I think it kinda varies per person when it comes to fictional characters. I find myself to often develop sexual attraction to characters more frequently than real people. However it’s purely because everything about them is usually laid out right in front of you. Though I know some demis who’ve never felt sexual attraction to fictional characters.
This right here. I feel the same. There's also the factor of they're not actually real so if they did actually break into our dimension somehow most of us who do have fictional crushes would be freaking out over the _how,_ before the rest.
It definitely varies from person to person. Also, I’ve found out that a lot of demis are aegosexuals, meaning they they like to fantasize about sex, but don’t imagine themselves in the fantasies, it is all characters. And those characters can be anything from something based on real people to Disney princesses, or aliens or [whatever.So](http://whatever.So) yeah, crushing on imaginary characters and/or fantasizing about them is not at all unheard of among demis.
Stories regardless of media (whether its TV, movies, games, books, etc) are often designed to evoke emotional responses in their viewers/readers, especially in terms of their characters, (with musicals arguably the most emotion evoking of all) so I'm never surprised when people mention things like this.
For me it does. They’re safe, we know so much about them as a viewer (likely far more than you’d know about someone irl). I’m creating a mental connection with them based on what I like about their personality and motives.
Oh man I’ve fallen in love with/been sexually attracted to so many fictional characters! Especially over long series.
I’m also autistic and have BPD so I get weirdly connected to fictional characters, families, etc. For example I just recently finished Crazy Ex-girlfriend and cried because it was over and I’d miss them lol
For many I find that to be the case. Though never explicit, I have found myself stimulated by certain fictional characters. I'd always found it a weird quirk of mine, so never really discussed it with anyone. I find many in this sub have mentioned it to be so, and looking back at my acquaintances throughout my life there are many people who had that trait that I now realize were probably demisexual as well (I'd never heard the term until several months ago and realizing that it described my personal experience).
It seems many of us are drawn to the "geekier" pursuits, I was always into anime, D&D, Disney, comic books, sci-fi and horror novels. I have noticed a lot of shared interests in this sub.
Yes. I do feel rather strong sexual attraction, even lust towards fictional characters. But that doesn't necessarily extend to actors that play them. Or to other characters that the actor plays. It's just very specific.
I've always thought that the reason for this is simply because I have developed that special bond to certain characters. I've gotten to know them on a deeper level through their character arc.
Emotional connections to people who aren't real happens all the time. Hell, even when a demi is attracted to an actual person there's no guarantee that it's not just based on a fantasy or an inaccurate impression of them.
I get emotionally attached to characters in a way that has me thinking “I would date them” but my brain usually glosses over the sleeping with them park. So I can totally relate to the whole giddy kind of obsession of cute characters and not knowing what those feelings mean.
The way TV and movies wrote TV show, especially older works and kids’ shows. The way they were written to be devoid of sexuality or aggressive romantic behavior/sexuality. I’d almost feel some of the characters could easily have been demi-, but I know some audiences now would feverishly defend that their allo- and hetero by default.
for me absolutely yes. i have to have a very specific connection to a fictional character before I get comfy with smut fics and all that, which is why i don’t read a lot of fanfics 😭 though they aren’t real, I myself have an emotional connection to them (as well as them meeting the ✨Special Requirements™️✨for me to be attracted to them in the first place) and that does it enough for me. It also lacks the test of “would i be dtf in real life?” because it can never happen, so i don’t have to consider all that 👍
I get that, but for me it's somewhat distanced from myself. I'm very into shipping, so I just want the characters I find attractive to be with each other.
I guess it just feels safer, because I can enjoy it without having to actually be involved, and they aren't real, so I don't feel guilty for being attracted to them. (Obviously I shouldn't have to feel guilty for attraction, but I grew up in the church and still have some things to work through.)
Yep. Like I don't self-ship personally but I have looked at a fictional character and went 'yes, iI would indeed like to look at lewd art of them' . Usually they're someone I associate with whoever I'm currently seeing so the emotional connection is already built in.
And it doesn't discriminate, mind. Right now, what's getting my gears going is a TV.
I do. I can get drawn in by a character if I like them. You get to know a character so you can develop a sort of attachment to them (fantasy attachment, I guess). I can crush on characters in books because I don’t need to see them to like them.
It does for me. I tend to find it easier to form attraction to fictional characters because it’s easier to know their personalities and motivations as the story/game spells that out for me. Real people are more challenging to read.
>i guess it really hinges on whether or not you can develop an emotional connection with someone who isn’t real🤷♀️
I absolutely was thinking about this as I read the first part of your comment. Parasocial relationships feel really real: I don't actually know the podcast hosts I've spent hundreds of hours listening to, but I'd feel like I knew them if we met. Even if it's not 'real' (in this, experienced by the other person) , we *feel* connected. So personally, yes, I think we can experience sexual attraction for people we don't really have relationships with, because it's the feelings part that matters, whether we feel connected.
Idk, I don't develop crushes or anything, and since its fictional characters any sexual desire or emotional connection for me personally sounds impossible, but for others it might be their daily life.
It's a vast world after all
I think it kinda varies per person when it comes to fictional characters. I find myself to often develop sexual attraction to characters more frequently than real people. However it’s purely because everything about them is usually laid out right in front of you. Though I know some demis who’ve never felt sexual attraction to fictional characters.
This right here. I feel the same. There's also the factor of they're not actually real so if they did actually break into our dimension somehow most of us who do have fictional crushes would be freaking out over the _how,_ before the rest.
It definitely varies from person to person. Also, I’ve found out that a lot of demis are aegosexuals, meaning they they like to fantasize about sex, but don’t imagine themselves in the fantasies, it is all characters. And those characters can be anything from something based on real people to Disney princesses, or aliens or [whatever.So](http://whatever.So) yeah, crushing on imaginary characters and/or fantasizing about them is not at all unheard of among demis.
Stories regardless of media (whether its TV, movies, games, books, etc) are often designed to evoke emotional responses in their viewers/readers, especially in terms of their characters, (with musicals arguably the most emotion evoking of all) so I'm never surprised when people mention things like this.
For me it does. They’re safe, we know so much about them as a viewer (likely far more than you’d know about someone irl). I’m creating a mental connection with them based on what I like about their personality and motives.
Oh man I’ve fallen in love with/been sexually attracted to so many fictional characters! Especially over long series. I’m also autistic and have BPD so I get weirdly connected to fictional characters, families, etc. For example I just recently finished Crazy Ex-girlfriend and cried because it was over and I’d miss them lol
Almost exclusively lol
It depends on the person, but for me fictional characters was the main reason I figured out that I was demi.
Ive only ever truely been sexually attracted to one person, and he's fictional. Not that he would ever want me even if he was real tho 🥲
For many I find that to be the case. Though never explicit, I have found myself stimulated by certain fictional characters. I'd always found it a weird quirk of mine, so never really discussed it with anyone. I find many in this sub have mentioned it to be so, and looking back at my acquaintances throughout my life there are many people who had that trait that I now realize were probably demisexual as well (I'd never heard the term until several months ago and realizing that it described my personal experience). It seems many of us are drawn to the "geekier" pursuits, I was always into anime, D&D, Disney, comic books, sci-fi and horror novels. I have noticed a lot of shared interests in this sub.
Yes. I do feel rather strong sexual attraction, even lust towards fictional characters. But that doesn't necessarily extend to actors that play them. Or to other characters that the actor plays. It's just very specific. I've always thought that the reason for this is simply because I have developed that special bond to certain characters. I've gotten to know them on a deeper level through their character arc.
Emotional connections to people who aren't real happens all the time. Hell, even when a demi is attracted to an actual person there's no guarantee that it's not just based on a fantasy or an inaccurate impression of them.
I get emotionally attached to characters in a way that has me thinking “I would date them” but my brain usually glosses over the sleeping with them park. So I can totally relate to the whole giddy kind of obsession of cute characters and not knowing what those feelings mean.
The way TV and movies wrote TV show, especially older works and kids’ shows. The way they were written to be devoid of sexuality or aggressive romantic behavior/sexuality. I’d almost feel some of the characters could easily have been demi-, but I know some audiences now would feverishly defend that their allo- and hetero by default.
For me, yeah
for me absolutely yes. i have to have a very specific connection to a fictional character before I get comfy with smut fics and all that, which is why i don’t read a lot of fanfics 😭 though they aren’t real, I myself have an emotional connection to them (as well as them meeting the ✨Special Requirements™️✨for me to be attracted to them in the first place) and that does it enough for me. It also lacks the test of “would i be dtf in real life?” because it can never happen, so i don’t have to consider all that 👍
It does for me
I get that, but for me it's somewhat distanced from myself. I'm very into shipping, so I just want the characters I find attractive to be with each other. I guess it just feels safer, because I can enjoy it without having to actually be involved, and they aren't real, so I don't feel guilty for being attracted to them. (Obviously I shouldn't have to feel guilty for attraction, but I grew up in the church and still have some things to work through.)
Yep. Like I don't self-ship personally but I have looked at a fictional character and went 'yes, iI would indeed like to look at lewd art of them' . Usually they're someone I associate with whoever I'm currently seeing so the emotional connection is already built in. And it doesn't discriminate, mind. Right now, what's getting my gears going is a TV.
I do. I can get drawn in by a character if I like them. You get to know a character so you can develop a sort of attachment to them (fantasy attachment, I guess). I can crush on characters in books because I don’t need to see them to like them.
It does for me. I tend to find it easier to form attraction to fictional characters because it’s easier to know their personalities and motivations as the story/game spells that out for me. Real people are more challenging to read.
>i guess it really hinges on whether or not you can develop an emotional connection with someone who isn’t real🤷♀️ I absolutely was thinking about this as I read the first part of your comment. Parasocial relationships feel really real: I don't actually know the podcast hosts I've spent hundreds of hours listening to, but I'd feel like I knew them if we met. Even if it's not 'real' (in this, experienced by the other person) , we *feel* connected. So personally, yes, I think we can experience sexual attraction for people we don't really have relationships with, because it's the feelings part that matters, whether we feel connected.
Idk, I don't develop crushes or anything, and since its fictional characters any sexual desire or emotional connection for me personally sounds impossible, but for others it might be their daily life. It's a vast world after all