Contexts for future conversation and research are suggested. The findings are further discussed and ultimately compared to the long-term debates on human sexuality in relation to fictional characters in Japanese media psychology.

Five central themes emerge from the data: (1) fictophilic paradox, (2) fictophilic stigma, (3) fictophilic behaviors, (4) fictophilic asexuality, and (5) fictophilic supernormal stimuli.

This article explores the phenomenon by qualitative thematic analysis of 71 relevant online discussions.

2Department of Media Studies, School of History, Culture and Arts Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finlandįictosexuality, fictoromance, and fictophilia are terms that have recently become popular in online environments as indicators of strong and lasting feelings of love, infatuation, or desire for one or more fictional characters.

1Contemporary Culture Studies, Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, Finland.

Veli-Matti Karhulahti 1,2* and Tanja Välisalo 1

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