Munday love
Let's talk about LOOOOVE! Specifically, the romantic kind, although there are of course many different ways to love somebody.
Answer the following questions in as great a detail as you want~
1) Are there any romances in your story/canon/fanon/universe?
Yes. A lot actually, considering that my characters' backstories go from 2002 up to 2006, my novel runs from 2007 to 2010, and I have a bunch of stories revolving around their experiences from 2011 to 2018. I spend the most time detailing the romances between Emil and Marce, as well as Mark and Ida. I also give some page time to the unrequited love affairs Ida has had before meeting Mark. There's also a bit about the string of dates and bad relationships Emil suffers from before he realizes who he's really in love with. Darren has a romance arc of his own, Lize gets into two not-so-great relationships, and everyone else ends up dating a friend or two at some point.
2) How central are these romances to the story in terms of plot?
Ida and Mark's romance only becomes important when it leads to them starting a sort of family during their college student days. While their romance has certainly contributed to their character growth up to this point, it is their decision to adopt their godchild Nina that changes a lot of things for their circle of friends. It permanently drives a wedge between Mark and his thesismate Jace (Jace is Nina's biological father, but has refused to take responsibility for her). One might say that Ida and Mark becoming a couple and parents is the start of everyone else in their gang growing up.
As for Emil and Marce, they become the force to reckon with, even before they officially become a couple. It is clear from the get-go that if they put their differences aside, they will become a formidable debate team. Emil's friendship with Marce becomes a deciding point in his turnaround from his rich-brat ways to a more principled course of life. For a large part of the story, they are merely best friends, debate partners, and co-writers, but the things they do together have far-reaching consequences in the activist scene of their university. However their romance per se only becomes important when they are practicing lawyers; it is not unheard of for one's enemies to target or threaten the other half of the pair. This leads to a constant pattern of drama and hyper vigilance in their professional lives, but fortunately Emil and Marce have each other, and tons of friends to help them out.
3) How important are these romances to the characters themselves?
For the main four characters, the romances are important but for very different reasons. In Mark's perspective is part of fulfilling his dream of becoming a family man. He married Ida because she shared some of these ideas, and was pretty much a mother figure already to their godchild Nina. In Ida's view, her romance is a testament to her stability as a person, solid proof that she is capable of adult relationships. She enjoys seeing how she and Mark are growing together and becoming more responsible and strong persons.
In Emil's story, his romance with Marce is a turning point in his life, part of his journey from a self-absorbed brat to a man of fierce convictions and well-aimed passions. He learns how it is to love a person for more than just beauty or brains, but for strength of character. He learns that he has to be a real man if he wants to have Marce in his life as a partner or more. He knows that Marce isn't the girl of his dreams, but she is the woman he can face realities with. As for Marce, her romance with Emil is not only an awakening to the less acerbic parts of her personality, but also becomes the enduring relationship she can come home to. She finds that Emil is more than a partner, lover, husband, father, or confidant; he is basically her match in the sense that he makes her more willing to be herself, more whole, and more healed.
4) Do you like 'romantic plotlines' in the fiction you enjoy, even if the genre itself may not be specifically romantic?
It depends on how the romance is written. If the romance starts getting very saccharine or too focused on physicality, I don't go for it as much. I have a particular soft spot for subtle romances involving quieter meetings of minds as opposed to grand gestures. This has to be part of the reason that "The Lord of the Rings" has one of my favorite romances ever.
5) Do you feel love stories between characters are used too much, not enough, or just right in the stories you enjoy most?
Probably just right; I have a thing for love set amid circumstances like revolutions, and I like how drama and high passion from these situations come together in love affairs.
Answer the following questions in as great a detail as you want~
1) Are there any romances in your story/canon/fanon/universe?
Yes. A lot actually, considering that my characters' backstories go from 2002 up to 2006, my novel runs from 2007 to 2010, and I have a bunch of stories revolving around their experiences from 2011 to 2018. I spend the most time detailing the romances between Emil and Marce, as well as Mark and Ida. I also give some page time to the unrequited love affairs Ida has had before meeting Mark. There's also a bit about the string of dates and bad relationships Emil suffers from before he realizes who he's really in love with. Darren has a romance arc of his own, Lize gets into two not-so-great relationships, and everyone else ends up dating a friend or two at some point.
2) How central are these romances to the story in terms of plot?
Ida and Mark's romance only becomes important when it leads to them starting a sort of family during their college student days. While their romance has certainly contributed to their character growth up to this point, it is their decision to adopt their godchild Nina that changes a lot of things for their circle of friends. It permanently drives a wedge between Mark and his thesismate Jace (Jace is Nina's biological father, but has refused to take responsibility for her). One might say that Ida and Mark becoming a couple and parents is the start of everyone else in their gang growing up.
As for Emil and Marce, they become the force to reckon with, even before they officially become a couple. It is clear from the get-go that if they put their differences aside, they will become a formidable debate team. Emil's friendship with Marce becomes a deciding point in his turnaround from his rich-brat ways to a more principled course of life. For a large part of the story, they are merely best friends, debate partners, and co-writers, but the things they do together have far-reaching consequences in the activist scene of their university. However their romance per se only becomes important when they are practicing lawyers; it is not unheard of for one's enemies to target or threaten the other half of the pair. This leads to a constant pattern of drama and hyper vigilance in their professional lives, but fortunately Emil and Marce have each other, and tons of friends to help them out.
3) How important are these romances to the characters themselves?
For the main four characters, the romances are important but for very different reasons. In Mark's perspective is part of fulfilling his dream of becoming a family man. He married Ida because she shared some of these ideas, and was pretty much a mother figure already to their godchild Nina. In Ida's view, her romance is a testament to her stability as a person, solid proof that she is capable of adult relationships. She enjoys seeing how she and Mark are growing together and becoming more responsible and strong persons.
In Emil's story, his romance with Marce is a turning point in his life, part of his journey from a self-absorbed brat to a man of fierce convictions and well-aimed passions. He learns how it is to love a person for more than just beauty or brains, but for strength of character. He learns that he has to be a real man if he wants to have Marce in his life as a partner or more. He knows that Marce isn't the girl of his dreams, but she is the woman he can face realities with. As for Marce, her romance with Emil is not only an awakening to the less acerbic parts of her personality, but also becomes the enduring relationship she can come home to. She finds that Emil is more than a partner, lover, husband, father, or confidant; he is basically her match in the sense that he makes her more willing to be herself, more whole, and more healed.
4) Do you like 'romantic plotlines' in the fiction you enjoy, even if the genre itself may not be specifically romantic?
It depends on how the romance is written. If the romance starts getting very saccharine or too focused on physicality, I don't go for it as much. I have a particular soft spot for subtle romances involving quieter meetings of minds as opposed to grand gestures. This has to be part of the reason that "The Lord of the Rings" has one of my favorite romances ever.
5) Do you feel love stories between characters are used too much, not enough, or just right in the stories you enjoy most?
Probably just right; I have a thing for love set amid circumstances like revolutions, and I like how drama and high passion from these situations come together in love affairs.