Topic of the Day: What is your ocs favorite thing about their sweetheart? : The romance/relationship writing thread (all romance, all the time) (but sfw tho.)

Leyelle 2024-02-20 14:02:53 UTC #161

There is a long standing trope for misunderstandings, but I do wonder how much you really need to make them "unsure" for a long time, even if you need the confession to happen later.

The thing about "Damsel in the Red Dress" is that Alicia is already 99.9999% sure Kattar is attracted to her, but not whether he likes her enough to actually commit to a relationship with her. So while there is no misunderstanding his feelings, his intentions still need to be made clear. But in my opinion, that's no more than can be expected if you've known someone THAT long, it would be very hard not to figure it out unless you're not really friends

cherrystark 2024-02-20 14:49:17 UTC #162

I think it only "ruins" it if the feelings aren't reciprocated or you're making a plot point where A freaks out when they realize B loves them.

Leyelle 2024-02-20 14:54:48 UTC #163

I should have phrased it "ruin the tension." I mean to take away the drama. And many ideas could be woven well, so there might be a legitimate reason for A to freak out, without the romance inherently being ruined imo

Animal508 2024-02-20 16:09:48 UTC #164

If it's ok, something I'd like to ask for this thread is what the appeal of romance stuff is anyways? (Though this is coming from someone who's never really felt 'romance'.)

Leyelle 2024-02-20 16:21:10 UTC #165

Sure, if you like, I can make it the topic in the headline tomorrow, but I think the appeal of romance stuff is that most people want to feel emotional connections with people. Often reading and writing romance is how we express our ideals and dreams, or when reading them, it gives 'warm fuzzies' or makes us feel good because it teases a dream or an ideal that we ourselves have.

This can be as basic as a girl meets boy, expressing a desire to meet and connect with someone, be loved, be considered good enough, be wanted by somebody xyz.

Or it can be more complicated in more complicated plotlines: To be someone worth fighting for, to be considered valuable despite trauma, physical and emotional scars, and damages, to be loved through our mistakes.

These ideas are expressed most often in the form of romance, with the added element of physical attraction (which 90% of people like, or want to feel) but it's also expressed in really heartfelt and close friendships in media too, the friend group in "Orange" the anime, Takeo and Suna's friendship in "My Love Story." And honestly, even Yamato's selflessness and sympathy toward Suna as her boyfriend's best friend (in the same series.)

Animal508 2024-02-20 16:22:29 UTC #166

Thank you for the information.

Leyelle 2024-02-21 15:33:56 UTC #167

If I was to list my biggest dislike it'd be that it's so easy to come across as cheesy or trope-y with romances. they're written so often that it feels like everything has already been done, and coming up with an idea or a twist that hasn't been used 10k times is borderline impossible. Of course this just means that the rest of the story has to be...well a story, that's unique, so the story doesn't rest wholly on the romance as a it's plot.

It's also just really easy for me to get awkward writing romance, and figure out what's a good balance of what I should tell and what I shouldn't, how much detail I should give and when I should refrain. Both for my own comfort and other people's. I don't want to live with the regret and embarrassment of letting people read scene that got too romantic, or honestly, even if no one reads it but me, realizing with delayed-onset regret that I wrote something like that.

Favorite part would have to be the dynamic between every couple. Be it sweet, playful, spicy, or anything else, just like I love writing the dynamics of friend groups, every couple has it's own dynamics. I like writing the different ways different lovers speak to their sweethearts, react to them looking particularly pretty (or hot) at any given time, comfort them when they're upset etc.

I also like designing the reasons WHY they like each other, what started their relationships, how they lead up to confessions, the things that keep them hesitant, or if they aren't hesitant at all, what challenges those couples face, how they work through their issues together.

basically all of it, I love writing romance, and even if the story isn't a romance strictly, the dynamics of different couples. I love love, so virtually every story I write includes close friendships, siblings, and couples. Might be cheesy, but it's how I view the world, and another way my writing reflects my ideals, that love is the most important thing in the world and both conquers, (and heals) all.

BlueJourney121 2024-02-21 15:36:25 UTC #168

The haunting lore we can create

joannekwan 2024-02-21 20:31:03 UTC #169

I would say the biggest appeal of romance to me is the profoundly deep connection between two (or more) people. You've got a person who is fine living on their own, but when they meet a person that completely gets them and vice versa it's wonderful to see them on a new plane of happiness. I also like the devotion aspect, having a partner that one can't live without, having a connection so deep that if it's severed, one would feel irreparably damaged.

And I'd say a platonic deep friendship isn't as appealing to me over romance because a friend could find their own partner and then be drawn away with their own personal life which leaves the friendship not as devoted as it was before. It's still good and I love to see it, but it won't replace the spot romance has in my heart.

Leyelle 2024-02-22 15:01:42 UTC #170

I agree, though I think a two friendship can stay as devoted even while more pieces are added to the person's life

Leyelle 2024-02-22 15:05:04 UTC #171

Alicia: Kattar is steady and reliable. You know he's going to be there for you if there's any possible way that he can be, and he'll do everything in his power to keep you safe, even from yourself, and cared for.

Kattar: That Alicia is unashamed of her emotions. She's willing to cry, she's willing to yell at him or snap back at him, she's willing to tell him she loves him, all without hesitation.

Leyelle 2024-02-25 12:40:15 UTC #172

For anyone who doesn't know, fish-eye kiss is the trope where someone impulsively kisses their crush and it shocks them.

Between Kattar and Alicia, Kattar would never in a million years kiss Alicia impulsively. He thinks everything he does through 100%, so if he was to kiss her, he would have already been debating that for quite some time. On Alicia's part, she also tends to be an overthinker, but occasionally her nerves and emotions get out of control, so it's very possible she would kiss him impulsively, and then immediately me mortified and apologetic, while he would try to calm her down and insist that he's not upset.

KevinReijnders 2024-02-25 12:42:38 UTC #173

Seeing as Kyara is defined by her impulsivity, I'll leave it to you to fill in the blanks

Leyelle 2024-02-25 12:43:11 UTC #174

i thought she was defined for her love of sleeveless shirts, but impulsivity works too

KevinReijnders 2024-02-25 13:10:27 UTC #175

What can I say, she is a character with a lot of depth

Leyelle 2024-02-26 17:54:29 UTC #176

So Alicia get's flustered fairly easily, and isn't good at hiding her feelings, so she blushes occasionally, but it doesn't show super clearly because of her complexion (a saving-grace for her.) On the other hand, Kattar is pretty good at controlling his facial expressions, so managing to get him to flush is difficult. And Alicia spends a portion of "A Spoonful of Sugar" specifically trying to get this to happen.

Kimberly, like Kattar, is pretty good at controlling her emotions most of the time. But Jinwoo does ocassionally (accidentally) manage to get a rise out of her. On the other hand, he rarely tries to control his emotions, yet isn't easy to make flustered, because he doesn't pay a lot of attention to the world around him.

Leyelle 2024-02-27 14:05:37 UTC #177

Eliza and Aaron flirt with each other a lot, but they have no need for hesitation as a married couple.

For most of book one of "Damsel in the Red Dress" they never flirt with each other, but there are a few times when Kattar behaves in a mildly flirtatious way. Most notably, in "White Hot Sugar."

On the other hand, while Alicia never flirts openly in the first book, she does attempt to make Kattar a little flustered in "Cinnamon Skin."

She's too depressed, angry, and unsure of everything in the confusion of their lives to try to flirt very intentionally with her crush. She's not even sure she wants to forgive him and start dating him. By book two, though, she is a lot less depressed and more confident, and begins a game she will play with herself, and technically by default with Kattar, to try to make him crack and show his feelings for her.

"Hushabye Prince"

Jinwoo never ever flirts, though some things he says might seem like flirting.

Kimberly does flirt, but it does her very little good.

Leyelle 2024-02-28 17:54:38 UTC #178

This honestly goes beyond romance and into the realm of family as well. Do you find that the people you write who love each other, be they family members or lovers, have too similar ways of speaking to each other?

I think in my old writing, every boy reacted to his crushes the same way, but as my writing improves, I'm doing a better job of catering their expressions of love to their personalities, and with families and parents too.

While Aaron from "Lion Proof" is more overtly flirtatious than Kattar is (at least at the moment) he also tends to express his exasperation with his sweetheart more than Kattar does, which makes sense, given the context of all the characters. Eliza is a little crazy and very impulsive, the exact opposite of Alicia, so despite both men loving their sweethearts, one has a definite overlay of exhaustion, even in his affection.

The way that Alicia's father spoke to her (which will be seen in next weeks episode) is very different from the way Mrs. Moon speaks to Kattar, though both are affectionate, her father's is a bit more like teasing her for being so serious at such a young age, while Mrs. Moon doesn't seem to realize Kattar's age at all. She's always treated him like a baby, and expected him to know how to behave at the same time.

cherrystark 2024-02-29 05:08:30 UTC #179

Nope. For me, the keys to good dialogue go back to writing your characters as people and focusing on their behavior. In my main series, my FMC's dad has two love interests. He has history with both women but since their histories are different, he talks/relates to them differently.

Leyelle 2024-02-29 16:43:51 UTC #180

two love interests at the same time?