fictive

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French fictif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪktɪv/
• Rhymes: -ɪktɪv

Adjective

fictive (comparative more fictive, superlative most fictive)

1. Having the characteristics of fiction: fictional.
   • 2014 July 31, Oliver C. Speck, editor, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained: The Continuation of Metacinema‎, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 25:

     Thus Django becomes the carrier of the “public use of one's reason”—the Kantian road to enlightenment given to him by the German “Forty-Eighter” dentist–turned-bounty hunter Dr. “King” Schultz, and represents the fictive, allohistorical beginning of the battle against slavery and racism in the United States.

2. Resulting from imaginative creation: fanciful or invented.
3. Being feigned, ingenuine or unreal.

Noun

fictive (plural fictives)

1. (Internet slang) From the living character and multiplicity subculture: a headmate who is in some way on a character from a fictional work, whether in inspiration, form, or identity. Originally popularized with soulbonds and also used for fictional introjects and dissociative identity disorder.
   • 1999, " Who ARE these people/things?" (FAQ from website "Subreality Central")

     the fictives -- These are the characters from the stories for whom the Cafe was created, and thus are the most common barflies there. If you watched "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," you might get an idea of what fictives are like "off duty." They're like cartoon characters; they can't really die, it only looks that way in stories, but it can sure tick them off! The only thing a fictive truly fears is his/her writer and readers giving up on their story, thus letting them fade away into non-existence again. Note that while some fictives get along with their writers, some don't...

   • 2011, "Plurality for Skeptics" (FAQ from website "Ex Uno Plures")

     On the matter of “fictives,” or members of systems who share identities with characters from fictional media, my hypothesis is that their identities are subconscious psychological connections to those characters. I don’t believe that the characters literally jumped from their “source” to someone else’s head; I think that it’s a matter of identity formation that ties someone’s consciousness to that source.

   • 2014, " Fictive V Fictionkin" (Tumblr post by user "solipsistful")

     fictives, on the other hand, rarely seem to go through that period of “what character am I?” They don’t have any “other life” to really get confused with: Their history is only their canon’s (or at least, personal canon’s) history. If they do have a double life, it comes later, and I feel like it is usually different than fictionkin still? Like, a fictive might be able to subjectively return to their homeworld, and thus face a double life between living in the outerworld or living in there, whereas fictionkin more specifically have a double past, coming from their memories split between canon and outerworld.

   • 2017, " How do fictives get inside of a headspace?" (FAQ from website "Silhouettes")

     It depends on how they 'came to be'. Some fictives/soulbonds are thought-created by a person who feels a strong connection to a character they may have watched or read about. Hence, bringing them to life as a result within their mind-space. For others, a connection may also have been made, but instead of simply bringing them to life, they may connect to the place where they live. There are variations on how this takes place and how long until the person arrives completely.

   • 2022, "fictives get so much hate" (Reddit posting by user "lm2t")

     I am constantly scared to text my friends while I front because a lot people were telling me that fictives especially from dsmp/genshin aren't valid. That makes me genuinely sad, I am afraid to receive any form of hate from my friends or even get fakeclaimed.

See also

• fictitious

Adjective

fictive

1. feminine singular of fictif