How do you make Compatible or Complementary relationships? -

[Smolrolls]

So I was lurking in the Validate thread and Katawa Shoujo popped up with several likes from other Kiwifarmers.

I check the game out and after finishing several of the routes I got to wondering:

How do you write/create characters whose "chemistry" just "click", who are "mean't" for each other, and characters you enjoy and are just endearing for you to read their antics for say 1 or more books? How do you make relationships that don't feel force to appease a fandom/military shippers like with RWBY "bumblebee" shipping between Blake and Yang? Nor are sociopathic like you see with the characters in Validate?

Spoiler: Spoiler

I read from Katawa Shoujo wiki that the main character Hisao, and Lily Satou we're the best ship since the two characters we're compatible with each other. Why do you think this is so?

And since we're talking about compatibility here:

How do you know if your compatible with someone in real life?

Should you focus on compatibility or complementary in relationships? Whether its making art or making a lifetime relationship.

Actually list some of the best relationships that are/were compatible or complementary or we're just bad, etc.... in your views.

 

[JamalActimel]

Speaking of Katawa Shojo you missed the obvious synergy between Hanako the burned girl and Lilly the blind one.
Hanoko match well with Lilly because she can't stare at her scars and Lilly needs Hanako's vision and patience.

Ps: Don't compare Visual Novels and Real life dating that's pure autism

PS 2: Did you really create an account here just to spill autism juice with that thread?

 

[ZombiefiedFerret]

This isn't autistic daycare.

 

[Dick Justice]

Go outside.

 

[Exorbital Columnations]

 

[L50LasPak]

Eh I'll throw the guy a bone here. The trick is that a lot of fictional relationships are already deeply distorted exagerrations of how actual relationships tend to work. This idea that people in a relationship must have some kind of chemistry that "just clicks" is almost pure Hollywood fabrication. Usually the kind of people who fall in love quickly end up with a failed relationship down the road since they let their feelings blind them to the actual flaws and incompatibilities they have between them.

My advice for modern writers (of any genre) attempting to depict a fictional relationship would be to go with the slow burn. That's generally how people get into relationships in reality anyway, even platonic ones. Usually you don't just up and decide to be somebody's friend on the first encounter. People usually figure out they're comptatible after they exchange enough details between each other.

Then again you asked this question in the context of dating sims so I don't even know why I bothered with this diatribe.

 

[Gene's Secret Cat]

Just be hot. The end.

 

[Ciscoipphone]

Maybe ease yourself in by watching some reality shows like 'First Dates'? 'Indian Matchmaking' is quite entertaining with horrific helicopter parents and narcissistic autist trying to make connections with strangers

 

[Smolrolls]

Speaking of Katawa Shojo you missed the obvious synergy between Hanako the burned girl and Lilly the blind one.
Hanoko match well with Lilly because she can't stare at her scars and Lilly needs Hanako's vision and patience.

Ps: Don't compare Visual Novels and Real life dating that's pure autism

PS 2: Did you really create an account here just to spill autism juice with that thread?

I don't just want to spill autism juice ayaaaaah! hahahaha! Oh believe me no I'm not comparing visual novels to real life dating (I don't want to make more autists like waifuists, military shippers, if I can help it).

Eh I'll throw the guy a bone here. The trick is that a lot of fictional relationships are already deeply distorted exagerrations of how actual relationships tend to work. This idea that people in a relationship must have some kind of chemistry that "just clicks" is almost pure Hollywood fabrication. Usually the kind of people who fall in love quickly end up with a failed relationship down the road since they let their feelings blind them to the actual flaws and incompatibilities they have between them.

My advice for modern writers (of any genre) attempting to depict a fictional relationship would be to go with the slow burn. That's generally how people get into relationships in reality anyway, even platonic ones. Usually you don't just up and decide to be somebody's friend on the first encounter. People usually figure out they're comptatible after they exchange enough details between each other.

Then again you asked this question in the context of dating sims so I don't even know why I bothered with this diatribe.

Ah thank you for throwing me this bone, I didn't mean to make a diatribe

Anyways the slow burn relationships are the kinds I'm trying to make, which was something kiwifarmers like @Exigent Circumcisions said was what happened before they got married.

I want to be able to put any two characters, or several if I feel like I want to throw them in a pit, without well readers, audience, etc...from getting headaches looking at my stories. Or anyone else's stories.

 

[L50LasPak]

I want to be able to put any two characters, or several if I feel like I want to throw them in a pit, without well readers, audience, etc...from getting headaches looking at my stories. Or anyone else's stories.

In my opinion you should mold the characters' personalities and perhaps their backstories first, introduce them to the story in something unrelated to the romance plot, then you can start pairing them up. Only trouble with that suggestion is you need to give them something else to do in the mean time so the relationship develops organically. If you're writing a strictly romance-focused story with no side plots my advice probably isn't going to work.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

I love Katawa Shoujo's OST, not gonna lie.

Nice tangents you made from fictional shipping to irl relationships.
As for RWBY, I am considering watching parts 1 and 2. The forced Bumblebee ship rubs me the wrong way, so it's a NOTP for me.

 

[Smolrolls]

Just be hot. The end.

But i don't want to be a tranny

I love Katawa Shoujo's OST, not gonna lie.

Nice tangents you made from fictional shipping to irl relationships.
As for RWBY, I am considering watching parts 1 and 2. The forced Bumblebee ship rubs me the wrong way, so it's a NOTP for me.

Yea the game has some down to earth songs like concord and air guitar.

Yea and reading the wiki's comments about this ship can rub you even worse, I mean its just an anime, a decaying corpse at that, no need to get serious killing characters just cause they "could" derail their preciou ship.

Parts 1 and 2? You mean season 1 and 2?

In my opinion you should mold the characters' personalities and perhaps their backstories first, introduce them to the story in something unrelated to the romance plot, then you can start pairing them up. Only trouble with that suggestion is you need to give them something else to do in the mean time so the relationship develops organically. If you're writing a strictly romance-focused story with no side plots my advice probably isn't going to work.

Strict romance? Perish the thought. Comedies is where its at. I mean whether your writing action or mystery, its good to have a laugh or two right.

Your post is what I want to do in my stories: mold my characters, watch them evolve, grow, wilt or die without the romance part at first, and see if the characters will be paired, as you say organically, without being forced. I want to pit characters together, see how they interact with each other.

Speaking of suggestions, what side plot would you write if you we're writing a book, and throwing another bone at this noobie for being a faggot (I wish I had worded this thread question better. I figured since I was talking about "how to make better..." relationships, I figured I add how would you make, or rather spot, relationships in real life that lasts a lifetime. And how to avoid the kind of relationship that, say, starts out fast like in hollywood, two get married. and then 15 years down the line the wife, or husband, goes "Oh I just don't feel the love anymore" "Oh its just that the two of us fell out of love".

 

[K. V. Bones]

This thread is kinda trash but ill humor you.

Love is a complex and hard thing to write, you can never truly find consistency in writing it because everyone loves each other for different reasons. When writing love its best to give it your best shot and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

 

[Smolrolls]

This thread is kinda trash but ill humor you.

I know

When writing love its best to give it your best shot and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

Yea I noticed that when I wrote my first book. or rather I added plot points, settings and characters I didn't think of at first.

...loves each other for different reasons

What reasons do you find interesting to see two people in love?

(For example: the woman was a gold digger but later on grew to love the man for instance? I mean the problem with this example is that this doesn't happened often in real life. And I wouldn't want some autist take this story seriously and end up being with a gold digger hoping she'll love him back eventually. And I sense cliche coming off this paragraph.)

 

[ZombiefiedFerret]

Jesus fucking christ you're so goddamn autistic.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

Yea the game has some down to earth songs like concord and air guitar.

Yea and reading the wiki's comments about this ship can rub you even worse, I mean its just an anime, a decaying corpse at that, no need to get serious killing characters just cause they "could" derail their preciou ship.

Parts 1 and 2? You mean season 1 and 2?
[/QUOTE]
Oh God, I'm gonna avoid the Wiki then so as to not get even more disgusted with Bumblebee as its forced as fuck in my opinion.
Yes, I meant "seasons", whoops.

BTW, welcome to the Farms!

 

[Fictional Character]

Yea and reading the wiki's comments about this ship can rub you even worse, I mean its just an anime, a decaying corpse at that, no need to get serious killing characters just cause they "could" derail their preciou ship.

Just out of curiosity, who do the wiki commenters want to die?

What reasons do you find interesting to see two people in love?

(For example: the woman was a gold digger but later on grew to love the man for instance? I mean the problem with this example is that this doesn't happened often in real life. And I wouldn't want some autist take this story seriously and end up being with a gold digger hoping she'll love him back eventually. And I sense cliche coming off this paragraph.)

At this point, you shouldn't be worried too much about what other people find interesting. You should be if you want to write romance novels for money, but even then, you'll probably want to look at general market trends rather than individuals. You'd be surprised how much are people willing to go beyond their idiosyncratic tastes and put up with "ok for everyone, perfect for no one" mass-market novels.

Look at more stuff that features romance in general and try to think about what about that particular portrayal of romance appeals to you. The examples I'm going to give you are about my specific tastes, but they might help you figure out what exactly you find interesting. Stendhal's Red and Black has Julien practically forcing himself to seduce Mathilde because it fits into the role of ambition he has picked for himself, while Mathilde decided to let herself be seduced to fulfill her ideal of romantic rebellion. It's extremely self-conscious relationship on both sides and it's fascinating to watch though part of it is the style that only partially comes through in the old English translation. Pride and Prejudice is about two thoroughly deluded people. Darcy thinks he's not just a bag of cash with legs and Elizabeth thinks that she's above marrying for money. Both of those are patently untrue. There's a very telling line where Elizabeth admits to falling in love with Darcy the moment she saw how much land he owned. In the end, they're extremely compatible because both their exalted self-images and their commonplace real selves match each other perfectly.

You can also try to look at real life examples. The letters from JRR Tolkien to his wife weren't included in his published letters, but what shows through in them and Tolkien's biography is enough to see a beautiful relationship.

In short, broaden your horizons and keep in mind limitations of the media you choose. Most relationships in visual novels, even the well-written ones, are shaped by the practical need for player input.

 

[Smolrolls]

Just out of curiosity, who do the wiki commenters want to die?

My apologies, I was referring to the Katawa Shoujo wiki about the main character Hisao. First several comments you read its about the character being so annoying the commenters wanted to kill him. Its just a game calm down. Just reading the comment sections on that wiki made me understand what the farmers at the RWBY thread say about shippers in general.

You can also try to look at real life examples. The letters from JRR Tolkien to his wife weren't included in his published letters, but what shows through in them and Tolkien's biography is enough to see a beautiful relationship.

I'll definitely look at your examples, especially with JRR Tolkien letters.

And just to clarify this question is NOT just in the context of dating sims. The reason why I mentioned Katawa Shoujo in this case was because I just played this so its fresh on my mind. And the part where this game was made by 4chan /a/ board, and mentioned by kiwifamers over at the Validate thread, and free, were other reasons why I used this game as an example.

Also I don't see an edit option to make my OP less autistic then it is.

Ps: Don't compare Visual Novels and Real life dating that's pure autism

I know!

PS 2: Did you really create an account here just to spill autism juice with that thread?

No !

 

[L50LasPak]

Speaking of suggestions, what side plot would you write if you we're writing a book, and throwing another bone at this noobie for being a faggot (I wish I had worded this thread question better. I figured since I was talking about "how to make better..." relationships, I figured I add how would you make, or rather spot, relationships in real life that lasts a lifetime. And how to avoid the kind of relationship that, say, starts out fast like in hollywood, two get married. and then 15 years down the line the wife, or husband, goes "Oh I just don't feel the love anymore" "Oh its just that the two of us fell out of love".

To be honest my writing autism always comes from whatever topic I wanted to write about first. I throw in the romantic plots afterwards. So for instance I'll be writing some sci-fi or political concept, set up a bunch of characters for that plot, and then as I have them interact with each other I'll decide whether or not I want to start pairing them up . Trying to plan out a romantic relationship in a story is about as useless as trying to plan one out in real life. Circumstances change, and sometimes you'll end up with a situation between two or more characters you hadn't even thought about 20 pages ago.

I say try to think of what the characters would do in their given situation. That's the most organic way to write characters anyway, you really want them to come off as making logical descsions, or at least logical for whatever their mindset is. That applies just as much to fictional relationships as it applies to any action a fictional character can take.

As to that last question, about why relationships fail, the answer in writing is just as true as it is in real life. People get bored, or their personalities change as they age, or maybe there was some pre-existing flaw in the relationship that they didn't notice. Eventually they stop communicating altogether, which is always the beginning of the end. If you want to show a relationship in trouble, have them stop talking to each other. Even a bitchy married couple has a better relationship than two people who stop speaking to each other or only communicate in platitudes.