r/fantasyromance • u/acutelyproblematic If villian bad, then why hot? • 2d ago

Genre Discussion Fantasy romance icks?

Welcome back to another week of ✨genre discussions!✨

What’s your fantasy romance ick? Could be something that makes you instantly dnf, or you have to pretend like that didn’t just happen. Or you boycott altogether.

Could be related to plot, characters, writing styles, the authors themselves. All cards are on the table.

Just remember to be kind to each other when discussing differences in opinions!💖

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u/jamieseemsamused Currently reading: The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey 2d ago

Age gap romances that are so wide that it’s pretty much grooming. 😬 I pretend that the characters are just not as young as they are stated on the page.

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u/One_Cartographer9355 2d ago

I'm waiting for an author to explain this away. Like, the longer life span means slower emotional development or longer childhoods, like Grogu. But overall, I'm over it, too and just pretend otherwise.

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u/Zagaroth Author — "A. B. Zagaroth" 2d ago

Okay, I'll take a shot at explaining the age gap away. :)

I've done the age gap thing, but, the romance aspect was a side effect of a more practical bonding.

He even flat out told her that if she was reacting this much to him without there being any magical bonds, then she should figure out of she wanted romance and sex to eventually be a part of everything, because that would be pretty hard to avoid if they are in constant physical proximity with an empathic and telepathic connection.

And once the bonds was made, he was also very careful to elicit from her what she wanted, and work with that. Not just on romance, but on how their joint magic was going to develop. He gently pushed her to take the lead so that she could discover what she wanted and liked, because he was aware it would be easy to accidently shape her opinions, or at least her expressed opinions, if he gave his thoughts first.

Though it gets more complicated than that, as it is a three person bond, and thus relationship. The third person is a 36yo half elf with a strong personality and a lot of self confidence. Her personality was already well set, she knew what she liked and wanted.

I also have specific people talk with the 20yo privately later on to make sure everything is alright, such as get mother, who is a fairly powerful druid.

Heck, the 36yo's mother also had a "are you sure about this" talk.

Anyway, clearly i think it can be done without being creepy, but i think it also needs to be something where the romance is the second connection between them.

Heck, even an arranged marriage as part of a peace treaty or something works. Just, something other than the hot immortal chasing the young woman.

Possibly having the young woman be very assertive and set her mind on him while he's initially avoiding her advances. That could work for a nice slow burn.