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Here is the deal, when I started writing Of masks and dances, I knew I was writing romance, but I also knew I'm drawn more to the indie side of things, so if I'm going to write romance it'll be less rom-com and more indie romance (I'd give book references here, but romancelandia is far more diverse than hollywood and my favorite romance books have a lot of fantasy and adventure, so the romance beats walk along with the plot).
For the record, the romance beats would be these:
The thing is, between steps 6 and 7 you need to set up some sort of resolution to whatever was stopping the pair from being together, otherwise you're just making someone settle for less (and if you're thinking of many movies that indeed do that, yup, this is why many Hollywood romances are so bad) (on a second note, sometimes all you want is to say "Yes, this person settled for less." If so, more power to you, I actually love reading tragedies and fucked up love stories when they're intentional).
In this fic's case, I have two problems with this:
One is that what drove them apart is the fact that Diluc is, frankly, too damaged to work properly in a healthy relationship. Lumine might not be the healthiest of all people, you could even say she's guilty of the very same things he does, except she knows to depend on people to keep herself in check. She doesn't need the help, she's a fucking killing machine, but she needs the checks that come with having someone around.
Two is a continuation of that. Diluc's problem isn't something I can actually solve. His bad coping mechanisms are part of his character, they were fixed there by a wealth of bad situations, they 're a reflection of how he sees his place in the world. I could maybe have him get stronger ties to his community, since isolation is part of his issues, that thing with throwing his life away is basically thinking anything else is more valuable to his community than himself.
This is where I am with this chapter. I need to do some character development and I'm having a hard time conciliating that with my plans for this story, because damn it would be easier to make up some ol'regular Hollywood solution for this, with an alternate romance that is there only to be ditched.
I actually wrote a scene that could lead to this, then cut it out to make it into a separate one-shot* in the future, because it would be Wrong. Diluc clearly knows his heart about Lumine. The one who could go for a rebound romance is Lumine and she wasn't even interested in romance to begin with, so it's not like she'll be falling all over anyone in Inazuma**.
So, no. I'll have to figure out how to make my broken boy whole.
I mean, I can wrap this up in 3 more chapters if I play my cards right.
* Because waste not, want not. Also, there is no way I won't write a Diluc/Tartaglia enemies to lovers. Yes, yes, it's borderline crack, but hear me out, I have four good scenes pinned in place.
** In the specific world of this story, of course. I never tag canon divergence because my opinion is that you can't quite fic without diverging, but the whole set up for Masks is about 50k for a good reason. Anyway, in canon the Traveler is falling all over a lot of people in Inazuma.
For the record, the romance beats would be these:
- Set up: the before times.
- Meet cute: bumping into the love interest while running to school with a toast in your mouth, yes, but also the moment two friends see each other in a new light.
- Complication: whatever divides them makes itself shown.
- Hook/The "oh" moment: whatever brings them together makes itself shown. Shoujo manga uses a lot of sparkles for this and I like to do my best to imitate with words.
- Swivel: their differences show and it's painful. Turns out complications don't disappear because
- All is lost/The break up: things go wrong, it leads to some seemingly irreparable damage to the relationship. You can fit a whole lot of angst in this bit, but also, crucially, you need some character growth. ➡ we are here
- The moment of truth/Resolution: the characters realize they would rather be together and we achieve our HEA or HFN.
The thing is, between steps 6 and 7 you need to set up some sort of resolution to whatever was stopping the pair from being together, otherwise you're just making someone settle for less (and if you're thinking of many movies that indeed do that, yup, this is why many Hollywood romances are so bad) (on a second note, sometimes all you want is to say "Yes, this person settled for less." If so, more power to you, I actually love reading tragedies and fucked up love stories when they're intentional).
In this fic's case, I have two problems with this:
One is that what drove them apart is the fact that Diluc is, frankly, too damaged to work properly in a healthy relationship. Lumine might not be the healthiest of all people, you could even say she's guilty of the very same things he does, except she knows to depend on people to keep herself in check. She doesn't need the help, she's a fucking killing machine, but she needs the checks that come with having someone around.
Two is a continuation of that. Diluc's problem isn't something I can actually solve. His bad coping mechanisms are part of his character, they were fixed there by a wealth of bad situations, they 're a reflection of how he sees his place in the world. I could maybe have him get stronger ties to his community, since isolation is part of his issues, that thing with throwing his life away is basically thinking anything else is more valuable to his community than himself.
This is where I am with this chapter. I need to do some character development and I'm having a hard time conciliating that with my plans for this story, because damn it would be easier to make up some ol'regular Hollywood solution for this, with an alternate romance that is there only to be ditched.
I actually wrote a scene that could lead to this, then cut it out to make it into a separate one-shot* in the future, because it would be Wrong. Diluc clearly knows his heart about Lumine. The one who could go for a rebound romance is Lumine and she wasn't even interested in romance to begin with, so it's not like she'll be falling all over anyone in Inazuma**.
So, no. I'll have to figure out how to make my broken boy whole.
I mean, I can wrap this up in 3 more chapters if I play my cards right.
* Because waste not, want not. Also, there is no way I won't write a Diluc/Tartaglia enemies to lovers. Yes, yes, it's borderline crack, but hear me out, I have four good scenes pinned in place.
** In the specific world of this story, of course. I never tag canon divergence because my opinion is that you can't quite fic without diverging, but the whole set up for Masks is about 50k for a good reason. Anyway, in canon the Traveler is falling all over a lot of people in Inazuma.
