That's what I love about this place. There is no one that will mock you for what you do (seriously mock, there is always someone messing around with you). It's a place for people with the same interests to gather and make friends. I know that no one I know IRL plays VN's or watches anime, and I'm also sure that if I told them about it, I would just get mocked about it. But here, you can talk about whatever you want with everyone and be treated with respect (mostly), and I consider most of you here as friends.
Anyway, to the topic at hand, I play VN's and watch anime because the story and characters are usually much better than most tv shows, movies and books. The writers seem to connect with their characters more, which in return causes the characters to feel more alive. And every once in a while, I will find a character that I really connect with and begin to care for deeply.
I think I may like VN's just a little bit more than anime because with VN's, not only do you get to choose which character to follow, the story can be expanded upon without the time crunch that comes with anime. But that doesn't mean I don't like anime. There are plenty of anime that I have seen that had characters and a story that I begin to care about, and sometimes the actual visuals helps with the story better than most still images from VN's. And above all else, they are an escape from reality. It's not that I have a bad life or anything like that, but I'm extremely introverted and shy, so it's hard for me to connect with most people. I have no one that I can consider a close friend, so I like to watch anime and read VN's to escape from everything, and I like to came here to talk with people of similar interests.