u/ChampionContent9613

For genuinely as long as I can remember, I have had a fictional couple that I am extremely attached to. This couple has been different ones over the years, but it is always the same one for years at a time. I love their relationship and spend time imagining scenarios about them. It's not something I spend hours doing every day, and I still have a normal life, but they have become a really important part of my inner world and honestly feel like “my thing.” I don’t know why I do this. I am very social, have lots of friends, and don’t feel particularly detached from the world around me.

I'm 19, and going to college soon. I really do want to have a real romantic relationship someday. But this has been making me incredibly anxious because I don't want to lose my attachment to the fictional couple.

I'm worried about two things:
If I get a boyfriend, will I feel like I can't enjoy the fictional couple anymore because I'm supposed to focus on my real relationship?
What if I become obsessed with my boyfriend instead, and the fictional couple stops being important to me?
I also have private pictures/edits/etc. about the couple on my phone that I wouldn't necessarily want a boyfriend to see. I don't want to live in fear of someone discovering them, but I also don't feel like I should have to share every private thing I enjoy with a partner.
This part of myself honestly makes me feel so weird. I have been like this for such a long time, and I don’t feel like anyone gets this attached to one couple for long periods at a time. I don’t imagine myself in the relationship or anything, just like thinking abt them and imagining scenarios.

Has anyone experienced something like this?Did your fictional attachment change once you got into a relationship? Were you still able to enjoy the characters? Did your real relationship and your fictional interest coexist, or did one eventually replace the other?
I appreciate all responses :)

For genuinely as long as I can remember, I have had a fictional couple that I am extremely attached to. This couple has been different ones over the years, but it is always the same one for years at a time. I love their relationship and spend time imagining scenarios about them. It's not something I spend hours doing every day, and I still have a normal life, but they have become a really important part of my inner world and honestly feel like “my thing.” I don’t know why I do this. I am very social, have lots of friends, and don’t feel particularly detached from the world around me.

I'm 19, and going to college soon. I really do want to have a real romantic relationship someday. But this has been making me incredibly anxious because I don't want to lose my attachment to the fictional couple.

I'm worried about two things:
If I get a boyfriend, will I feel like I can't enjoy the fictional couple anymore because I'm supposed to focus on my real relationship?
What if I become obsessed with my boyfriend instead, and the fictional couple stops being important to me?
I also have private pictures/edits/etc. about the couple on my phone that I wouldn't necessarily want a boyfriend to see. I don't want to live in fear of someone discovering them, but I also don't feel like I should have to share every private thing I enjoy with a partner.
This part of myself honestly makes me feel so weird. I have been like this for such a long time, and I don’t feel like anyone gets this attached to one couple for long periods at a time. I don’t imagine myself in the relationship or anything, just like thinking abt them and imagining scenarios.

Has anyone experienced something like this?Did your fictional attachment change once you got into a relationship? Were you still able to enjoy the characters? Did your real relationship and your fictional interest coexist, or did one eventually replace the other?
I appreciate all responses :)