Compatibility by any other name

Often people ask, “Do I love them?” Seldom do they ask, “Can I love them when I live underwater and they swim in starlight?” The former breeds novels. The latter births research papers.

When it comes to romances across Fantasy and Science Fiction there is a trend to make the partners of differing species. Humans marrying Elves is commonplace, and romance authors may be trying to breed jumping sharks with their combinations. Yet often there is a question lurking under the bed and in the sock drawer: How would that work? Interspecies relationships have three bundles of practical issues that often ruin the romance. Thus today’s topic is centered on biology and logistics rather than philosophy, that’s in two weeks. This week is questioning can the mermaid marry the dwarf, and why it’s probably a bad idea for ladies to chase after minotaurs. Thus we will dive into the issues of environment, children, and lifespans.

Environment is the first hurdle, let’s say we have a dwarf and a skyfolk, clearly they are in different spaces. The dwarf has his tunnels and burrows. Generally small underground spaces of security stability and legacy. Skyfolk are nomadic, meaning she’s at home wherever the wind is in her feathers and sun is on her back. Their environments are on rather opposite ends of a spectrum, meaning while not impossible if their romance is a part of the plot; one has to address it. How it gets addressed will build up the story, making it feel more complete. While environment implying lifestyle is possible, some times there are more tangible concerns. These tend to pop up in sci-fi more than fantasy, as sci-fi writers like to play with gravity and atmosphere contents. If an atmosphere, gravity ammount, or any other set of variables make it impossible for the two to interact. It becomes very difficult to start a romance, I refuse to say impossible because where there’s a will there’s a way and the heart is very willful. Yet the farther the incompatibility of the environments our two lovers come from, the more book that needs to happen before each date. This means that to the worldbuilder knowing which species are of similar environments gives them two useful levers, contact and a degree of compatibility. Contact means they will have more contact with each other, generally speaking the more contact one has with any other the more odds romance will start. Compatibility in this sense isn’t the personal kind, but rather how physically similar are the requirements to live and thus lowering the barriers to romance.

There is another kind of compatibility that needs to be addressed, offspring. While most romance books launch their ‘happily ever after’ before the subject comes up, it will impact a lot of the social and philosophical angles for next week. Thus one has to think about how both species produce children and if there will be any issues in doing so. If the two species are compatible physically, there’s then the question of children. There are three options: they can’t, they can but their children cannot have children, or their children will be able to have children as their own. This will be one of the core pivots in the next installment. Yet in the more practical terms the issue of surviving the whole process is one that cannot be ignored. Size is the one that hopefully shouldn’t need any explanation. Then there is the questions of spikes, claws, and other sharp things that may end up inside of the mother, should that be the route the species take. I will leave elaboration of the complications up to your imagination, and medical dramas. This is also hand waiving how much of one or the other species may influence the gestation.

That leads into the last question can the two follow the same pace of life. Humans and elves make for good example of the issue. Depending on the specifics, elves may just go though life at 1/10th the speed. Meaning that elves would take three human generations to grow up. This changes how they see each other, meaning another lever for next week. Yet it also changes some of the evolution. If we have an elf, she’s 180. He’s a human man of 23. Upside, she’s going to stay the same his entire life; downside she’s going to stay the same his entire life. Meaning when he’s old, with aches pains and gray hair; she’s 230 and where he was at the beginning of their relationship. That can be a big split in the stages of life, which can cause strain. Not something that can be overcome, but something that needs to be taken into account when plotting out the relationship and how the relationship progresses. Likewise it’s important to think about what that does to the family, if great grandmother is still alive because she started the family two hundred years ago. She could coach her grand or great grand children though their children while having another of her own. That possibility will change how people approach the game.

While this is a high level overview of the more practical issues this is by no means the extensive list, yet the sanity-check list would be:

• Environment

  • physical

  • social

• Children

  • Possible

    • grandchildren possible

    • grandchildren not possible

  • Not possible

• Lifetime

  • stage drift

  • generational drift

Interspecies romances requires careful set up, and an understanding of the two species of involved. If the air, blood, and time don’t line up it will become the subtle antagonist. The challenges to get in the same room, the challenges to build a family, a legacy. If that is proven to be an impossible the tragedy can spend generations. Thus treat this as the first check, before you commit to pushing the romance, check the compatibility: environment, children and lifespan. Regardless if there are worlds of difference or a few key details those will become tools to challenge the lovers.

In two weeks we will shift from bodies to boundaries: How do the societies react to these unions and how do they treat them. Do they force these relationships into the sphere of taboo, or do they embrace them?

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