I DON'T Wanna Live an NPC Life

I just read this article about wanting to be an NPC this morning. While I agree with the premise they seem to be going for, I disagree with the message. I honestly kinda hate this rhetoric of people being main characters, side characters, npcs, whatever. Because it distills humans to some superficiality or dehumanization. To me, to be an NPC is to be shallow. It's not a matter of not giving a fuck, it's being completely stripped of any and all individuality. Your life isn't of your choosing, it's pre-determined, pre-programmed. You have no will, no likes, no dislikes. No backstory. By the very essence that you are alive and have a lived experience, you are not an NPC. To call upon OPs allegory of the Skyrim blacksmith: do they care whether or not you slay dragons? no. do they care if you come in and steal all their shit because you pickpocketed them? no way. what do they do? they just keep living their life as a blacksmith—and they’re good at it to whatever level they’re supposed to…