User blog:Corbierr/What makes good romances "good?"



'''Hey guys! Originally this was going to be much longer, covering a wide range of subjects. But I'm tired from my family party and I covered all that I really wanted to say in one topic, so this is what you get! Sorry that Character Analysis will be late again, but I want to work on NaNo tonight and don't feel like blogging too much more right now!'''

So you guys may be wondering what more there is to discuss about the romances of HOA. After all, hasn't everything been covered? It's all cheap drama, too much plot and too little substance, right? Well, I was thinking this morning, and while we've certainly spent a lot of time complaining about poorly done romances and gushing about the good ones, nobody has really discussed why certain romances work and others fail. So, I wanted to try and see if I could cover it.

First, we need to cover one thing...

What do people like about romance in fiction?
Well, to answer this broad quesiton, we need to spend time talking about romances in real life. They're messy, dramatic, and emotional in good and bad ways. Despite this, many people still pursue romance in some form, while others will reject the idea. Even still, in fiction, romances remain messy, dramatic, and emotional. But instead of us ourselves having to go through it, it's the characters we've come to love. Either we grow attatched to their relationship and dream of being that lucky girl or guy dating their favorite character in a perfect romance,or we simply get sucked into the emotions.

Fiction is escapism, and romance makes it doubly so. We get to experience emotions that we ourselves may or may not be fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to actually feel in real life, without having to leave our homes. We want to get sucked into it, despite knowing that fiction is all an illusion. We want to feel something, because that's what art is really all about. And romance, when done well, is one of the easiest ways to connect and care about the characters. We feel bad for the nerd who can't get the girl. We feel happy for the young couple who just got married. We feel the character's heartbreak when they are forced to split apart. We care, because despite knowing it's not real, we want to believe it is, and we get swept up by powerful emotions.

So with the romances we care about in HOA, that's exactly why. We love the characters and want them to be happy, while the emotions seem so real and powerful to the point that we become attached even when we know it's not real.

That said, what makes a good romance good?

What makes good romance good?
Here's where we get to start our true analyzing and ranting about Anubis.

First, "good" is clearly a matter of opinion. However, there's no denying that some of the romances in HOA worked better than others. But why? What is it that makes people squee over things like Fabina and Peddie, yet rage about Jeroy and Mabian?

Well, let's go back to my explaination on why we like the romances at all- we get attached to the characters, their emotions, and their story. While these pairings include the characters we love and may very well have strong emotions, what may be missing from the "bad" romances are the stories- their development and their "reason" for liking each-other. When characters get together (or fall apart), there should be an actual reason- an actual story- behind it.

Fabina were the best friends who fell in love. Amfie told the tale of a boy with the crush on a popular girl, and their development to close friends to genuine romance. Mickber was based on looks and superfacial ideas of love that proved not to work, While Mickra that followed may not have been based on similarities, but they actually got to know each-other and through their struggles, they managed to make it work until te story of Jara came along, with the maturing prankster and the girl who is managing to not only get through to his heart, but he's getting to hers as well. Peddie saw each-other as worthy rivals who ended up falling for each-other. No matter what you think of their stories, you cannot deny that they happened and that the love they all felt between them worked and seemed to be real.

Even the sunken ships had stories to tell. Jabian was the classic unrequited love story with a downer ending and a few roadbumps. Pifie was a cute, fast-paced arc of mutual feelings that may not have gone anywhere, but still mattered. Keddie was the story of a girl who put her friend before her crush, despite having much opportunity to try and win over said crush.

However, the "bad" romances? Where are their stories? Jeroy had plot, that's for sure. It was drama central! But even with all the plot, there was no real story behind it. Even with things like Pifie, we got to see them develop crushes and it seemed pretty plausible. Jeroy was really just sort of, well...out of nowhere. Jerome and Joy genuinely seemed to dislike each-other. They weren't playing Peddie games, they actually were bickering. So where did the love come in? Correct me if I'm wrong, but we didn't actually see the transition from hatred to romance. They just sorta became a thing out of thin air, or atleast, too quickly for many of us to really understand that it happened until too late. Mabian was even worse in this aspect, where they didn't even allow us to see any sort of process or arc between them. Walfie? Alfie's feelings for her literally spawned out of nowhere! Think of how these things could have been better with some form of a story between the lovers.

Jeroy could have developed "Romeo and Juliet Syndrome". That's my term for when people involved in some form of forbidden love end up fighting more passionately to justify and claim they have feelings for the other person despite not knowing that person as well as they should, simply because they feel they need to. Joy could have been shown trying to convince herself that it's real and that maybe she should fight for him. In the end, instead of just being perfectly okay, they could have agreed to go out somewhere and start over again, getting to truly develop as a true relationship instead of one full of secrets and lies. That would have made them the rivals turned forbidden love, who learn to eventually become a real couple. Or not. Not all stories need a happy ending.

Mabian, well, this idea is stolen from the brain of my lovely BT. Mara's grades slip due to spending all her time on operation Jerome, so Fabian agrees to help her out. They become closer friends, and Mara feels more comfortable now with a person she truly clicks with- not a jock, not a prankster, but a fellow nerd. They share a dance in TOR, leaving implications of a possible future romance. They become a less flirty, more implied, Fabina-ish couple.

Walfie? Just have them hang out a bit before getting to date! Maybe Willow and Alfie talk about Jerome cheating and they start getting closer, getting to know each-other, and Alfie has doubts about a romance due to Amber, but in the end, he manages to come to terms with his newfound feelings for Willow.

It's not hard to create a story out of a romance, because that's why we care. We get angry because they happen too fast and change the characters, and that's because we haven't seen any reason for why they are acting the way they are and why they suddenly feel the way they feel. We see shorthand signs of romance that tells us "they love each-other", and hey, it worked with Jeroy at first- people were passionate about them! But then you look again and realize that beneath the adorable moments, there is a significent lack in actual substance.

We don't need dramatic arcs and betrayals and heartbreak to keep us liking a pairing- in fact, that just makes us like them less! All we need is a little substance. A'' reason to care about them beyond just "being in a relationship". ''

So next time you see a couple happening too fast or too randomly, don't get angry because it happened so fast. Get angry because there wasn't enough substance to make it worth it.

'''Thanks for reading, guys. Tell me your feelings below, (as always) and more coming soon, including the (very late) Halloween Game chapter 3!'''