Thread:MPK/@comment-31421-20160211164756

I had a thought on this one after reading it. For one, I'm not about to defend the puerile plotlines you encountered on that kotor fan site. I think you know my tastes a little too well.

I agree with you in categorically rejecting the notion that a conventional romance is out of place for most/all the characters in KotOR II. However, you and I differ in that I also reject the notion that the only romance worth exploring in those games is a tragic, unrealized one where love is unexpressed or unrequited, typically right before someone dies. On the contrary, wounded people like those we find in KotOR II will often go running into the arms of the nearest strong person they can for solace. No, it wouldn't be a sweet, innocent romance like those angsty storylines you encountered. That's a load. But severe emotional trauma does not preclude someone from forming relationships and attachments and sometimes even encourages it. You say that would serve no purpose&mdash;but it would, in that it shows the character is seeking emotional stability through the relationship. And that leads to all sorts of interesting angles...e.g, a Visas/M-Exile pairing could have that stability tested when they encounter Darth Clownfa...er, Darth Nihlius. A Mical/F-Exile pairing would be much less interesting, but an Atton/F-Exile pairing would be throwing two people who are teetering on emotional stability into a blender together and clinging to each other even as their own senses of identity and self-worth are going crazy. It wouldn't be a sweet, romantic love story. It would be hard and messy and full of emotional volatility and in short, all of the things that really ramp up the tension in a story as well as give the villain another angle to exploit.

And that's the romance angle I think would be interesting in KotOR stories. Two damaged people trying to find solace in each other despite all the other crazy stuff in their life. For a canon example, don't think Kell & Tyria. Think Myn Donos & Lara Notsil. Allston does a masterful job of throwing a bunch of emotionally damaged people together and letting them develop. It would be a mistake IMO to discount the romantic angle just because of severe emotional trauma. Sometimes such people pursue love in all the wrong places out of desperation and a search for stability. By no means would I ever rule out that angle from KotOR II storylines as long as it was done with the proper mindset (not wish fulfillment). 