Aromantic, but fictional characters are the rare exception

[Guest Venenum]

I've known that I'm aromantic since my mid teens, and I'm very comfortable with my identity. I have zero interest in real people, I am uncomfortable with the idea of being in a real romantic relationship. I don't really like romance in fiction/media either, it can seem excessive to me. I don't like romance in general. But I did catch very strong, fluctuating romantic attraction for a fictional character. This confused the hell out of me, why would I feel that way? I didn't understand, and I still don't. It was for certain, romantic attraction. I have zero doubt. It began to stress me out after a while, romantic feelings gave me horrible anxiety. I genuinely wanted to be with that character. It felt incredibly right, him and I have so much in common, and he treated me like a best friend from the very beginning. My feelings eventually mellowed out, but I still consider that character a very close companion, even if it's not intensely romantic. It appears that I need to directly 'interact/bond' with a character to form an attachment, as I noticed I like video game characters more. Which brings me to now. I believe that I might end up liking, or even loving another character, and I haven't even played the game yet. My mind is DEMANDING that I go through the wildest hoops to get a hold of the game that the char is in. I'm getting a Steam Deck, all because of that character. What is this? I've been lurking on fictoromantic spaces, and it seems fitting. But I'm not sure that I'd ever refer to a character as a 'fictional other,' unless my attraction becomes more consistent. So, what could be going on here? Am I just a funny aro, or is there something else going on? Thank you for reading this far into my wall of text. I hope that with some introspection, I can figure this out soon.

[organs and bone]

hey there! you are by far not the only one who has experienced this/felt this! I do believe the right term is fictiromantic - there’s even more sublabels such as 

Animateromantic - the attraction to anime characters.

Anuafromantic - the attraction to animalistic characters (not including feline-like characters).

Bookloromantic - the attraction to characters from novels.

Cartoromantic - the attraction to cartoon or comic characters.

Droidromantic - the attraction to android and/or robot-related characters.

Gamoromantic - the attraction to video game characters.

Imagiromantic- the attraction to fictional characters one can never see (book characters, podcast characters, etc.).

Inrearomantic - the attraction to live action TV show/movie characters.

Multifictino - a mix of exclusive fictional attraction. Example: being attracted exclusively to anime and cartoon characters.

Nekoromantic - the attraction to feline-like characters.

OCromantic - the attraction to original characters.

Spectromantic - the attraction to ghostlike characters.

 

There are also other many people who are fictoromantic and has attraction to only one fictional character. Those who experience this may identify as certisromantic.

 

Teratoromantic - the attraction to monster-like characters.

Toburomantic - the attraction to vampire-related characters.

Visivoromantic - the attraction to visual novel characters