@Renkon Heh, yes the dichotomy can be a challenge at times.

@Magenta @Renkon @ChampagneOnIce I don't think romance and realism are mutually exclusive, though. Think about Jane Austen. The stories are all romances and marriage plots, but they're filled with all these real and practical details around how much money someone makes, and whether the parents are on board, etc. And great Romantic movies like Casablanca or Annie Hall can have these complicated endings that don't resolve neatly because of all the practical issues involved. Romance is wonderful. People change and grow apart. That's both romantic and real. And it's life.

@Harmonium1923 That's a great point you make. I always tend to separate them, hmm but perhaps are more combined. It's what allows one to also see a person's unattractive traits, faults and behaviors (that we all have), yet still love and stand by them. And probably what keeps myself being a bit more enduring. Life, relationships and (some) humans are far from one dimensional.