#tragic romances

[somevirtualnolife]

Was musing about this on my twitter, but I was thinking about what tragic romantic tropes I love the most. I of course, love a fluffy happily-ever-after romance (maybe I'll do a separate post for that), but I think my tragedy can probably be boiled down into three types.

To kill or be killed by your loved one. (A.K.A Betrayal).

My Girlfriend has become a God/Metaphor.

All that love and what did it get me?

This isn't like, an in-depth character analysis or anything. This is more of an "Oh this hit me in the feels so hard and I keep coming back to them for some reason" sort of thing. Also there are many spoilers in this.

To kill/be killed by your loved one

This started with me seeing the classic Kaworu episode. The idea of falling in love with your enemy, knowing that he must kill you. And then there is the other end with Anthy, killing the person you love.

Betrayal can be such a beautiful thing to explore in fiction. I feel often it can make you hate a character, but with Kaworu and Anthy I feel that it made me love them more. It made their relationships with Shinji and Utena so raw and intimate.

My first Dragon Age 2 playthrough actually had a bit of this as well. Because I didn't pick up Fenris' loyalty gift, my Hawke and him had to fight to the death and it was probably one of the most jarring but memorable experiences I had in gaming.

My Girlfriend has become a God/Metaphor

I feel this is a bit different than the "Dead Wife" trope. Dead Wife doesn't necessarily have any substance to them nor do you need to fully understand the depth of the relationship. With "My Girlfriend Became a God/Metaphor", I think you can feel why the characters spiralled the way they did and are trying to bring them back.

Simon and Betty, as well as Pearl and Rose make me ugly cry to be honest. Like I can understand why they kind of end up being the worst versions of themselves for awhile. I might too in all honesty.

I wasn't a big fan of Rebellion, but I do think that Homura's desire to basically watch Madoka die over and over again rather than not have her in her life at all is a sort of toxic love that is so fascinating. I am really looking forward to the next movie when it does come out and hopefully continue to expand on it.

All that love and what did it get me?

I love a woman/girl scorned. A lady who loved the wrong person and was made worse because of it. A weirdly stark reminder that love doesn't heal everything. I don't enjoy all jealously stories, but some of these are just... yes. YES.

Ritsuko Akagi and her mother are two of my favourite characters in Evangelion, largely because they loved a trash man (who does suffer from Dead Wife) who ultimately gave them nothing even though they gave him everything. And what do they do? Try to murder the embodiment of their lover's dead wife, even though she is also suffering immensely by that same man. It's very *Chefs kiss*

Sayaka's unrequited love is another one that gets me (and also makes her my favourite character). Sayaka and Homura are similar in many ways that I'm sure people have already looked into. I think what always made me feel for Sayaka is that at the very least, Madoka loved Homura back, Kyosuke did not.

I was debating putting Simon and Grace up in the first section, but ultimately felt it was better down here because again, these are not loves you're rooting for and the person is worse because of it. I still cannot believe how dark Infinity Train got and how far they went with Simon's character. Simon and Grace broke my heart into a million pieces and I am glad they did.

I think the most realistic depiction of just 'loving the wrong person' that is also not due to jealousy is Princess Carolyn and Bojack. A great depiction of power dynamics in a way that hit home (not in my own relationships, but in a few people around me). They were so painful and so good. You can love someone a lot, but that won't necessarily fix them.

I am sure there are many other characters and pairings that I can think of that fall under these tragic romances, but these have taken up a lot of my head space. If you think there is a tragic romance that I haven't watched/read that you think I would like based on this list, lmk!

[mobius-m-mobius]

#the Nowhere Man who waits and the God of Stories who watches

[vxlinart]

putting the “romance” in necromancer

[unii-outlawed]

[warren-keplers-funk-band]

every time i want to be absolutely ruined, i just think about the fact that, despite being only five seasons, in-universe bbc's merlin spanned over a period of ten years.

ten years during which merlin dressed and undressed arthur every day. took care of his armour. stood and fastened the clasps when arthur was going out to battle. what imaginably could be more quietly intimate than that?

ten years during which merlin withstood being underestimated, withstood all that he had done for arthur being unacknowledged, just so he could stay by his side.

ten years during which the most powerful magical being in albion chose to stay by arthur's side as his manservant, and his friend. destiny be damned.

that utter devotion, loyalty to each other? arthur's reciprocated loyalty to and love for merlin despite the fact that, in his mind, he was just a human servant who hadn't saved his life nearly half as much as in reality?

I'M DEAD. BOWLED OVER. IN RUINS.

[me-writes-prompts]

-:"I wish you were mine." The tragic lovers prompts-:

(The angst? omgggg, the ANGST. Get your tissues ready, you're about to sob your eyes out. My fave is the 10th one, AHHH)

By @me-writes-prompts

"I wanted to tell you once that 'I love you', but I never got the chance."

"We can't be together. Not now. Not ever." "Please don't say that. Please."

"If I knew this is how we were going to turn out, I would never have confessed my love to you. I would never have wanted you to die."

"Is this the end?" They say with a void in their heart while they gaze at their lover's still body that hasn't moved for the past 24 hours.

"I love you." "They will kill you if you say that again."

"I want to be with you forever. In this lifetime and the next lifetime."

"They know about this. About us." "No, no. Please. I can't live without you, you know that. I love you. Please."

"This was bound to happen, you knew. Yet, you still chose...to be with me. Why?" "If I knew the end, there was nothing holding me back from beginning it. From beginning our love."

"Don't say goodbye. This is not a goodbye. It never was, and never will be."

"Please just stay. Stay until I breathe my last words, until my hands stop reaching for you, until my eyes go numb. Stay until I wither away."

"My love for you will never cease, even if I do." They say, with their forehead attached to the other's, and teary eyes.

[ech-e-sketch]

Chaos trio, they’re so ridiculous

[edwardian-masquerade]

"Melancholy and Joy are lovers and I reside in the chaos of their union." -Unknown

[kitkabam]

Do you think that Solas, during the past ten years, has replayed the much softer memories he made with Lavellan before the scene in Crestwood?

Like imagine Solas, weary from all of his preparation work and constantly needing to travel from place to place to escape those that are hunting him, sitting in the chair at his desk in the Lighthouse. He has his face buried in books, tomes, and whatnot, fighting off the tiredness that haunts him more and more each day, then suddenly before he knows it he's lost his train of thought and he's back at the Winter Palace, dancing with Lavellan on the balcony after they saved the Empress (or not, whichever the decision was). Being able to feel their fingers intertwined with his, how they move in such beautiful sync, even if maybe Lavellan's is a little bit more clumsy due to a lack of experience.

Imagine Solas, eating dinner by himself, and then suddenly the seat right across from him at the table sits Lavellan who is telling him another silly story about something that happened within their Clan, their giggles soft and full of such light that it's infectious and makes him chuckle. As his fingers hold his utensils they itch to reach across and glide against the soft features of his love. But he's quickly met with the realization that he is alone, as he chose to be, because he would not have them see what he becomes.

And when he does sleep, he hears echoes of their voice in every corner. Every playful remark, every flirtatious sentence that left from between those lovely lips...and then his fantasy always goes down hill from there, reminded of their last meeting before he left them behind —

And sometimes he walks behind his love in their dreams, watching from afar, witnessing all that haunts them and chasing away the fears that threatened to disturb their sleep while admiring them in moments of peace, despite the air of melancholy that surrounds them now.

Man I'm so excited to see how his romance plays into the new game.

[cornysarthours]

Maybe in another life.

[saessenach]

I keep threatening to draw heartbreaking galadriel/sauron things and yet when I actually get down to it, they want to be tender and naked instead so who am I to refuse them

EDIT: finished piece (and full sketchdump) here

[somewhereincairparavel]

I just realized that Piper PRAYED to Aphrodite that she should let Jason live, for the sake of their love. But the moment Piper broke up with Jason, his life went downhill and he died a few months later. What if piper's prayer to Aphrodite had kind of "sealed" jason's life, but it was only as long as they were together, so the moment they split, the prayer lost its protection, breaking the invisible thread of security jason had, since Aphrodite wasn't obligated to ensure his safety anymore. Uncle Rick owes me tissue boxes.

[pokimoko]

haunting the narrative -> haunted by the narrative -> haunting the narrative -> haunted by

[academic-vampire]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔲𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔰 💐

[idlenight-art]

Bi alistair... you will always be real to me.

[abyssal-ilk]

not usually a solavellan person but imagining the companion dynamics changing post-breakup and especially if lavellan decided to let solas take their vallaslin?? many thoughts. because without the context of solas being the dread wolf and then his refusal to give lavellan any solid reason why he's breaking up with them, the entire scene just feels like he takes lavellan out presumably for some sort of date night or hookup, tells them a key part of their culture is actually not what they thought at all and are actually slave markings, and then immediately breaks up with them without explanation no matter what they choose. how. how does that not rewrite at least a little of what the other companions and advisors think of solas.