Summary: shippers still ruin everything.

Yeah, it’s pretty rare. I know only one couple that married after being childhood friends. But in fiction, what is the alternative?

Let’s reduce this trope’s prevalence to how often it happens in real life. Or at least closer to a generous 10 percent of the time.

I don’t think it’s weird or creepy, even if it is a trope. There can be similar arguments made for why it’s fine. But I do agree wholeheartedly with the second point about the protagonist not having dated another person. That’s not a particularly endearing plot point for me.

Is it necessarily creepy though?

No, just cause something doesn’t often happen in real life does not at all mean that it shouldn’t happen often in books. If you want dark, gloomy, and “realistic” that’s totally fine, but it doesn’t always have it’s place. Not liking it because it’s been done a million times is understandable; but as it’s an element…

The very definition of a romantic comedy is, for the most part, every one gets together at the end throughout all of the screwball things that happen. That’s like saying you hate that war movies have battle scenes.

Storytelling needs more density than real life, and doesn’t really have the room for characters coming and going as they like, dating other people for months only to break up and cheat on each other for silly and insignificant reasons.

While I agree that this isn’t normal and is a little odd I’m not sure I’d say it was creepy (side note: can we stop calling things “harmful” when they are literally not causing any harm to anyone anywhere in any way? I realize you said “Not because it’s harmful” but I get the feeling, from the tone, that you meant…

Fun fact: I’m with a girl I’ve known since Kindergarten. I’m 40. There’s nothing creepy about it. It’s not like I spent my whole life with her. We had our lives apart for years. It’s uncommon, but not unheard of.

My fathers parents grew up together as friends and later in life married. Fuck you for saying they’re creepy.

I will admit it’s a contrivance, but I’d say it’s a bit of a reach to call it creepy. If we’ve known the characters since they were kids, why should it matter if they marry their child-hood sweethearts or some rando? It doesn’t change the fact that we knew the main character as a kid.

I think these are safe bets because it’s what sells to teens. I mean, If you want sophistication read something not labeled as YA.

I honestly don’t find it particularly creepy. Especially in Harry Potter, where JK takes great pains to establish what a deep bond our lead characters have since they have spent seven full years fighting evil incarnate and she spends 3000 pages tracing the arcs of their friendship.

Huh? I have respect for this website and the author but I find this whole article bizarre. I know LOTS of people who met as kids and fell in love as adults. Are they “really weird” or tropes? It’s not uncommon.

Heh, I don’t know. I get the argument that it is overused, and yeah, it ain’t super realistic, but it’s part of the fantasy. “Childhood’s friends become lovers” is a romantic fantasy that has been around for a long time, and it can be pretty cute when done well.

To quote Ignignokt: “Well, that sounds like a personal problem.”

I’ve known a lot of people that got married to childhood friends or school mates.

I’ve never heard anyone complain about it happening in movies/tv/books. For me, whenever I get upset about something trivial like that I remind myself that it’s a book/movie/game/whatever I need to not take it so seriously.

I married the first person that I dated. Divorced her, too. The second part wasn’t so storybook.