The Concept of "Fictional Soulmates"

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Is there a fictional character you have really connected with and would marry if you could?

Mine is cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants

We both share things in common with each other lol

What about you guys?

Thanks in advance!

The entire concept of a "Soul Mate" is fiction.

What do you mean?

Can you elaborate?

Taking Westley from The Princess Bride and marriage out of the occasion, fictional characters I’d be interested in romantically in no particular order are:

- Inigo Montoya also from The Princess Bride
- Luke Skywalker (before he got old)
- John Keating from Dead Poets Society “O Captain, My Captain!”
- Elwood P. Dowd from Harvey:



and especially:

- Ms. Rafferty from SNL (or Kate McKinnon). She got me through stuff. I’m not even joking. It was like: YES, finally somebody gets it!



I limited myself to 5, but it’s very difficult taking into account stuff like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Some things are just too sacred to share with the world.

A "Soul Mate" is nothing more than a person for whom another person feels intense affinity, usually involving unrequited sexual desire disguised as romantic interest.  In other words, your belief that another person is your "Soul Mate" is all in your head, and is likely nothing more than your conscious mind rationalizing your lustful desire for that person as romantic interest.

Lol

So fictional characters really CAN be soulmates?

Not in any spiritual or supernatural sense; but only in the intensity of your interest in that fictional character.

I hope you will remember that a fictional character cannot reciprocate your interest, except in your own mind.

Or in fan fiction stories

That is exactly my point!

Fictional characters are just a placeholder for a romantic relationship but they CANNOT be a replacement for a real person!! !

In other words all those dreams about sex with Mario or SpongeBob are nothing more than me projecting my own desires and needs in a real human romantic relationship!

All of it is a coping mechanism for not being married and the only way to put a stop to it is to get married in real life!

Not just get married but also FINALLY lose my virginity ($ex!! !)



My neighbor Anita said it best:

"I do Not think you're weird.

I think you are very isolated because of your challenges and that is leaving you with the only options of cartoons and fantasy instead of real life experiences.

I want to see you succeeded with your goals as best you can. That's why I would really like you to see a therapist who can really walk you through all this with the issues you might have."

She's not wrong...

That reminds me of why I have nothing more to do with Fanfics . . . I gave up on reading them when it became obvious that most of them involved a Mary Sue (or Harry Lou) doing some kind of 'shipping' between themselves and their favorite characters.

The following is from  This Wikipedia Article .

A Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically free of weaknesses, extremely attractive, innately virtuous, and/or generally lacking meaningful character flaws.  Usually female and almost always the main character, a Mary Sue is often an author's idealized self-insertion, and may serve as a form of wish fulfillment.  As a literary trope, the Mary Sue archetype is broadly associated with poor quality writing, and stories featuring a Mary Sue character are often considered weaker for it.

Hmm...

Are you saying this describes my fan fiction about SpongeBob SquarePants?

I am the main character of the story and I do end up marrying him lol which could be seen as "wish fulfillment" since that is my current real life goal!

Fittingly enough, the first time I wrote fanfiction I had two characters discuss the idea of soulmates in a sense. 'Love does not complete us, therefore it cannot make us whole'. Maybe it was a bit cliché but it made sense in the context.

I stand by that sentiment. A romantic interest should add to the character but not complete them. The character should be interesting when by themselves as well.

However, I am somewhat fascinated by stories that use soulmate tropes. For instance, there was a YouTube video that used the red string of fate concept but subverted it because the supposed soulmate broke the string and tied it to an art museum instead, leading a very confused person to the museum.

There's a fair amount of fun to be had with soulmate stories. I do love a good 'fate told me this and I told fate to shut up' story. Especially when it's bittersweet or ends positively but in an unexpected way.

It's not the same as the real thing but my story about me and SpongeBob can get pretty risque if you know what I mean?

Private Benjamin. There someone for everyone.

The issue with fictional soulmates, imaginary friends, or using fiction as a placeholder for reality, is that fiction isn't reality. Reality seldom plays out the way fictions do.

You can imagine something feeling however you want - that doesn't mean that's how it will actually feel.

You can imagine the other person doing whatever or acting however you want - but that doesn't mean that's what they'll actually do.

You can build up fantastical imaginary situations where everything happens when you want, in the way you want, and things end up the way you want, and everything is great and happy and feels good - but unlike in your imagination, the other person doesn't magically know what you want or need, or how to do the things you want, in the manner you want them done. Unlike in your imagination, things don't feel the way you want them to - things feel the way they feel.

Building up a big scripted fantasy of exactly what you want happening, and expecting the real experience to match the expectation in any way shape or form, is going to sorely disappoint you when what you expect to happen, isn't what happens.

Every otaku's fictional soulmate:



Meanwhile if they met her in person they'd complain about not being able to beat her in any games and she'd probably be as annoying to them as she is towards Kagami.

Some characters make a much better fictional acquaintance than bestie or soulmate or waifu.