(Final!) TTFeb: Relationships and dynamics you find compelling in fiction

[superborb]

brownbetty prompted: Talk about relationships and dynamics you find compelling in fiction? Specific examples? Romantic very much optional

The kinds of relationships that I tend to find the most compelling are ones where the characters have conflict that may or may not be resolvable, but at the same time deeply understand each other in some core way.

So I really like family relationships, but if it's conflict-free supportiveness, that's fine and all, but it's not something I'll turn over in my brain for ages afterward? I guess a lot of 'coming of age' stories like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn have that built in parental conflict where the child grows into teenage rebellion and then into adulthood. Or how I found The Will of the Empress really compelling, despite feeling like I had aged out of other YA-- even though the core quartet aren't siblings by blood, the navigating of their relationships now that they're no longer children was so good. 

And friends to enemies is really the best when the initial 'friends' stage was a really close, sibling or best friend bond. Yes, my platonic ideal MDZS fic explores the Jiang Cheng - Wei Wuxian relationship, why do you ask. The stage of the Catradora relationship (from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) when they were enemies was A++ my jam. And Professor X/Magneto definitely has this appeal in spades in canon, though I think fic generally does not focus on this aspect of their relationship, which is probably why I never fully got into that fandom.

Perhaps all of this is due to early sports anime influence though, where RIVALRY is such an important relationship. Hikaru/Akira (Hikaru no Go) is still my top OTP because of that element of rivalry even after they're good friends. I guess even in teammates in sports anime though, there is still that element of conflict where they push each other to get better, even if they aren't in direct competition. I can't name examples, literally every sports anime ship probably has this element hahahaha.

Any recs for ships that fit this dynamic? Or do you find this dynamic compelling too?

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Comments

[adore]

Off the top of my head I thought of Haru and Baek Kyung from Extraordinary You. The characters become self-aware in the world of a manhwa, and Baek Kyung is afraid Haru will take his place in the storyline and destroy the certainty of the storyline which was skewed to favour Baek Kyung. Plus, Dan Oh, who is paired with Baek Kyung in the storyline, loves Haru and doesn't want to be paired with Baek Kyung at all. She rebels against the storyline to be with Haru. So there's some rivals-in-love jealousy, but what I find more interesting is that Haru and Baek Kyung were prince and bodyguard in a previous manhwa (in which everyone died except for them, haha) so their feelings for and relationship with each other is more complex and far-reaching than they initially realise. It's all in the undercurrents, the subconscious things they sometimes say or do to each other because of their previous history that's unbeknownst to either of them at first... sorry if I've indulged myself too far here, talking so much about a canon you're probably unfamiliar with. But I do recommend it, biased as I am, and I don't think anything I've mentioned here is too spoilery.

[superborb]

Oh interesting!

[halfcactus]

Not sure if Marceline/Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time fits that category, but this made me suddenly remember this song, which I love. A lot.
https://youtu.be/h28xpNvW9Yw?t=9

[superborb]

EXCELLENT vibes lol

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, that is a good one!

I remember reading TWOTE right after it came out -- I must have been about nine or ten -- and really disliking it just because the foursome seemed so unhappy in their relationships. That was the year I discovered Pierce and read all her books straight through, and then read my favorites over and over for years. With that memory, I didn't revisit TWOTE until I did a full-canon read-through as a teenager, when I'd had some friendships dissipate or break up, and got so much more out of it. That portrayal of them trying to learn to balance being apart but connected still holds up so well, I think.

[superborb]

YEAH, I remember being like, "I guess???" on my first read, and it was only when I was a late teen that I started really liking it.

[lirazel]

And friends to enemies is really the best when the initial 'friends' stage was a really close, sibling or best friend bond. Yes, my platonic ideal MDZS fic explores the Jiang Cheng - Wei Wuxian relationship, why do you ask.

I was literally complaining on Tumblr yesterday that there isn't enough JC/WWX fic (I was talking shippy stuff specifically, but I am alllllll about the platonic but super intense dynamic of canon too!!!!!!). Gosh, their relationship is so interesting and rich!

I absolutely love this dynamic and frankly don't see nearly enough of it in the world.

This isn't exactly that dynamic, but it's similar: Jihyuk and Hyunsoo from Shut Up! Flower Boy Band remind me of JC and WWX in that there's the character who's always in the shadow of the other, who loves them desperately but also resents them so much, and who never feels like they get chosen.

[superborb]

Ooh, thanks for the rec!!

[lirazel]

You're welcome! It's one of my most beloved kdramas. There's one particular scene between Jihyuk and Hyunsoo that is so good and iconic (you'll know it instantly when you see it) and I will not spoil it for you, but it's really top-tier. (I wrote multiple fics about Hyunsoo back in the day if that tells you anything about my feelings. And I didn't just write them because he was played by my original kpop bias.)