History PlayingWith / TheMasochismTango

* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob fight often, and have hurt one another many times. But they are nonetheless rather obsessed with each other, and do care about each other deeply. Their intense fights are usually matched by intense sex.

** Alice and Bob's relationship began as BelligerentSexualTension. They moved from ''[[UnresolvedSexualTension sexual tension]]'' to ''sex'' without ever altering the ''belligerent'' part.

** SickeninglySweethearts: Alice and Bob's relationship is loving, and free of conflict.

* '''Parodied''': ???

* '''Invoked''': Alice and Bob are "broken goods" and accept that they will not be able to show love in a conventional way -- they still try to follow [[SafeSaneAndConsensual a certain set of rules]] in their "masochism" play, though, to prevent things from actually hurting them.

* ''' Deconstructed''': After talking about it with some friends, Alice breaks up with Bob because--although she loves him--she thinks they would both be happier without each other. Alice goes on to have a much more peaceful relationship with Dan.
* ''' Reconstructed''': Two years later, Alice breaks up with Dan to get back together with Bob. When her friends ask about it, Alice explains her reasoning saying: "Bob makes me feel more ''alive'', not just more ''comfortable''. Choosing something just because it's easier--it would be the cowardly choice, and I know I would've regretted it eventually."

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:

%%* ''' Implied''':
%%* '''Played For Laughs''':
%%* '''Played For Drama''':

* '''Discussed''':
-->'''Carol''': Look, I know that "each awful family is awful in its own way," or however that quote goes, is a fact of life, but what kind of freaking malfunction made them decide that acting 99.999% of the time like they're gonna kill each other and that remaining .1% they go all "I love him!" was the way to go with their damn relationship?

* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob fight often, and have hurt one another many times. But they are nonetheless rather obsessed with each other, and their intense fights are usually matched by intense sex.

* '''Justified''': Alice and Bob's relationship began as BelligerentSexualTension. They moved from ''[[UnresolvedSexualTension sexual tension]]'' to ''sex'' without ever altering the ''belligerent'' part.
* '''Inverted''': Alice and Bob detest each other's guts but they have decided for some reason to pretend they are SickeninglySweethearts.
* '''Subverted''': AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther
* '''Double Subverted''': Act of true love aside, and it is ''definitely'' an act of true, self-sacrificing, unashamed love (not just saying a knee-jerk "I love you" or random sweet (''not'' wild) [[CoitusEnsues love-making]]), the relationship of Alice and Bob still revolves around a 99% of on-screen insult-flinging, at its most mild.
* '''Parodied''': ??

-->'''Carol''': Why are Alice and Bob still together?

* '''Exploited''': Jim the BigBad makes Alice and Bob [[HeroWithBadPublicity Heroes with Bad Publicity]] by convincing everybody else in the cast that their relationship is not "vitriolic yet loving" but rather flat-out abusive.

* '''Discussed''': "Look, I know that 'each awful family is awful in its own way', or however that quote goes, is a fact of life, but what kind of freaking malfunction made them decide that acting 99.999% of the time like they're gonna kill each other and that remaining .1% they go all "I love him!" was the way to go with their damn relationship?"
* '''Conversed''': ??
* '''Played For Laughs''': AwfulWeddedLife characterized by ComedicSociopathy
* '''Played For Drama''': DestructiveRomance

%%* ''' Deconstructed ''':
%%* ''' Reconstructed ''':

* '''Inverted''': ??

* '''Double Subverted''': ??

* '''Invoked''': ??
* '''Exploited''': ??
* '''Defied''': ??
* '''Discussed''': ??

'''Basic Trope''': An intense and turbulent romantic relationship that takes a toll on the people involved, but which the narrative stops just shy of explicitly portraying as unambiguously destructive.
* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob have a passionate relationship. They fight often, and have hurt one another many times. But they are nonetheless rather obsessed with each other, and their intense fights are usually matched by intense sex.

'''Basic Trope''': A passionate romantic relationship that takes a toll on the people involved, but which the narrative stops just shy of explicitly portraying as unambiguously destructive.
* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob have a passionate, turbulent relationship. They fight often, and have hurt one another many times. But they are nonetheless rather obsessed with each other, and their intense fights are usually matched by intense sex.

* '''Enforced''': BreakUpMakeUpScenario