Romantic plot tropes

[ffutures]

I'm working on the "romantic plot / subplot" part of the Weinbaum RPG, and it occurs to me that a good source of cliches might be fanfic.

So, the first one is...

Woke Up on Venus
(suggested by the ever-popular "Woke Up in Vegas")

The hero, heroine, or both wakes up on Venus with no memory of the day or so (if they were already there) or couple of weeks (if they were previously on Earth), and is surprised to discover that they're (a) in an isolated cabin with a member of the opposite sex they don't recall meeting and (b) married.

This may be the result of too much booze, a fiendish plot of some sort (likely if one or both are rich), or an unusual scheme for getting Venus colonised.

So - anyone got any suggestions for more? I'm not looking for plots this time, more general concepts for romantic subplots etc.

Thanks!

Comments

[w00hoo.livejournal.com]

Well, will any of these do for starters?

"I thought you'd gone and so married someone I didn't love. Now you're back..."

"My partner is on Earth, but we're on Venus and you're so adorable. And after all, what happens on Venus, stays on Venus."

"Everyone tells me you're not for me, it makes me want you even more, even though you don't realise it."

Is that the level you're looking for?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Anything sort of Mills and Boon / bodice-ripper sort of level

June in Junopolis

[3pitaka.livejournal.com]

He's a starving artist, down on his luck, who's come to the big city to make good. (Okay, Junopolis isn't that big, but it looks mighty impressive to a kid from Nivia.)

She's a rich, spoiled heiress, with far too much time on her hands and a penchant for 'slumming'.

Chance throws them together as she sings a duet with him at The Peacock, Junopolis' most daring dive. And who else but he can get her out of her scrape with a League officer that night?

But is it really love at first sight? Or is she just using him for kicks, while he's gold digging for her dollars? And can these two kids ever find out what true love means with that lunk her father assigned to spy on them breathing down her shoulder? And will he ever be able to prove to her father that he's a man's man who's good enough for the best? Wild hijinks and escapades ensue in that thrilling all-singing, all-dancing musical revue: June in Junopolis!


Okay, that's not really a bodice-ripper — it's just the plot of every other 1930s romantic comedy film. :/

Re: June in Junopolis

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Nice one!

[maviscruet.livejournal.com]

A Captin only has time for one love in his life - his ship. But once the spunky cabin boy has joined he starts to feel differently - which places him in an very awkward position especially since the first mate is working with the corrupt bank to get the ship repossessed from under him....

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

A cabin "boy" called Bob?

[maviscruet.livejournal.com]

Perhaps - although you might well have a lot of fun if it was really unclear if the boy was a boy...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Sure - but this is going to be more of a "standard trope of this world's romantic fiction" thing than a scenario. Another cliche will be the glamorous female pirate.

[maviscruet.livejournal.com]

Ahh sorry - then yes - the boy is definitely a girl. And the captain cleans up very nice once the crazy beard is removed....

Romance on Rhea

[3pitaka.livejournal.com]

Okay, here's another, again inspired by gooey Thirties fiction and a dash of classic comic-book adventure:

Mac's a mild-mannered young radio reporter who's gone to Venus looking for extraordinary news. He never expected Cupid's arrow to hit him -- until he set eyes on Grace, Professor Champion's lovely daughter and the belle of Venoble's debutante balls.

Grace is willing to bat her eyelashes at Mac -- but when Mac declines a challenge from Harold, a bully who's angry that he's flirting with her, Grace gives Mac the cold shoulder!

Determined to prove himself, Mac signs on with Professor Champion's scientific voyage to Rhea — and imagine his surprise when he discovers that Grace has stowed away!

Frosty glances are beginning to melt into sighs when they arrive at the forbidding moon of Saturn. All goes well until a fiendish monster seizes the impetuous Grace and drags her off to his lair!

In the face of terror, can his love for Grace make a man out of Mac? Will Grace be rescued from the monster's clutches? Will Harold dry up and blow away? If you didn't already know the answers, you wouldn't be reading... Romance on Rhea!

Re: Romance on Rhea

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Another nice one, though I'll have to boil it down a lot. Many thanks!

[soren-nyrond.livejournal.com]

How about sort-of adapting "Charlie Girl", and mixing it with damon Runyon -- gamine Ganymede ("Jove's own page") working as asst engineer meets unlucky Billy (who owes a *large amount* of money to Skullcracker Schwartz), who's got himself aboard as a supposed astrogator. She will turn out to be a crack shot and the (slightly estranged) daughter of a millionaire; he will turn out (once redeemed) to be capable of Hard Work and Astounding Mental Arithmetic, and beats Schwartz at hyper-poker by being able to memorize the pack. In between, they (and the classically comical captain and crew), have adventures.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The "loner marries an heiress" thing is the theme of at least two of weinbaum's stories, but the poker thing is a nice touch.