In love with a fictional character?

Working in the live theater, I can fully understand falling in love with a character. Good direction and good acting can convey some strong emotions to the audience. The point of going to a live theater instead of a movie theater is to be a lot more intimate and candid with the story and characters. I remember at the end of Anton Chekov's 'Three Sisters', a lot of people, both men and women, were really in tears by the end of the show (of course, these are 'theater people' we are talking about) because the actors pushed a heavy tone of saddness and grief, being in the positions they were in. The job of the live theater is to sell the illusion that these people actually exist. These illusionary people have real dilemmas and personalities, and you have a window in to their world. On that note, I have voted to say, yes, it is possible to fall in love with a fictional character.

On the other hand...

Alice makes a good point of, love with a fictional character can be an unhealthy obsession. I don't necessarily agree with her, but I do believe that dude she was with was messed up. I can understand not wanting to date someone, but refusing to date someone because you have an obsession with someone you can't ever be with is a mental problem. Besides, you'd probably be crazy to not want to date Alice :love:

Now if I had my choice of dating any woman, I know who I would date (I'm sorry Alice, you didn't make the list), and they are real flesh and blood. If I wanted a fictional character, I would probably say Aya Brea from Parasite Eve for her iron will and strong confidence, or Jane Lane from the cartoon Daria, for her cynical sarchasm, yet light hearted enough not to be a complete asshole (there is a delicate balance there). I also reall like Jane's bro Treant, and of course Ms. Morgendorffer is a hoot and a holler too.

Jam it back in, in the dark.