for test… by having them remember also, they can remind you of facts and such that one on a conscious level wouldn’t normally be able to.

E.g:

In science tests, I often have trouble remembering all that information! So, I just remember the number of things to list, and ask Talon to remember them specifically. That way, I just need to number them off, and she can supply an answer.

With an understanding that your character lives solely in your mind, you can ask that they do things for you…Personal examples of this, are to ask my characters to wake me at a certain time, design my dreams, or even to help me go lucid… Usually this involves more convincing yourself that they are indeed separate from your conscious control, and then convincing them to help!

I hope that this helped you think of ways that can make your characters much more beneficial to you than before!

Questions and pointing-out-of-mistakes are appreciated, as long as the mistakes are grammatical and not content related.

~Sweet dreams and Good luck!
-Talon

Whew! I will try to get to that as soon as possible… She seems nice, I’ll try hard to get her right…

My characters speak languages! Yes… I have made up their own language, but they speak english well…And when applying the history and personality to the character, just visualize her acting the way you want her to, and seeing her in the situations of her past… eventually, just know that IS what she is and has gone through… Willing her to be what you want her to be!

whew I am really rushing!
She seems so…devious! O_o; And she is rather interesting… Very detailed, and I like that.
Well-- I am comfroted by the fact that you are intrigued with how I work with my characters, but I don’t know whether or not to take offense to the -schizophrenic- level comment… Perhaps I should just leave that…

For the most part, interacting with my characters requires me to talk to them first-- with the exception of commentary on some shows and conversations I have with others, mostly that have to do with them or interest them… My boys and Talon are all rather self-abosorbed…O_o; Mostly, the furthest they can initiate a conversation with me is with a short comment on things… Our conversations don’t last very long when they start it up, as I usually don’t feel very motivated to speak to them at that moment… But I usually have to convince them to chat anyways, as Talon and Naknus are my most indepedent, and Talon is angry with me- while Naknus just is… grumpy all the time! My characters have never been able to cause any physical damage to me, but once Ghost did soothe a pain of mine inwardly-- I was having mysterious nerve shocks, where when I would get much too stressed, I would get overwhelmed and freeze for a moment - all in an instant where it felt like the air was knocked out of my lungs. That eventually stopped–

I do know a girl, whom I roleplay with on a daily basis, who automatically has independent characters, though! She lets them talk right off the bat, and when she aggrivates one particular boy of hers, she tends to get beatings for it-- she claims it hurts cause she says Oww. However… I feel no concern for her, because she’s so simple… She has no serious signs of mental illness, so I’m convinced this is all a part of her rathe vivid imagination.

As always~!
-Talon

Wow, Excellent Tutorial (Once again). Just out of intrest, Where did you learn to do all of this? Did you just hear about it, or did you randomly start creating characters and rping with them?
You’re a very lucky person, not everyone gets to have a Real, close friend at a young age, I would of loved to off been in your position when I was 7-10 (wasn’t the most happyist days of my life I can give you that). Which is why I would encourage you to write a book about it, You defintly know how to write guides well (How hard could a book be :tongue:), and I would think that many people would find it Intresting and helpful towards their life.

Oh… no - the “schizophrenic” term wasn’t meant offensively. I’m sorry. I was speaking generally… lack of a better term. I meant, you interact with them on a different level than “just-a-character” basis. You treat them as… well… real people - just in your head, you know?

I’m sorry. It was just difficult for me to effectively describe the level at which you work with your characters. I didn’t mean “schizophrenic” literally - I meant it… decriptively. Sorry. Not my best choice of words -.-

Wow thank you ~^^~
I am so flattered… XD and umm… all of this sort of just-- Happened… I never read anything involving how I create my worlds and characters… I’ve never heard of such things. XD I think I might just document this stuff-- and how I think and process stuff as well. It’ll take a very long time, but I can try!
Maybe, if I can finalize some stuff, I could publish something small… Maybe…

Thanks so much for the complements and comments!
I am flattered and very happy… XD I am so glad you liked the tutorial!

With much love~
-Talon

Awww, don’t worry…offers a digital hug I understand the predicament, it’s all rather complex, isn’t it? Mmmm… Perhaps I shall term the level of involvment with my characters, second plane involvement. A plane of non-physical interaction between two or more of those of different levels of existance.

I am sorry if I startled you-- if I had worded myself badly and thought I had offended somebody else, I would be very downhearted. I can definitely see the connection between schizophrenic and the level of which I interact with my characters-- it’s much past any sort of ‘just my creation’ involvement. :3 It’s probably what I would’ve used as well, since otherwise I’d have to use a long phrase or something…
Did you see the tutorial? Your last reply is on the last page and I can’t quite remember if you’ve seen it or not quite yet…

It’s not quite entirely complete, I failed to mention the use of them as language learning tools, since I make some of my characters speak Cantonese words I can remember, and am trying to get them to speak it fluently to me (since I can UNDERSTAND it fluently, but can’t quite speak it well…)… But yes~
As always, with a sense of admiration and curiousity,
-Talon