So, let’s talk about your “friend” and “fictional boyfriend.” There’s an obvious problem with this concept: he is not actually your “friend.” I know that’s confusing, so let me clarify. An “actual friend” is someone whom you’ve known for a long time, whereas your “fictional boyfriend” is a character from a book or movie that you like and think is really cool.

That’s still bad. There’s a difference between “I’ve actually met the guy from [movie / book]” and “I like reading about the guy from [movie / book] who really exists in the real world.” The second one is bad because reading it is not actually reading about the guy who exists. It’s reading about a fantasy character, which is a sort of “substitute good.”