Having a fictional boyfriend is always much more fun than having a real boyfriend. Granted, I don’t have a boyfriend, so maybe I’m biased, but the imagination always tends to have a much better time with things than what reality throws at us. With social media reaching its peak popularity more than ever, different types of media are also gaining popularity, one of these genres is romance. Can you really blame anyone for the popularity of love itself? It can be fun to experience and imagine yourself in different scenarios, sharing a type of closeness with someone that’s so intimate that you usually can’t replicate it with another person, no matter how hard you try, because each love is different from one another.
As a hopeless romantic who’s involved in lots of different media, I’ve noticed more recently how people just prefer to have a fictional boyfriend over having an actual boyfriend (I’m not judging, I’m guilty of this too, trust me.) For example, with the rise of dating sims and otome games such as Love and Deepspace.
Love and Deepspace has been one of the top gacha games in the market lately, and it looks to be staying in the top ten ranked for a while now. If you’re unaware of what the game is, it’s a popular otome game developed by Papergame (Infold Games) and originated in China. An otome game is traditionally a type of video game centered on a story-based romance, with women as the intended and main demographic. In this game, you get the opportunity to romance five different male love interests while navigating a high science fiction world as we’re trying to discover the mystery behind the main character and an organization that’s trying to overtake the world.
Some people might call this cringe, but Love and Deepspace is one of my most beloved games, and I will say that with no shame. This game is a prime example of the rise of fictional boyfriends and how people prefer them over getting a true boyfriend. If you scroll through the fandom, either through Reddit or TikTok, just for a few seconds, you’ll see lots of posts of countless people noting that they’ve lost the desire to get into a relationship, or found themselves wanting more out of their relationship, with their internal standards increasing.
In the scenario of dating sims and different romance media, it’s easy to get attached to these fictional characters. Since they’re not real, they can be governed by a different set of standards and rules. While it’s highly discouraged to place unrealistic expectations on a true romantic partner, you can place all of the unrealistic standards on a fictional character, however much you want. In the case of Love and Deepspace, the men who are playable characters are written by a huge team of developers to create the “perfect” man by including small details to make them feel even more real. They give these characters backstories and strong personalities outside of the main story and main character, which provides them further depth into who they are.
In a way, these developers and writers are able to morph a character further into a fictional character, but make them feel real. Infold Games goes above and beyond to cater to fans by hiring professional cosplayers for various events to act as the male characters in the game so fans can interact with their favorite character in real life. With fictional characters, you can imagine yourself in any sort of scenario with them, which creates this sort of attachment with them in a manner that won’t be safe if you develop over a real person.
In a way, the rise of fictional boyfriends can provide a healthy outlet for emotions and what healthy love can look like. While it is fun to get obsessed with a fictional character, just remember to do so safely, and don’t let it overrun your entire life.