Basic Trope: One character tells their non-love interest they love them.
- Straight: Bob tells his best friend Alice that he loves her.
- Exaggerated: Bob tells every one of his friends and family members that he loves them.
- Downplayed:
- Bob says, "I-I love— I, um, like you a lot, Alice. Not like I want to be your boyfriend."
- Bob includes Alice in a number of "the people I love", one of whom is his girlfriend, Eva, to whom he is happily and monogamously engaged.
- Justified: Bob and Alice have been through a lot together, and their relationship is deep enough to be called love.
- Inverted:
- Bob tells Alice that he loves her and means it in a romantic way.
- Bob tells Alice that he hates her in a way that lets her know that he's not actually serious about it.
- Subverted: Bob tells Alice he loves her. She thinks he means as a friend, but then he asks her out on a date.
- Double Subverted: But it turns out what he really wants is for her to help him practice, so he can approach Carol.
- Parodied: Bob recites William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?") to Alice, while making it clear that he has no romantic interest in her.
- Zig Zagged: Bob tells Alice he loves her. She thinks he means as friends and is startled when he asks her on a date. Then she finds out it' more of a practice date. But although Bob has a short relationship with Carol, he decides she's not the one for him and reapproaches Alice about becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.
- Averted: No one says "I love you" in the story.
- Enforced: The authors are trying to focus on different types of love in the story and so have Bob say "I love you" to a friend or family member rather than to a love interest.
- Lampshaded: "I love you...not like I want to start kissing or anything."
- Invoked: Bob deliberately tells Alice he loves her in order to gauge her reaction and potentially start a romantic relationship.
- Exploited: Bob tells Alice he loves her, knowing that she has strong feelings for him, in order to manipulate her into doing something for him.
- Defied: When Bob tries to tell Alice he loves her, she puts a hand over his mouth — she knows, but doesn't want to get too mushy about it.
- Discussed: Characters in the story have a conversation about the significance of saying "I love you" to someone who is not a romantic partner.
- Conversed: "Characters in movies sometimes say "I love you" to people other than their Love Interests."
- Implied: Bob and Alice share a meaningful look or a subtle gesture that implies their feelings for each other without explicitly saying "I love you."
- Plotted A Good Waste: Bob, knowing that Alice has no romantic interest in him, still decides to tell her he loves her as a way of venting his feelings, even though he knows it won't lead to a romantic relationship.
- Played For Laughs: Bob stumbles over his words while trying to tell Alice he loves her, resulting in a series of humorous misunderstandings and awkward moments.
- Played For Drama: Bob's confession of love to Alice is accompanied by emotional music and intense cinematography, highlighting the depth of his feelings and creating a poignant and dramatic moment.
- Deconstructed: Bob's confession of love to Alice is analyzed and explored in a realistic manner, examining the potential consequences and complexities that arise from such a declaration. It delves into the uncertainties, fears, and possible complications that can arise in their relationship as a result.
- Reconstructed: Bob tells Alice he loves her, and even though she doesn't initially feel the same way, their friendship deepens, and they navigate their feelings together, eventually developing a stronger bond.
Back to Platonic Declaration of Love.
