Fannish 50 - #2 - Time Travel Romance
Saturday, 17 January 2026 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
temrisNow that my finals are done and hopefully I'm done with this (incredibly tediously long) semester, I'll continue posting for Fannish 50.
I thought about what I should talk about today, and had some ideas, but in the end decided upon touching the subject of one of my favorite genres in media: Time travel romance.
Ever since I was a kid, I had such a big interest in history (I'm sure it's not apparent! xD) Even back then, though I enjoyed fantastic elements too, I always preferred when the media was set in a rather realistic setting -- as in, not "fantasy" -- and this is still compliant with my current preference. [Listen. I understand the appeal, but we already have so many of them, guys (especially medieval fantasy). Let us enjoy a good adventure that has its feet on the ground once in a while!]
So you might think; then why do you enjoy a trope that's literally supernatural in its core?
One of the biggest reasons why I love reading books or watching movies is like many others, to escape from the stress, responsibilities and worries of real life. So then, isn't time travel romance, when it puts the modern person into historical settings, exactly doing the same thing? Maybe that's why, even with such partiality to realism, I find myself running to time travel, a very fantastic element, in times especially when I feel very down; because at their foundation, romance stories are for the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist.
Another appeal: The shenanigans of how they try to adapt to their new situations (this is better to watch when the historical person is thrown to the modern world), to deal with vastly different views of the era, are always fun to explore. When the research is done well, the characterizations are well-written, you get basically two people on opposite sides of time finding love. Isn't that beautiful? They try to understand the others' upbringing, the way their world is shaped, just for trying to work it out with them. Sacrificing from those values, researching on how to be more on par with their preferences and their "normal"s... I don't know. It's just good.
Also, men back then were actually mostly capable of what they claimed to be; crafting, creating, cooking, building, fighting, strong, protective... Yeah, the traditional masculinity when it's done well is incredibly hot -- I'm not going to try to lie!
Even at the core of calling myself "a very surface level person", I LOVE romance stuff. So maybe, it's the fact that I'll never experience something like that (meeting a historical person) appeals to me also... xD
Anyway! So, I'll try to pick some of my favorite books, movies, series, games, anime... with time travel romance in random order.
It has been some time since I've seen this movie, but I remember Hugh Jackman was so dreamy in this movie. He's from an era that I'm not particularly interested in, ngl so the clothings are not so much to my liking (it's still better and miles ahead than the crap men wear nowadays, and the costumes were really well done!) but even then he looked so handsome during the entire movie.
Also, it's the other way around like I mentioned, the historical person travels to the modern era, so the way he tried to get used to such a changed world, was very fun to see. There's a scene where he catches a burglar that stole Kate's bag, and Leopold comes out with a freaking horse!! That's exactly what I meant when I say the idea of traditional masculinity working out when it's done well. The way he says "Your hand, woman!" and grabs her to put her behind on the horse, is sooo 😭🙈❤ He also prepares dinner for her and Hugh Jackman just looks so handsome when he's even cutting some vegetables -- I was drooling I'm sorry. 😭 There's even a princess carry which is one of my favorite things EVER. AAAH Just!!
I also felt both the romance and the ending was rushed, but it's a good watch.
I thought about what I should talk about today, and had some ideas, but in the end decided upon touching the subject of one of my favorite genres in media: Time travel romance.
Ever since I was a kid, I had such a big interest in history (I'm sure it's not apparent! xD) Even back then, though I enjoyed fantastic elements too, I always preferred when the media was set in a rather realistic setting -- as in, not "fantasy" -- and this is still compliant with my current preference. [Listen. I understand the appeal, but we already have so many of them, guys (especially medieval fantasy). Let us enjoy a good adventure that has its feet on the ground once in a while!]
So you might think; then why do you enjoy a trope that's literally supernatural in its core?
One of the biggest reasons why I love reading books or watching movies is like many others, to escape from the stress, responsibilities and worries of real life. So then, isn't time travel romance, when it puts the modern person into historical settings, exactly doing the same thing? Maybe that's why, even with such partiality to realism, I find myself running to time travel, a very fantastic element, in times especially when I feel very down; because at their foundation, romance stories are for the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist.
Another appeal: The shenanigans of how they try to adapt to their new situations (this is better to watch when the historical person is thrown to the modern world), to deal with vastly different views of the era, are always fun to explore. When the research is done well, the characterizations are well-written, you get basically two people on opposite sides of time finding love. Isn't that beautiful? They try to understand the others' upbringing, the way their world is shaped, just for trying to work it out with them. Sacrificing from those values, researching on how to be more on par with their preferences and their "normal"s... I don't know. It's just good.
Also, men back then were actually mostly capable of what they claimed to be; crafting, creating, cooking, building, fighting, strong, protective... Yeah, the traditional masculinity when it's done well is incredibly hot -- I'm not going to try to lie!
Even at the core of calling myself "a very surface level person", I LOVE romance stuff. So maybe, it's the fact that I'll never experience something like that (meeting a historical person) appeals to me also... xD
Anyway! So, I'll try to pick some of my favorite books, movies, series, games, anime... with time travel romance in random order.
It has been some time since I've seen this movie, but I remember Hugh Jackman was so dreamy in this movie. He's from an era that I'm not particularly interested in, ngl so the clothings are not so much to my liking (it's still better and miles ahead than the crap men wear nowadays, and the costumes were really well done!) but even then he looked so handsome during the entire movie.
Also, it's the other way around like I mentioned, the historical person travels to the modern era, so the way he tried to get used to such a changed world, was very fun to see. There's a scene where he catches a burglar that stole Kate's bag, and Leopold comes out with a freaking horse!! That's exactly what I meant when I say the idea of traditional masculinity working out when it's done well. The way he says "Your hand, woman!" and grabs her to put her behind on the horse, is sooo 😭🙈❤ He also prepares dinner for her and Hugh Jackman just looks so handsome when he's even cutting some vegetables -- I was drooling I'm sorry. 😭 There's even a princess carry which is one of my favorite things EVER. AAAH Just!!
I also felt both the romance and the ending was rushed, but it's a good watch.
