You can't fall in love with a fictional character, would a lot of people say. Can't you? Why not?
Well, they are fictional. They don't exist. They are a product of fantasy. That is true, I think we can all agree on that part. But let's look at another situation: Can you fall in love with someone you meet online? You start to talk, maybe in a chat, or over e-mail. You get to know each other. No, you don't see all the little things the other do, but if you talk enough, they might come forward anyway. And you learn how the other write. I can for example, at times, tell that my online friends are lying about things like their mood, just by the smileyes they use, or the words they pick, just like people often can tell the same thing about their real life friends, by their expressions or the way they talk. I could draw lines between online friends and being blind or deaf. You use alternative methods to know your friends.
So you can get to know people, using MSN, Skype, a chatroom, a forum and things like that. Do we agree? And when you know someone, and you like what you know, you can easily be friends. Right? And when you are friends, you can easily fall in love. Relationships work way better if you and your partner actually are friends. It's a fact. So why can't you fall in love before you have seen or touched the person? Over the internet, you get to know someone's personality and thoughts, before you judge them by their looks, smell, or by all the little faults they do every day.
Yes, you can fall in love with online friends. I've seen it. So tell me then: What is the difference between that, and falling in love with a fictional character? I can think of one, essential difference: The fictional one never speaks directly to you. The love you may feel for him or her, will never be returned. But then again, have you ever played a roleplay game? You create your own character, to interact with other people's characters. Then they speak directly to your character, and as we know, characters tend to be a part of us. Or what if you, yourself are actually involved in a roleplay game, or just a conversation with a friend, at the very least, and your friends start talking for his or her character instead. Like this:
Character: You look wonderful this morning.
That's some sort of a roleplay game, except that the character is talking directly to you, just like an online friend could.
So I believe it is possible to fall in love with a fictional character. Maybe you can even truly love them, but those cases are rare, I suppose. Perhaps you are more obsessed, after all, because you do know, somewhere inside, that they aren't really real. It's okay to like someone who doesn't exist. Just don't let it drive you too far. Hold on to reality.
