Ange Joshi

I remember when I first saw LotR. The scene where Gandalf gets angry at Bilbao for saying he was trying to cheat him; how that scene played out was exactly how I imagined but could never visualize. So to see that scene and finally SEE it was very moving for me. Lately I am begging for them to adapt the Dragonriders of Pern series because I have only ever had the book covers to visualize the world. And no matter how well detailed, I need a point of reference to imagine the world. This is why when I see a movie I did read the book first, I am super happy to see finally the world. And when I read a book after seeing the movie, I am super happy to have a point of reference as I read. One fun example is "Howl's Moving Castle". I read the book years ago as a kid but I forgot.it. Seeing the film years later, I felt like I knew the story but couldn't place it. The visualization of the world was completely different from the book cover and it wasn't until I went to find the book and saw the VERY different cover that I realized I had read the story, lol!

Ditto!

Nope I am exactly the same!

Yes!  I was telling someone else that this has happened to me. Because I am pretty sure I have dreams that ARE images not just the memory of images. After I found out I have Aphantasia, I tried remembering my dreams as soon as I woke up and for a split second, I could see images...moving images. But once I wss fully awake, it was like a black curtain slammed down and the  I couldn't do it no matter how hard I tried.

This is the same for me. I liken it to seeing a play you know very very well and suddenly the curtain comes down. You can't see or hear it anymore but you KNOW what is happening. So when I close my eyes it is only blackness. But when I sleep and dream I "feel" like I see images. Since discovering Aphantasia, when I first wake up I try to visualize something from my dream and I think I can actually see something, but as soon as I am fully awake, its like a black curtain comes down  and then I can't see anything. Try this and see if you get the same? That might help you identify if you have it?