Apparently being delusional is now a valid dating status. According to TikTok, that is.
The platform has introduced the concept of “delusionship.” It refers to the playful imaginary courtships or relationships you’d have with your crush, be they a fictional character, a public figure, or that person that you sit beside in class. In simpler terms, delusionship is an idealized infatuation you have with someone. It’s more imaginary than in real life.
Relationships (the real ones) usually involve consensual mutual attraction and infatuation between two or more individuals. This new dating term defies this, and as Jess Matthews explained, is an "underhanded jab at the situationship label, which as we know is a loose connection that defies traditional relationship classifications."
It’s like a crush but replaced with a fancier term that has more syllables. But following the definitions, it seems that I have a delusionship with Diamant from Fire Emblem: Engage. In my mind, we’ve already beaten countless enemies in battles in our quest to free Elyos from the evil hands of the Fell Dragon. Did we grab some meals in the Somniel? Absolutely.
But aside from our little joke there, inherently, there’s nothing wrong with having a delusionship. "It's similar to a crush, except you take it one step further by starting to idealize your life with them, or their personality traits before you actually get to know the real life, authentic version of them - which is where the 'delusion' part comes into play," Lucille McCart, relationship director and Communications Director for leading dating app Bumble revealed to ELLE Australia.
Image credit: Josh Willink