Anyone else feel a tad embarrassed about falling for an NPC?

I'm new. On year two. I'm an older divorced guy who got into Stardew to escape reality and just have a relaxing cozy time farming and so on. But damn. The townspeople are so...real?

An early interaction with Penny, when she said "Sorry..". I fell in love instantly. It was, confusing at best. All of a sudden I wanted to build a great farm and expand the house because I wanted to marry Penny. Which felt really weird to be honest.. She reminds me of my dream girl crushes when I was young etc...

But this is an NPC character in a fucking game! And truthfully, I kept messing up giving her the wrong gifts etc.. I started thinking how much she reminded me of my real world ex wife. So I abandoned the idea of Penny because it got..weird. Why am I driving around in the real world thinking of Penny? I was listening to Subhumans and I realized how Penny might actually not like the real me. And perhaps I wouldn't like her in the long run. And that perhaps I should seek therapy because I'm thinking about a fucking NPC 🤔

So I moved on and chose Emily as a potential wife. Fine. It's just some escapism game so who cares.

Now, early on in my first run, I had an interaction with Haley where I had multiple choice resonses to her question about what I do when I'm not farming. I chose the "snooping in your bedroom" response because, well hot blonds aren't my thing and I was in love with Penny anyway. Naturally she didn't like that.

So..during my attempts to woo Emily, I had another interaction with Haley where she said(and this is a couple months later in real time), "I hope you not still snooping in my bedroom".

I was blown away that the "program" even remembered that. AKA that Haley remembered that.

So while secretly still in love with Penny, and trying to date Emily, Haley's sister, I find myself drawn to Haley!

And of course I get to the part where Penny might want me to help out with her outdoor "schooling" with her students. So I fall back in love with Penny while trying to pursue Emily while accidentally falling for Haley....

How fucking dumb is that?

At this point I'm hoping anyone still reading is having a laugh! And that perhaps I'm not alone in my pathetic rant about NPC love. This stupid game is now mixing with my real world, my past...and strangely even the book I'm reading.

The fact that Haley privately has a photography thing..it tells me she's not as stuck up as she seems(ties in with the book I'm reading)...the fact that in real life I already married Penny and am now divorced thirteen years later...the fact that on paper I should pursue Emily, the eccentric weird one...

It's all getting a tad to "real world" for me. In a good way! I'm not a weirdo in real life. Just looking to start a conversation about how these NPC "archetypes" have maybe bled into your real life.