[blatant]

So...I've been wondering if it's an INTJ thing, since we live inside our heads so much.

how many of us have had crushes on imaginary characters?

I'll admit: instead of dating from oh..middle school to right now (college), I instead just read fanfiction on my favorite anime and game characters. I figure it's easier, and I find them to be more attractive.

anyone else like this?

[probity]

I've had crushes on characters but I've never really imagined myself with a relationship with them.

However, in the 6th grade I made up a person and alternate life in my head and had an ongoing relationship with him for about four years. Eventually things between us got rocky and I moved on to a real boy. Then the man in my head came out to me as gay and started dating another man in the alternate reality of my mind. We don't talk much anymore but we do still have the occasional argument.

It's weird and a bit extreme but it was my coping mechanism.

[elsdfr]

Yes, I somehow ended up with a female from my High School on MSN. I was never friends with her in school and we just chatted every now and then online for about a year. I remembered she had brown hair and was quite attractive so I imagined she was actually Jennifer Love Hewitt, but I never told her about this and I acted the way I would if it really was her and we where in a relationship. I think we both had messed up agendas but it continued on two or three times a week for about a year. She become pretty upset when I refused to call her or meet her even that she was an hour or two drive away as I knew it would spoil my fantasy. Then I think she ended up in a serious relationship and stopped going on MSN but she emailed me every now and then. Lately the emails are brief and irregular and she says she has no excuses but just doesn't have the time anymore (neither did I but I do know) but the problem is she promises to catch up online and still puts hugs and kisses etc on the email. I tried to find out more about her in the end but I think it was too late. I've considered telling her this but I'm pretty sure I'm not sure how she'd take it. Which kind of sucks because I've actually been more honest with her over the years than with pretty much anyone else.

[Zombicide]

Oh, Heaven isn't imaginary, she's just invisible to everyone else. There's nothing weird about imagining playing video games with her or holding her or conversing with her and abruptly laughing at her jokes in public only to be abashed upon remembering that no one else can see her or going on walks with her through the forest or cooking together or going to the movies with her (she gets in free) or awaiting the day she's replaced by an actual person or sharing everything or starring into each other's eyes or trusting one another or risking my life for her or working together or putting a cucumber on the couch to see if it pickles or being BFFs with her or asking her for information or to help me recall something or painting her or my enjoying listening to her hum or talking to her as we go on scenic drives and people drive by staring at me trying to figure out who the hell I'm talking to or. . .ah, just kidding, ahaha. . .and you thought I was serious but then I said "just kidding" so that took it all back or successfully got the point across that I really was at least only joking for the most part, ha. .

I'm not insane!

[firetiger]

	Originally Posted by blatant To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	So...I've been wondering if it's an INTJ thing, since we live inside our heads so much.

I hear this. not sure about the imaginary characters, but i do tend to fantasize quite a bit and conduct relationships in my head

[Muumeh]

Crushes no, having dialogue with a fictional character to solve a problem or just to talk about things, yes. And I count imagining talking to people online as fictional as well, since I don't know them personally. I recently spent nice 30 mins talking with Monte whom I ran into at some weird party where we both were forced to participate. Thank you Monte, you saved my day.

[Aaron Burr]

Does that mean I am imaginary or that you are? I know I am real (because I know I think) therefore you must not be (because I do not know you think nor can it be proven that you do). However you, presumably, know that you are real therefore I must not be. Maybe I am over thinking this?

[Deliberator]

	Originally Posted by blatant To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	So...I've been wondering if it's an INTJ thing, since we live inside our heads so much. how many of us have had crushes on imaginary characters? I'll admit: instead of dating from oh..middle school to right now (college), I instead just read fanfiction on my favorite anime and game characters. I figure it's easier, and I find them to be more attractive. anyone else like this?

Yes, when I was in high school. I was very bored and hormonal. I got over it as soon as I got to college since there were plenty of real people I could have crushes on (and of course, never actually talk to).

[Reganon]

I've never had a crush on a fictional character, but I have been somewhat obsessed with the characters and stories that go on in my head. I used to think the things in my head could substitute all social interaction, but there's something special about interacting with another person who is completely separate and unique from yourself.

Imaginary friends have creeped me out ever since my friend in high school made up an altar ego and then pretended he was a real separate person we all should meet. He told us about making this guy up and then tried to convince us all he was real. There's nothing wrong with fictional characters so long as you remember that they're not real.

[Muumeh]

	Originally Posted by Aaron Burr To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Does that mean I am imaginary or that you are? I know I am real (because I know I think) therefore you must not be (because I do not know you think nor can it be proven that you do). However you, presumably, know that you are real therefore I must not be. Maybe I am over thinking this?

What I meant is that if I have discussion with you in my head, you're an imaginary character in that sense that I don't know the real you, so I make your dialogue, appearance and behaviour up. Therefore the Aaron Burr that I'm talking to in my dreams is imaginary character, and most likely has nothing to do with the real you.

[Fryman58]

	Originally Posted by Aaron Burr To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Does that mean I am imaginary or that you are? I know I am real (because I know I think) therefore you must not be (because I do not know you think nor can it be proven that you do). However you, presumably, know that you are real therefore I must not be. Maybe I am over thinking this?

we can get into a heated debate about the meaning of existence, but i don't think that would be welcome... So I will just say that all these accounts are not real people. These accounts are representative of how we want to portray ourselves, but these accounts do not account for the whole of our being.

For instance as I am typing this I am thinking of several things I could say, and how I would say this to a friend...
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As for the subject, I have lived many different lifetimes inside the comfort of my head. The problem is that I sometime get so involve that I forget about reality and then bad things happen...
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[Zhen]

OP, it's not just you- seems to be a burgeoning trend in Japan e.g
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[Mette]

	Originally Posted by Reganon To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I've never had a crush on a fictional character, but I have been somewhat obsessed with the characters and stories that go on in my head.

Likewise.

I've got a lot of characters in my head that come from books I've read and stories I've written over the years. I can often daydream away hours creating new storylines or thinking about the next chapter I will write.

[AliTree]

yeahno. never have had a crush on an imaginary character. sounds unhealthy, to me. (this coming from the asexual. ha)

[elsdfr]

	Originally Posted by Zombicide To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I'm not insane!

Yeah me either!
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[Vagrant]

Crushes, no. However, I often conduct/construct internal dialogues in my head, that never actually occur.

[Chronos]

I've never had a crush or anything like that on a fictional character. What would be the point? Also, at the risk of sounding chauvinistic, I find this to be a more female tendency than a male one.

However, I can relate to what some people have said here regarding constructing conversations in my head. I do that a lot, both with imaginary people and people I know, or have known. Of course, they are usually much more interesting and rewarding than real-life conversations, as I can control the pace and the content myself. The chaos of real-life interactions is something that I don't always handle all too well.

My inner dialogues do help with the real-world ones, though. I consider them to be good practise.

[IceDream]

I have crushes on fictional characters, for sure. I have a crush on Mr Spock, Avon (Blake's 7), Dr House, Hornblower. I also have crushes on purely imaginary characters who inhabit complex imaginary worlds of my own making. I also have long inner (imaginary) conversations with both "real" people and fictional individuals. My imaginary world is far more interesting and engaging than real life.

[Kisai]

I have crushes on imaginary characters all the time. The current one is on Lenalee from D.Grey Man.

1)They have more interesting lives than most ordinary people.
2)They're tested in their values and skills more than most ordinary people.
3)The reader has a voyeuristic window to them, sometimes into their innermost thoughts. Plus their past behavior is easily re-read if you want to examine the character more.
4)There's no tension between the character and the reader in the crush, because (unless you're a fanfic writer) the relationship can never be reciprocated. Likewise, there can never be competition for the love of the character between readers.

See? Except for the fact that they're not real and you can't ever be with them, they're perfect!

[wotsamattaU]

	Originally Posted by Kisai To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I have crushes on imaginary characters all the time. 4)There's no tension between the character and the reader in the crush, because (unless you're a fanfic writer) the relationship can never be reciprocated. Likewise, there can never be competition for the love of the character between readers. See? Except for the fact that they're not real and you can't ever be with them, they're perfect!

Kisai, you don't wish for sexual attraction between the fictional character and yourself? Sexual tension? Chemical attraction?

I would think this would be an opportunity to develop the optimal attraction, reciprocation, tryst while also sharing great adventures not possible in our waking world.

Is this not the field of creating your ideal relationship?

Do any of you replace your real life crushes with a fictional character in fantasy as a way of sublimation? Is this an effective method?

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by wotsamattaU To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Kisai, you don't wish for sexual attraction between the fictional character and yourself? Sexual tension? Chemical attraction? I would think this would be an opportunity to develop the optimal attraction, reciprocation, tryst while also sharing great adventures not possible in our waking world. Is this not the field of creating your ideal relationship? Do any of you replace your real life crushes with a fictional character in fantasy as a way of sublimation? Is this an effective method?

Imagining oneself with a fictional character seems notoriously one-sided, much like masterbation. Not that there's anything wrong with masterbation, (yay, masterbation), but masterbating a thousand times doesn't make one a great lover. Likewise, having relationships with fictional characters doesn't make one a terrific partner in real life.

Ideal relationships are not real. Real relationships are not ideal.

[ClydeB]

I do not know about other peoples fictional characters. But I have taken people I know in real life and wrapped fantasy life's around them when I was younger. To include completely different personalities by those people. Pretty complex ones. Mostly cured myself of that when I would get so enamored of my mental construction I would try actually talking to the females involved. And jarring reality crash afterwards.