Self-reference is when the wearer directs the character image — and the reception it gets — at themselves: “the character is cute” is experienced as “I’m cute.”
It differs from admiring a character. In admiration, the cuteness sits on the image across from you; in self-reference, it lands on you. The two kinds of joy can coexist.
One long-term player explicitly chose the latter: he wants the image to be “myself, not my original face”; alone, he poses and delights in the cuteness he presents. When someone says “you’re so cute,” what he experiences is being complimented himself, not happiness on the character’s behalf.
It is the most direct signal in Second Self, holds when alone, and is often confirmed at the mirror.