I just found out the guy I've been seeing for three months has a whole 'Discord wife' and they roleplay being married every night until 3 AM. It’s with a mutual friend from our gaming server? He swears it’s totally ironic and just for the bit, but they have shared pet names, inside jokes, and private voice calls. Am I crazy for feeling cheated on by pixels?

First things first: you are not crazy, and pixels can pack a surprisingly real emotional punch. Here’s the reality check: roleplay is fine and dandy until someone is pouring 3 AM intimacy into another person while acting like it’s just a casual meme. Whether he calls it 'ironic' or 'a bit,' he is spending his most vulnerable hours acting out domestic devotion with someone else. Irony doesn't usually require private voice channels every single night. That hollow feeling in your gut? That’s your brain registering emotional energy being siphoned away from your real-world connection. You don’t have to compete with a virtual fantasy. Next time you two are hanging out, tell him straight up: 'Joke or not, the time and intimacy you give that bit makes me feel like the third wheel in real life, and that doesn't work for me.' If he laughs it off as 'just Discord,' let him go cuddle his headset. Real intimacy happens in high definition, not behind a mute button.