I think this is a difficult case because the central purpose of a fictional story is to permit us to make believe that it is real. When I ask you, "What could you have done differently in that situation?" it's fictional and you're pretending that your decisions are meaningful.
Is that subconscious? I don't think that is. But I'm not sure that that is an alief, either? I'm not solid enough on that definition.
ETA: Apparently we disagree that the imagination is a domain of the subconscious. Eh.
I think this is a difficult thing because one of the two words being used is completely made-up and the distinction between their definitions is extremely fuzzy.
I realize that all words are made up at some point, but there are still a lot we end up calling synonyms. In the bedpan example given, I believe it's a bedpan but I have to trust that it's been sterilized. In this case, it's not alief that keeps me from drinking but rather distrust. The sad movie example is a classic example of "Suspension of Disbelief" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief).
As an aside, did anyone else notice that their spell checker marked the word alief? I guess my vote is that it shouldn't be a separate word.
Isn't it? If you know the story is fiction, you know that the character is not real and that there is no reason to cry. But yet, you cry.
Either your conscious mind contradicts itself or something other than your conscious mind must be at work.