Fish Out of Water, Head Over Heels

Something I need to admit: I have a weakness for fictional men who are extraordinarily intelligent but completely baffled by every day social interactions or having to learn customs of being in a new location.

Please give me a supernatural being who can perceive things beyond human comprehension. Then introduce him to a cup of coffee, hehe.

That's where the real fun begins!

I find it so charming watching a highly competent character struggle with things the rest of us barely think about. Everyday expressions, social customs, flirting, and the expectation that everybody should understand sarcasm.

I love the fish-out-of-water romance trope for exactly this reason.

In fiction, the fish-out-of-water trope places a character in an unfamiliar environment where the usual rules, customs, or expectations no longer apply. Fantasy romance makes this especially fun because that unfamiliar environment can be an entirely different universe with all sorts o' rules.

And when you add romantic attraction to the mix?

Friends, we're in for a treat.

When Being a Genius Doesn't Help You Understand a Joke

One of my favorite things about fish-out-of-water characters is watching their intelligence become useless in certain situations.

They might understand the laws governing reality, but heaven forbid somebody uses a figure of speech or a metaphor.

Why would somebody say they're dying of laughter when they are clearly alive? Why do people insist that a piece of paper has monetary value? And why is everybody so emotionally attached to coffee?

To be real, these are reasonable questions.

What I enjoy is that the character isn't necessarily wrong. Sometimes they're pointing out the absurdity of things we've simply accepted as normal!

We don't question these customs because most of use have grown up with them.

But introduce somebody who has no reason to accept them, reality becomes weird...

I feel like part of that is what makes the trope so entertaining. We're discovering how strange our own life can be through their eyes.

And occasionally, I find myself agreeing with the confused supernatural stranger.

Why DO people insist that a piece of paper has monetary value?

Competence Is Attractive and Confusion Can Be Too.

I want to clarify something.

I don't necessarily want my fish-out-of-water characters to be helpless or written off as stupid.

In fact, I find the trope much more interesting when the character is capable in their own environment.

They have their unique skills, knowledge, confidence etc. Maybe even an inflated opinion of how things "should" work.

But then they're dropped somewhere those abilities don't solve every problem.

And suddenly, a perfectly composed individual has to ask somebody how to purchase groceries.

Wonderful!

A character can be brilliant, powerful, or intimidating while still being utterly bewildered by the person they're attracted to.

Especially when that person finds their confusion entertaining or endearing.

But the important thing for me is that neither character needs to become incompetent for the romance to develop.

I want the stranger to retain the qualities that make them fascinating. Of course, I want the local character to have their own strengths too.

The attraction becomes much more interesting when both have something to offer the other.

Which brings me to a certain galaxy-eyed man.

Sylph and Aluma: A Stranger, a Motor Lodge, and Aggressive Coffee

When I was writing Stars Beyond Meridian, an otherworldly fantasy romance set in the fictional world of Nepenthia, I wanted to explore what happens when someone who understands incredibly complex things encounters a world that refuses to behave according to his expectations.

Sylph Astrophel is an extraordinarily intelligent stranger who arrives in Meridian after a mysterious accident.

He has remarkable visual perception, sophisticated technology experience, and the ability to understand mechanical systems that would leave most people scratching their heads.

But, as you probably expected, he's less prepared for the social customs of his new surroundings!

So now we have Aluma Beale.

Aluma runs a modest Motor Lodge outside Meridian Town in the nation of Feiramere. She's friendly, practical, outspoken, and has a habit of helping people even when they are being difficult.

So naturally, when she discovers a strange man beside a wrecked motorcycle during a storm, she offers to brings him back to the lodge.

Sylph, of course, has questions.

Why would she offer him a room?

Why does she keep laughing?

What exactly is the purpose of all these confusing expressions?

Why does anybody voluntarily consume such an aggressive tasting beverage?

What makes their interactions so entertaining to me is that Aluma doesn't care to treat him like some extraordinary cosmic mystery.

Well, not all the time...

She's very curious about his unusual eyes and strange clothing, but she's also willing to tell him when he's being difficult.

And Sylph, despite his considerable intelligence, doesn't always recognize when he's being teased!

At one point, he becomes suspicious of a complimentary piece of caramel because he recognizes the shopkeeper's intention to encourage future purchases.

Technically, he's correct. Socially? Not so much. Free samples are great.

Aluma finds this absolutely hysterical.

I had so much fun writing those exchanges because they're moments where two characters begin understanding each other's personalities.

Learning somebody else's sense of humor is its own form of intimacy!!

The Romance of Learning Someone Else's Language

Another thing I enjoy about fish-out-of-water romance is how communication becomes part of the relationship itself.

Two characters might understand every word the other says and still have absolutely no idea what they're trying to communicate.

A smile could mean affection, amusement, embarrassment, or an attempt to hide something.

A compliment might be received as an observation rather than an invitation.

Flirting?

Hoo boy!

Flirting is complicated enough in the real world...

Now imagine trying to navigate romantic attraction when the other person's social customs are literally out of this world.

For me, that's where the trope becomes especially charming.

I love watching characters develop their own understanding of each other through repeated interactions.

Sylph can perceive changes in Aluma's pulse, body temperature, and countless other physical details.

But understanding why she reacts a certain way is an entirely different matter.

You can have all the information in the world about somebody and still have plenty left to learn.

The Familiar World Needs a Little Wonder, Sometimes

Of course, the fish-out-of-water character isn't the only person who gets to experience something new.

I particularly enjoy when the relationship challenges the person who's supposedly at home, too.

Aluma has spent years running the Motor Lodge. She understands Meridian, its people, and the peculiar routines of her everyday life.

Then Sylph arrives with his constellation-filled eyes.

Things she has never questioned become subjects of intense curiosity.

There's a lovely exchange happening between them.

Aluma teaches Sylph about her world through regular experiences, while Sylph gives her a glimpse of possibilities she never knew existed.

Neither person has to abandon who they are..

Although perhaps Sylph could learn to accept a free piece of candy without interrogating the shopkeeper.

Baby steps.

Beneath the Comedy Is Something a Little More Tender

As much as I enjoy the humor of this trope, I think its emotional potential is what makes me keep coming back to it.

Being somewhere unfamiliar can be exciting.

It can also be lonely.

For a fish-out-of-water character, the strange customs and awkward misunderstandings aren't always amusing from their perspective. They can be constant reminders of everything they've lost or left behind.

A familiar flavor might bring back a memory of home or an object might suddenly feel precious because nothing else around them makes sense.

And being welcomed into a new place doesn't make you miss the old one any less.

That's something I wanted to explore with Sylph.

His experiences in Meridian can be funny, frustrating, and occasionally wonderful, but there's still a life somewhere beyond Nepenthia that matters to him.

Aluma doesn't need to understand every detail of that life to recognize his attachment to it.

She doesn't need to have all the answers, either. She believes kindness is offering somebody a place to rest without expecting anything in return.

For me, the romance becomes meaningful when the characters start recognizing these needs beneath all the entertaining misunderstandings.

The jokes are lovely and the awkward flirting is even better.

But those small moments of consideration are what make me believe two very different people could understand each other.

Falling in Love Is Its Own Fish-Out-of-Water Experience

I think romance makes fish out of all of us.

You can be confident, intelligent, experienced, and perfectly capable of managing your own life.

Then somebody comes along, smiles at you a certain way, and you're questioning every decision you've ever made.

Perhaps that's why the fish-out-of-water romance trope feels so familiar.

"Falling in love" often means learning another person's habits, understanding their peculiarities, and discovering that the universe looks different through their eyes.

You're navigating uncharted territory, even when maybe you've lived in the same town your entire life.

And occasionally, I find that the person who "understands love" better than anybody else turns out to be just as confused about relationships, or anything really, as the rest of us.

Meet Sylph and Aluma in Stars Beyond Meridian

If you enjoy fish-out-of-water romance, supernatural characters, awkward flirting, and love stories filled with humor and unexpected tenderness, Stars Beyond Meridian might be your kind of story.

It's short, punchy and a quick read.

Set in the countryside of Feiramere, it follows Aluma Beale, a Motor Lodge owner whose ordinary life is interrupted by Sylph Astrophel, a mysterious stranger who arrives from a world beyond her own.

There's an unusual motorcycle and a man with stars in his eyes who has an awful lot to learn about Nepenthian social customs.

Fortunately, Aluma is happy to help! Well. Most of the time.

Unlock Stars Beyond Meridian and start reading free.