A Discussion of Romantic Relationships in My Writings
Iām going to discuss some couples that Iāve written about because I havenāt done that before. Iāll do this more-or-less in chronological order of when I started writing the story, and go into them to give explanations of relationships and how theyāre explored. Iām only going to be discussing relationships involving the main character, but I might talk about others in a later post.
Uruz & NaomiĀ -
From my first writing, The East, Uruz is a young soldier who is the childhood friend of the princess, Naomi. The EastĀ probably has the weirdest setting of any of my stories (likely due to me being 14 when I envisioned it), being very... small. I wonāt go into all that here, but the world was very small and so there wasnāt a huge divide between the monarchy and the populace (though, Uruzās mother was a personal friend of the king).
I didnāt write a ton of their interactions, so their relationship never really developed any kind of character. But Uruz always liked Naomi, and she liked him, and so he joined the army so he could marry her (marrying into the royal family required a certain rank).
Merrich & Angie -
From my second story, Winter,Ā which concerns a country (Enic) which has been locked in a supernatural winter for like, 800 years. The legend is that this was caused by a witch who now lives in the capital (which is in the inner part of the country, which is extremely inhospitable). Occasionally, adventurers go to try and kill the witch, but none return.
By this point in my writing, Iād developed past simpleĀ āBoy likes Girl, their love is the main cause of their actions with each other,ā and so these two had some major problems.
They grew up as neighbors in single-parent homes, and when Merrichās father was killed by wolves (preternatural wolves), he went to live with Angie and her mother. They grew to like each other in a romantic way, but they were both still young (like, 15, I think).
Merrich decided that he didnāt want to raise a family in this horrible land, and so left home, breaking things off with a note (one of thoseĀ āI gotta do this, forget about me, live your own life,ā deals that I actually really hate as a trope, but this was a long time ago) and working on caravans for 4 years. Eventually, Merrich got up the courage to go after the witch, and so put out word that he was getting party together to do that.
Of course, Angela shows up to the ad, now an accomplished magician. They have a very rough relationship, arguing and sniping at each other for the greater part of the trip, but that starts to fade after Merrich is killed by wolves, and then narrowly resurrected. They cool off after that, realizing (to the relief of the rest of the party) that there are more important things.
I wonāt go into allĀ of it, but the last arc of the story is very taxing on everyone, and the two grow closer through adversity, eventually sharing a kiss at the center of everything once the villain is dead.
The TacticianĀ & Idaea -
This one is from EmberfellĀ and isĀ the most interesting, because it was entirely unplanned. The two have a very hostile relationship at first, with circumstances forcing them to travel together and Idaea not liking the danger that the Tactician (whose name I still refuse to reveal) and his group attract. She thinks only of her sister and is more than willing to disregard the personal desires of others in order to protect her.
This leads to the two of them having private discussions on many occasions. The Tactician is a fairly arrogant person, one that unknowingly tends to think of others as not really being on the same level as him. These discussions, in which the two of them butt heads, breaks that down to some degree and he comes to be intimidated by her (in a good way, the kind that is mingled with admiration).
Idaea comes to see the Tactician as not actually being as cool and haughty as he puts on, and sees the genuine emotions he has towards those around him.
They never really have a huge romantic moment, though it slowly becomes clear that they care for one another. There is a scene right before the last leg of the journey where the two kind of awkwardly stand by one another and feel like they should say something, but donāt know what to say. Eventually, Idaeaās likeĀ āyour face scar doesnāt look so badā (a rather nasty scar he acquired late in the story), and heās likeĀ āthanksā (because heās actually been self-conscious about it) and they mutually agree to try not to die.
Itās never explicitly stated that they end up together, but if you read the epilogue notes about what everyone does afterwards, you can piece together that they both end up in the same place, living with unnamed people.
As I said, I never intended for there to be a relationship between these two. It sort of just evolved from their interactions and personalities (which is rare for me, since I usually plan everything out).
Mina & EinĀ -
This one (from Emberfellās sequel) is another weak relationship, mostly because I havenāt written much of it. And also, this sort of came into being as likeĀ āI like these two characters and think they would interact well.ā
The main impetus of their relationship is a mutual fascination. Mina is a terribly curious person and Ein is from a far away land and has powers which are little understood in Minaās culture. The two are sort ofĀ āassignedā to hang out together and learn about each otherās cultures.
They challenge each other in different ways, mostly Mina experimenting with Einās polymorphic abilities, and Ein trying to figure out and understand Minaās obsessive-compulsive hangups and crippling insecurities.
In Closing -
I decided to make this post because I havenāt actually written anything romantic in quite some time. Embla is exceedingly unromantic, and I have absolutely no plan for any romantic plot involving Rain. I donāt know why this is, exactly; if you look at my stories chronologically, it goes āRomance is SUPER important,ā to āRomance is important,ā to āRomance happened unintentionally,ā toĀ āI guess these two will end up romantically involved if they interact enough.ā
