Romance Arc

The journey of two characters from strangers to lovers.

One of the perennial herbs and spices in the cauldron of storytelling old and new. It's been around a while, it's a major driving force of fiction and it's not going anywhere. A surefire crowd pleaser; probably the only way to really, really screw it up is to overdo it. Induces emotional stakes in an audience like nothing else.

Comes in a myriad forms and flavors. Employs plenty of tropes to get itself across, though a lot of them are mutually exclusive. Like many other tropes, the Romance Arc is looking for a balance: Too many stock derivatives and it's just too much; too few, and it's not much of an arc at all.

See also: Love Tropes; How to Become a Love Interest

Here are some of the common checkpoints of a Romance Arc in typical chronological order.


 * Love Before First Sight
 * Girl of My Dreams
 * Childhood Marriage Promise
 * New Old Flame
 * Because Destiny Says So
 * Red String of Fate
 * Boy Meets Girl
 * Meet Cute
 * Crash Into Hello
 * Falling Into His Arms
 * Returning the Handkerchief
 * The Glomp
 * Samaritan Relationship Starter
 * Rescue Romance
 * She's All Grown Up
 * Fate Drives Us Together
 * Love At First Sight
 * Love At First Note
 * Love At First Punch
 * The Bet
 * Fatal Attraction
 * A Match Made in Stockholm
 * Honey Trap
 * In Love with the Mark
 * Just Friends
 * Not a Date
 * Oblivious to Love
 * Love You and Everybody
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend
 * Like Brother and Sister
 * Literally Loving Thy Neighbor
 * Attractiveness Isolation
 * Testing the Love Interest
 * Will They or Won't They?
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST)
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension
 * Romantic False Lead
 * Operation: Jealousy
 * Wrong Guy First
 * Moment Killer
 * Date Peepers
 * Ship Tease
 * Convenient Slow Dance
 * Chic and Awe
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Sleep Cute
 * Caught in the Rain
 * Playing Hard to Get
 * False Start
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Everyone Can See It
 * Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone
 * Romance Ensues
 * Held Gaze
 * Almost Kiss
 * Redundant Romance Attempt
 * Nothing Is the Same Anymore
 * Unrequited Love Switcheroo
 * Green-Eyed Epiphany
 * Love Epiphany
 * Love Confession
 * Anguished Declaration of Love
 * Dying Declaration of Love
 * Did You Think I Can't Feel?
 * Aborted Declaration of Love
 * Can't Stand Them Can't Live Without Them
 * Maybe Ever After (probable exit point)
 * Relationship Upgrade
 * First Kiss
 * Slap Slap Kiss
 * "Shut Up" Kiss
 * Now or Never Kiss
 * "Falling in Love" Montage
 * Literally Falling in Love
 * Holding Hands
 * Romance Sidequest
 * Twirl of Love
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle
 * That Didn't Happen
 * The First Cut Is the Deepest
 * Relationship Reset Button
 * I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship
 * It's Not You, It's My Enemies
 * Let's Just Be Friends
 * No Sparks (probable exit point)
 * Parental Marriage Veto
 * Boy Loses Girl
 * I Will Wait for You
 * I Have Your Girlfriend
 * Cock Fight
 * Second Act Breakup
 * Downtime Downgrade (where the "Second Act" is either a Sequel or in between episodes)
 * Make Up or Break Up
 * The Masochism Tango
 * Break His Heart to Save Him
 * Your Cheating Heart
 * Break Up Demand
 * Third-Act Misunderstanding
 * Relationship Sabotage
 * Mistaken for Cheating
 * Was It All a Lie?
 * Boy Finds Girl Again
 * Race For Your Love
 * Closed Door Rapport
 * Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?
 * Dead Sparks
 * Meadow Run
 * The Grovel (may involve an Anguished Declaration of Love)
 * Together Umbrella
 * Did Not Get the Girl
 * Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends (exit point; do not pass go; do not collect $200)
 * I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy
 * Pair the Spares
 * Cartwright Curse
 * Derailing Love Interests
 * Death of the Hypotenuse
 * Murder the Hypotenuse
 * Dump Them All (exit point)
 * I Wish You Had Called
 * Her Heart Will Go On (exit point)
 * Someone to Remember Him By
 * They Do (exit point)
 * Hooked Up Afterwards
 * The Big Damn Kiss
 * I Uh You Too
 * With This Ring
 * Happily Married
 * Happily Ever After
 * Babies Ever After
 * Grow Old with Me
 * Together in Death (exit point)
 * Reincarnation Romance (Go back to start)
 * No Romantic Resolution (exit point)