I'm very burned out on romance RP-wise so I'm not really interested in it. That said, my favorite type is romantic friendship--that is, not necessarily a direct and traditional romance, but friends who are close enough that a degree of intimacy (not necessarily sexual) is a normal extension of the friendship. If you extrapolate that into a traditional romance it's the sort of deal where characters are friends first and foremost, and lovers second.
I guess, what I'm saying here is my preferred romance is to take the emotional intensity and intimacy you would otherwise put into a romance and roll that into bonds between friends--but to not quite take that last leap to lovers, even though outsiders may read some of the behavior between the characters as such at times. The kinds of bonds of brother- and sisterhood where you wouldn't merely die for your comrade, but also live for them. There's an awful lot of the former, but not nearly enough of the latter. From a purely storytelling perspective I consider that a sort of romance since it fills that role emotionally.
I guess, what I'm saying here is my preferred romance is to take the emotional intensity and intimacy you would otherwise put into a romance and roll that into bonds between friends--but to not quite take that last leap to lovers, even though outsiders may read some of the behavior between the characters as such at times. The kinds of bonds of brother- and sisterhood where you wouldn't merely die for your comrade, but also live for them. There's an awful lot of the former, but not nearly enough of the latter. From a purely storytelling perspective I consider that a sort of romance since it fills that role emotionally.
