Great stories make you invest emotionally in what happens. They make you care. They make you hope and dream and dread. They inspire real emotions, not shallow approximations.
It can be addictive, how real the feelings are. You want more. You want to continue riding that emotional high. You reread the book, rewatch the movie, replay the game, hoping to recapture that initial storm of feeling.
When someone says it's just a book, movie, or game, it belittles the depth of the emotional investment you've made. It belittles your feelings. It says, "You don't have the right to care deeply about this."
(And sometimes there are those who love the story as much as you do but who think that what you love about it is wrong. And they need to tell you that you're wrong and try to explain why, try to essentially ruin your love of this thing because you're enjoying it wrong. And while I can sympathize with others who feel as deeply about something as I do, there is never a good excuse to undermine what someone else loves about a story.)
Great stories bewitch. The connection is special and beautiful and specific to you, to who you are and what resonates most. This experience is... spectacular. Heartbreaking. Joyful. It's a little like falling in love.
And if you've experienced this, whatever the story is or was, I am so happy for you.
