A Valentines Day Special!!
Feb. 14th, 2019 04:36 pmThis is actually just a post of my thoughts on portrayals of love in fiction, in honor of this strange holiday that, if I was actually in a relationship, would just use as an excuse to eat good food and not cook dinner for a night. :p
Anyways, this is partially in response to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
extrapenguin, who very aptly described my stance on romantic storylines: "It's not a love story unless it's tragic."
It's true. While I have grown a bit bitter and jaded throughout the years and really like my stories to have happy endings or settings that are not 100% totally depressing, I have always loved a good tragedy. I like characters that have to work for their happy ending, and who may not obtain it but be forced to accept that fact and move on with their lives. Why? Because I like stories where characters must put some work into their relationships, romantic or otherwise, who have to learn to compromise, adjust maladaptive behaviors, or even come to terms with the fact that things may never work out and have to deal with the consequences.
Part of the fluff, shipping, and soulmate concepts that I do not take a liking to probably stem from the fact that love becomes a thing that is put out there loudly and with lots of fanfare; I prefer it to develop quietly, over time and between two people who grow, rather than fall down a steep cliff, into loving each other. It's a preference thing, certainly.
(I do like soulmate storylines occasionally, and mostly when they have a tragic twist to them, situations where 'A and B are fated to drift together due to their personalities and/or goals and ideals, but are also fated to drift apart for the same reasons', and situations where it is not the overarching rules of the universe but rather the characters' thoughts, actions, and who they are as people that drive the story and their relationships.)
Anyways, this is partially in response to
extrapenguin, who very aptly described my stance on romantic storylines: "It's not a love story unless it's tragic."It's true. While I have grown a bit bitter and jaded throughout the years and really like my stories to have happy endings or settings that are not 100% totally depressing, I have always loved a good tragedy. I like characters that have to work for their happy ending, and who may not obtain it but be forced to accept that fact and move on with their lives. Why? Because I like stories where characters must put some work into their relationships, romantic or otherwise, who have to learn to compromise, adjust maladaptive behaviors, or even come to terms with the fact that things may never work out and have to deal with the consequences.
Part of the fluff, shipping, and soulmate concepts that I do not take a liking to probably stem from the fact that love becomes a thing that is put out there loudly and with lots of fanfare; I prefer it to develop quietly, over time and between two people who grow, rather than fall down a steep cliff, into loving each other. It's a preference thing, certainly.
(I do like soulmate storylines occasionally, and mostly when they have a tragic twist to them, situations where 'A and B are fated to drift together due to their personalities and/or goals and ideals, but are also fated to drift apart for the same reasons', and situations where it is not the overarching rules of the universe but rather the characters' thoughts, actions, and who they are as people that drive the story and their relationships.)
