Topic of the Day: Did your OCs' relationship start with friendship or butterflies? : The romance/relationship writing thread (all romance, all the time) (but sfw tho.)

[Vikthetoonaddict]

OKAY...so my general height for Crystal is that her forehead is up to Otto's chin (I use this cute diagram to help-I know they look very different now, but this still helps)

HOWEVER, I noticed that when I get people to do commissions of them, they like to exaggerate the height difference a liiiiiiiitle more (not complaining! There's something kinda charming about the huge dude, tiny lady dynamic)

[KevinReijnders]

I'm just super curious about the gap between Zack and Kyara

At the start of the story Kyara is slightly taller than Zack. Though both are relatively small compared to the rest of the characters. As the story progresses the two of them get a bit of a growth spurt (not entirely a realistic one at the age they're at, but I wanted to physically show their growth and maturity.) with Zack becoming slightly taller than Kyara.

The image is in metric, every line represents 10cm.

[Leyelle]

Hey, maybe they decompressed their spines, allegedly that can let you gain at least an inch.

So does the fact that Zack is now taller than Kyara mean that he had more emotional growth?

[KevinReijnders]

Yeah kinda, it shows that he went from the shy little boy he started out as to a confident young man. There's also a bit of Kyara's changing perception of him at play.

[Leyelle]

Oh, so she's imagining him into a bigger person/sees him as a bigger person?

[KevinReijnders]

Exactly. I had a simular experience with my youngest brother. He drastically changed his look and it made me realize he had grown up a lot more than I thought haha.

[Leyelle]

I agree, I don't know why a huge height gap feels like such a romantic dynamic.

[Leyelle]

How many chapters did you wait before your leads had their confession scene? (if they were already married when the story starts, you can just answer how many years they were together)

Alicia and Kattar waited fifteen years to confess, but in the realm of the story (which starts in their fifteenth year of friendship) it was 38 chapters which spanned approximately 2 and a half months

[Vikthetoonaddict]

Tall boys. People like tall boys lol.

[Vikthetoonaddict]

Well, Otto and Blue are already dating during the events of the first story. I may do a story about how they met later on!

[Leyelle]

I was thinking about how a height gap increasing the sense of delicacy in the female lead.

[Vikthetoonaddict]

OH, yeah! That's kinda sweet, actually. I totally agree!

[Lensing]

What is the conflict in your stories?
How do you all create tension?

[KevinReijnders]

I mainly use external forces as my source of conflict, usually they are obstacles my characters need to overcome to reach their desired destination. For example in Chapter 01, Kyara wants to go on a little adventure, chasing down the rumors of the old shopkeep, but is prevented by Old Nan from doing so. It's a minor conflict, but it defines the first half of that Chapter.

In later chapters, the internal struggles of the characters comes more into play. Especially since they're stranded in the scrap fields after Chapter 02 and finding a safehaven. From they'll start dealing with guilt, selfconfidance and love.

And while all this is happening, there's an overarching villain plot, slowly building in the background, putting pressure on the story.

[Leyelle]

Do you mean in the romance and relational aspect?

In the first book, there are two primary sources of conflict. Alicia's first emotional conflict is trying to force a recovery after the anxiety and depression she falls into due to the car accident. But their relational struggle comes from a number of aspects: 1. Kattar's refusing to express his feelings for Alicia and choosing to lie, and deny it (even at the risk of her feelings) instead. 2. The fact that this struggle kept her from being adopted by his mother, and yet he still didn't ask Alicia out, and more.

I create tension in a lot of ways, but mostly with the way that I utilize silence. Refusing to answer questions. Moments where you are left to question what someone is thinking because they won't say it.

And romantic tension in a number of ways, though my two favorite instances are the scene in "White Hot Sugar" where Alicia notices for the first time that Kattar has gotten really bad at hiding his feelings for her, and the scene in "Burgundy" where he wants to comfort her, but hesitates to do so, because he's in love with her, but she already has a boyfriend.

I think the key for creating romantic tension is along the same lines as emotional tension, things left unsaid, where you just hint toward thoughts and feelings.

[Lensing]

Yeah, I mean in a romance / relationshit aspect.
It´s always interesting for me to observe how people use conflict
in that genre.
IMO a romance story can be more exciting and thrilling than
a horror or action story when you do it right. It´s my goal to
write stories like that

[Leyelle]

I agree, I want to make people feel the emotions of the characters, and that can be a roller coaster, especially in the context of my story where their relationship is very complicated for a variety if reasons.

[Leyelle]

Do you tend to make the conflict you write more emotional or external in your romance stories? (directed to @Lensing but everyone can answer)

[Leyelle]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[Leyelle]

Is it possible to write a "realistic" whirlwhind romance? IMAO, it's possible to a certain extent. In the space of a few days, or weeks, you can definitely get to know someone pretty well and even "fall in love," but it definitely depends on the depth of the interactions that takes place in that time. That is an aspect I think a lot of whirlwind romances are missing that makes them seem so ridiculous. if you're going to fall madly in love with someone in two weeks, you have to have some conversations that go way deeper than the emotional surface and touch the core of who you are, allowing vulnerability and connection. Most people can't have these kind of conversations with strangers, so I would consider that pretty unlikely, but assuming you could, I guess it's possible. It's like one of those "questions that lead to love things."

that being said, there is still a different sort of depth and connection that comes from long standing friendships/relationships, standing with each other through numerous struggles and coming out on the other side together. But unless you meet in a war zone or alien apocalypse (possible i suppose in a story) that level of connection will probably not happen in three days, so I say that level of "being in love," is probably not possible in that short a stretch of time.