History Main / StrangledByTheRedString

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Mariano and Dolores. He spends 90% percent of his screentime mooning over her cousin Isabela, and through the first half of the film, they are basically engaged-to-be-engaged. We have no idea Dolores is even attracted to him until he shows up at the house to propose to Isabela, where Dolores sings that her psychic uncle told her the man she loved would be engaged to another. Even after that, and after it's revealed Isabela doesn't really love him, they have no direct interaction with each other throughout the whole movie until literally five minutes before the credits role, where she confesses she loves him, and he returns her love immediately.

* WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Some feel the Stolitz relationship is this, feeling that because Blitzo and Stolas have exhibited toxic behavior, especially throughout Season 1, they would not make a good couple and they're better off as acquittances or friends. They also don't like how much focus this aspect of the show gets as it takes focus away from other characters and plot points.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Mariano and Dolores. He spends 90% percent of his screentime mooning over her cousin Isabela, and through the first half of the film, they are basically engaged-to-be-engaged. We have no idea Dolores is even attracted to him until he shows up at the house to propose to Isabela, where Dolores sings that her psychic uncle told her the man she loved would be engaged to another. Even after that, and after it's revealed Isabela doesn't really love him, they have no direct interaction with each other throughout the whole movie until literally five minutes before the credits role, where she confesses she loves him, and he returns her love immediately. Justified as in the main focus of the film was Mirabel saving the miracle and uncovering family secrets. Plus, Mariano did have some time to get over Isabela not loving him during the rebuilding of Casita, which must have taken a few months at the longest, given how they were halfway done when Dolores confessed. In Dolores' defense, when Mariano asks her to marry him, she tells him to slow down.

Not every RomanceArc gets the luxury of being played out fully to the [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail last detail]]. Sometimes the writers decide that the important part is getting those two characters into a relationship, and [[HandWave the rest will somehow sort itself out]]. The result is that the two characters go through a leap of characterization all the way to a RelationshipUpgrade without any of the usual in-betweens; apparently Cupid forgot to tie the RedStringOfFate on the lovers' pinkies at birth, and in a desperate attempt to save face he ended up garroting them with it in a back alley while he thought the audience wasn't paying attention.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'': Although Kim and Ron becoming an OfficialCouple at the end was widely praised, the execution has been criticized by some who argue that the way Kim suddenly found herself falling for Ron felt rushed or abrupt. This is despite the entire series [[ShipTease teasing]] and hinting that Kim and Ron were always in love with each other but were completely oblivious to their own feelings.

* ''Webcomic/{{Alfie}}'': Alfie/Ozge comes more or less out of nowhere, and is nearly immediately ruined by Alfie being Alfie.

** ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'' at one point features a scene where the eponymous character suddenly decides to tell Abby Mallard that he always thought she was "extremely attractive" (despite her being a blatant {{gonk}}) and gives her a kiss, much to her delight. The film has absolutely no hints prior to this scene that Chicken Little has a crush on Abby or vice versa, and even afterwards they have exactly one other romantic interaction near the end of the film where they [[AccidentalHandHold accidentally touch hands]] while both reaching for the same bucket of popcorn.

* ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'': Maggie and Bob. Considering she's openly disgusted by the bulls in every earlier encounter, it comes out of nowhere.

Possibly the two characters have had little to no interaction prior to their sudden onset of romantic involvement, or they had, and even plenty, but it was never romantic in nature, and seems to have spontaneously transformed into such without any apparent reason. In more borderline cases, this can happen even when the two characters ''have'' shown interest in each other, in some form or another; it's the placement, pacing, and timing that are off. An audience tends to know the kind of emotional process a person goes through when entering a romantic relationship, and will not be happy past a certain line of too little of this process and too much conveniently dramatic payoff. This goes double if it sinks a pairing that ''is'' better built-up; except that to quickly become a FanPreferredCouple.

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* In ''Fanfic/TheElementsOfFriendship'', one common complaint is that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's romance came out of nowhere. This got an Author's Saving Throw where it's stated they got together quickly when [=NightMare=] Moon's reign started, and they decide to cancel their wedding.
* ''Fanfic/TheLastPrayer'': Naruto's relationships with most of his future wives are built up fairly organically over time. ''Most''. Despite being a future wife, Tenten disappears from the story for roughly twenty chapters, leading many readers to forget she's even present, and is only in the harem because she's ordered to be. Meanwhile, Hinata makes functionally zero progress with Naruto even after she learns he's getting married. It's not until she learns he's marrying several women and is already in a relationship with at least two that she admits her feelings, at which point Naruto not only immediately reciprocates but insists that he'd abandon all the other women he loves if she wants him to[[note]]For comparison, Naruto explained to others such as Temari that he's polyamorous and that his interest in multiple women wasn't negotiable if they're going to pursue a relationship with him[[/note]]. Notably, latecomers like Samui and Mei saw more development in only a few chapters than Hinata or Tenten saw in over thirty.
* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12879916/1/The-Longest-Road The Longest Road]]'' attempts to be a retelling of the original series, albeit tweaked to make Ash and Misty into the OfficialCouple. The author has Ash and Misty fall in love with each other within the span of about two months of real time, and from then on, they just become SickeninglySweethearts, as the story can't stop rubbing in the readers' faces how much they gush about each other.

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Marius and Cosette fall in love having only seen each other once, for a few seconds, in the street. The next time they meet they're declaring undying love for each other (A Heart Full Of Love), much to the despair of poor Eponine who's fancied Marius for ages. This is made worse by the AdaptationDistillation: in the book, they know each other for much longer before either shows any romantic inclination.
* ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'' is (or could be, depending on how it's read) a particularly bad example of this: Duke Vincentio proposes to Isabella at the end even though they've known each other for about two days and the entire plot revolved around Isabella not wanting to give up her chastity and monastic life. Of course, she never explicitly says yes, so a director can play this any way he wants. This is one of the many clues that make people think this play is problematic on purpose -- that Shakespeare was trying to make his viewers uncomfortable. It's technically a comedy (it has a wedding at the end), but it's a damn squicky and creepy comedy.

* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'': Oscar and Angie’s romantic subplot spends most of the film being entirely one-sided on Angie's end, while Oscar doesn't show any indication of returning her feelings (or even caring about her well-being to begin with) until the third act, giving the impression that the writers just had them end up together because it was mandatory for the male and female lead to end up together.

A LastMinuteHookup can result in this, or serve as damage control. The potential problems are all still there, but at least they're not going to grow out of control throughout the rest of the plot since there's no rest of the plot left. Still, this can make [[PostscriptSeason unexpected sequels]] [[DowntimeDowngrade rather awkward]], even assuming that [[FanonDiscontinuity the audience can stomach the original strangulation]]. If the work is an adaption, it may be an AdaptationInducedPlotHole. The couple may have evolved over time at the original work, and the adaption may rush things into the romance, because it's one of the key aspects of the original work and ''has'' to be included, no matter what.

* Elizabeth and Anthony in ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse''. It was bad enough that Elizabeth dumped two other boyfriends that she had better chemistry with for Anthony. It was worse that Anthony was still married when they got together for good. It was even worse when Anthony's ex-wife was villiainized as a horrible woman for ''daring'' to avert StayInTheKitchen and suspecting that Anthony was cheating on her (Even though he ''was'', and even though he promised he'd be a HouseHusband when he convinced Therese to get pregnant, then went back on his word.) What probably puts it in this trope the most is how ''everyone'' talked up this pairing, from Elizabeth's parents to their mutual friends to ''the author'', with the only person with reservations being TheUnfavourite of Elizabeth's family. And don't even mention the "[[AttemptedRape going]] [[RapePortrayedAsRedemption after]]" if you want to avoid a FlameWar.

* ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' is not seen as a bastion of compelling romantic writing, and as a result, ends up very prone to this. The largest is the TriangRelations at the story's center: Ebony gets involved with Draco and Vampire Potter almost immediately after about two conversations with either and spends the rest of it pining for them, going on dates with them, having sex with them, and struggling to choose between them for no apparent reason other than them being hot goffick boys that she loves having sex with. Not much better is when she time-travels back to meet Tom Riddle, whom she immediately hooks up with for very little reason (and while skating over the above TriangRelations).

* Kyle and the Annihilator of ''The Young Protectors''. Before the comic even progressed past the ''prologue'', the two are all but professing their undying love for each other with Kyle insisting that he wants to have his first-ever sexual experience with the world's most notorious supervillain and has absolutely no doubts about it (in spite of being terrified for years of even having ADateWithRosiePalms due to [[spoiler:his fire-based powers being fueled by emotion, which includes orgasm]]), and said notorious supervillain declaring that he wants to reform himself for Kyle even though he's never had any second thoughts about his supervillain career before. Before this, they had a single kiss in a back alley and a single dinner date. Add to that Kyle being only seventeen years old and the Annihilator being ''fifty-eight'' years old, something that doesn't give either of them more than the slightest hesitation... [[spoiler:which was [[IntendedAudienceReaction entirely the point]]. The comic, up through half of the second chapter, was busy {{invok|edTrope}}ing, {{subvert|edTrope}}ing and {{exploit|edTrope}}ing all things LoveAtFirstSight, ''particularly'' of the standard [[YaoiGenre Boys' Love]] variety. Kyle, being a lonely, closeted seventeen-year-old with [[CelibateHero self-enforced celibacy]], lacks much experience with adult life and ''any'' with romance, leaving him extremely susceptible to seduction from the resident ManipulativeBastard, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything who abandons him the moment he gets what he wants.]]]]