Innocent Sin v2.0 - Vincent x Lucrecia

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

"...There are some things we cannot let disappear..."​

Innocent Sin is dedicated to the pairing of Vincent and Lucrecia, the tragic romance, and the mistakes that nearly ended the world. It was not started by me, but by...er..someone..else...on ACF, quite a few years ago.

The image is originally from Honeybee Manor...which is apparently gone now, so I'm just going to consider it orphaned.

Love it or hate it, Vincent's feelings for Lucrecia is one of the only canon romantic loves in the compilation, and we are shown the strength of those feelings again and again. He gave his life for her, he mourns for her, time and again he places her wishes and wellbeing above himself, and even years later he still visits the tomb of her consciousness. It is the image and memory of Lucrecia that drives him, guides him, and keeps him together when the demons in his body fight for control.

Though it has been debated over the years, by the end of Dirge of Cerberus we are left with a clear sense that Lucrecia did love Vincent as well, even if she denied it to herself. We have seen how she pushed herself to the edge for his sake, even until the point when her mind and body could no longer take the stresses upon them. He is in her heart and her choices against him among the foremost of her deep regrets.

The Beauty and the Beast, the Crimson Knight and his White Lady.
Warrior of Love. Sliver of Hope.
Valentine and Crescent.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Looking back to darker days getting me down
And if this is Chaos,
I think that I'm in love with clamor;
Tides are turning.
Never understood my undeveloped story,
But it makes sense to me.
You make sense to me.​

Once in a lifetime, I could feel this way...
Once, in a lifetime, you could feel it too.​

When it all falls down, I'll still be right here.
When it all falls down, I'll still be right here.​

— The Undeveloped Story, Anberlin
_________________​

Goals:
To discuss any and all aspects of the complicated relationship between Vincent and Lucrecia. To share thoughts and media regarding the pairing. To allow this unpopular but beautiful pairing a place where it can be appreciated and given the attention it deserves.

Please refrain from:
Flaming members for their views or for any other reason. Any sort of "bashing" of the pairing, or undue amounts of criticism of the pairing for any purpose other than to challenge existing thoughts and gain a better understanding of the couple. (If you want to talk about why Vincent and Lucrecia never were/should/should have been/will be a couple, the VincentXLucrecia fanclub thread is not the place for it. "Ship sinking" will not be tolerated. Do not be rude.)

Members:
Ravynne
Heartway
looneymoon
sephirothpaine
KamuiKeyBlade
Manti
Stella
xAerith
Dante
KissTheRain
Smaddy
...you? =)

 

[Tennyo]

Aha wonderful to have another club. I must say I do support this paring. I may not really ship it, persay (don't really think about Vincent in a romantic sense all that much) but it is undeniable that this pairing is indeed canon (sorry Yuffentine shippers).

But don't forget Cid/Shera! They're canon, too!

 

[spirit_chaser]

but it is undeniable that this pairing is indeed canon

Only Vince is over her in the end of DC

(sorry Yuffentine shippers)

That. Im opening Yuffentine thread!

But don't forget Cid/Shera! They're canon, too!

We should open a thread for them! And name it Tea Drinkers!
I was reading a wonderful Cidera fanfic yesterday =D

 

[Tennyo]

[quote author=spirit_chaser link=topic=217.msg4941#msg4941 date=1230711758]

but it is undeniable that this pairing is indeed canon

Only Vince is over her in the end of DC [/quote]

I wouldn't really call it being "over her" so much as he has finally found forgiveness for his so-called "sins." I think the whole, "It was because of you that I survived," line was supposed to be hinting at that.

Also have fun making those other threads.

 

[Heartway]

OH MAI GOD YES.--Ahem.

Yay. The only pairing in the original game that was actually acknowledged on both sides in one way or another. (Not that Cloti/Cleris is bad or anything.>&gt

Sign me up, darling. ^^

 

[spirit_chaser]

I wouldn't really call it being "over her" so much as he has finally found forgiveness for his so-called "sins." I think the whole, "It was because of you that I survived," line was supposed to be hinting at that.

I believe the correct translation is: "Moreover, thank you. Im going to keep on living".
Then he walks away and Lucrecia shreds a tear. I thought it was clear enough that he got over her.

Anyway, Im not a hater! Not at all.
In fact, I like their story. Despite it being a little too soapy at times.

And here, a little gift from meh 8)

Also have fun making those other threads.

I made Tea Drinkers already xd; Sign up! =D

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

The references to living and surviving, if I recall (because I can't find Souya's translations right now), are usually the same in the Japanese version, but I believe there is actually another meaning for this that I can go into later but I'm getting ready for work right now. ><

Hopefully I can dig up the actual translations, too, with more time. But even if Souya's literal translation says "Moreover, thank you. I'm going to keep on living," it doesn't mean it's more "correct" than Squeenix's translation. They may have translated it the way they did for a reason.

Furthermore, it would by no means indicate that he's "over" her. Between the two translations, I would get the gist that what he means is that he owes the fact that he can keep on living to her. Do you really think he'd be able to get over her—and that quickly??


Interesting graphic! How did you get her with her eyes open?

 

[Tetsujin]

Quickly? I think it was about time.
If there was a way for Lucrecia to get out of her crystal again I'd see a chance for Vince and Lucy, but as long as she's trapping herself there (and it doesn't seem she's getting out ever) it's best for Vince to move on.

 

[spirit_chaser]

Interesting graphic! How did you get her with her eyes open?

Thank you. Its a photomanip
I made another one with her eyes open, `ll post it sometime soon.

 

[Tennyo]

[quote author=Tetsujin link=topic=217.msg5006#msg5006 date=1230734703]
Quickly? I think it was about time.
If there was a way for Lucrecia to get out of her crystal again I'd see a chance for Vince and Lucy, but as long as she's trapping herself there (and it doesn't seem she's getting out ever) it's best for Vince to move on.
[/quote]

That's the point. He's invested so much into it that I doubt there would be such a turn around. But moreover it seems he's ready to stop sulking and start trying. Lucrecia may never come out, but that's her decision. Vincent is ready to live. It doesn't mean he doesn't stil care for her.

 

[sephirothpaine]

VinXLucy is the only FF hedro pairing I can stand for some reason.

So sign me up too!

And here, a little gift from meh  8)

Did she had her eyes open in the crystal or was that an edite? (don't remember her eyes being open in the crystal)

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Quickly? I think it was about time.
If there was a way for Lucrecia to get out of her crystal again I'd see a chance for Vince and Lucy, but as long as she's trapping herself there (and it doesn't seem she's getting out ever) it's best for Vince to move on.

Well, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, and while I did list one of the goals of this club "to discuss any and all aspects of the complicated relationship between Vincent and Lucrecia," which didn't necessarily exclude the possibility of it not existing at all, or at least being in the best interests of all involved parties to not exist, it also seems a bit counterproductive to actually debate the validity of said relationship in a thread that is meant to tribute it.

Simply put, if CloudXSephiroth can exist without having to defend itself, or CloudXZack, or TsengXAeris, or Yuffentine and Valenwind clubs, I see no reason why VxL should find itself under any fire except that most people like Vincent but hate Lucrecia. (And they all should be able to exist without having to defend themselves in their designated areas, IMO.)

That said, if no one minds terribly, I'm going to amend the original statement to clarify that arguments against the pairing (unless they're for the sake of challenging existing ideas to better understand the couple), or any sort of "bashing" of the pairing, would best be taken elsewhere. It's not that I want to deny alternative ways of thinking, but a character or pairing's fanclub should be a safe haven of sorts, no?


As for my thoughts on Vincent's final lines in Dirge of Cerberus, I'll quote exactly what I wrote to Arianna on deviantART a couple of weeks ago:

When Grimoire and Kadaj died, their bodies dissipated into Lifestream right away. When Aeris died, they were able to bury her body underwater, and when Vincent died, Hojo and Lucrecia were able to work on his corpse for who knows how long.

Why the inconsistency?

I've been thinking on this, and on Vincent's words at the end of Dirge of Cerberus— "Thank you... It was you. You were the reason I survived."

Now the first dozen times I heard/read this I took it at face value: Lucrecia is the reason why Vincent survived because she brought him back to life. Duh, right?

But surviving/living and the reasons therefore already have a theme in Dirge of Cerberus. Shalua tells Vincent early in the game that she is searching for her "reason to live," which we later discover to be Shelke. Shelke asks Vincent if he understands why a person would give their life for another person, to which Vincent replies, "When a person has someone they care about that much [he nods toward Shalua's unconscious body here], giving their life...is sometimes the least they can do." Obviously, he is speaking from experience, as he gave his life for Lucrecia because he cared about her "that much."

This draws a parallel between Shalua's love for Shelke and Vincent's love for Lucrecia. And because Shelke was Shalua's reason for continuing on, perhaps it is implied that Lucrecia was Vincent's reason as well. Maybe that's what he really meant when he tells Lucrecia "It was you. You were the reason I survived." And since the last thing Lucrecia said to Vincent before this was, "I'm so sorry...but I'm so happy you survived," it seems to make more sense that he would say "It was because of you and my love for you that I was able to not give up" rather than "I survived because you brought me back to life." Not only does she already know the latter, but Shelke persuaded Vincent to go and say these things to Lucrecia by encouraging him to "Go, tell her how you feel. Tell her what is truly in your heart." Why would what is "truly in his heart" be a simple "you brought me back to life," especially when she already knows that? The meaning of his last line may be deeper than that.

Furthermore, I'd have to look into it, but I think what might have originally set me on this train of thought is that the mentions of "living" and mentions of "surviving" might have been the same in the Japanese dialogue.* In English, one's reason for living and one's reason for surviving have two totally different meanings, and one is significantly more shallow than the other.

Now back to how quickly dead people turn into Lifestream and Vincent's will to live actually having an impact on his survival.

Kadaj was pretty much ready to go on into the Lifestream, and for all we know Grimoire may have been as well. Were Aeris and Vincent "ready" at the times of their respective deaths?

We also see the death of Zack in the compilation. He doesn't dissipate right away, as there is definitely enough time for Cloud to spend a few minutes grieving and then leave the scene, but he dissipates soon after that. We also see a little bit further into his death and get a clear feeling of him being at peace "ready" to accept death.

What about Sephiroth's death (all 50 of them)? He's definitely not ready to accept death and practically defied it just because of this. When his body fell into the reactor at Nibelheim, it did not dissipate into Lifestream; it ended up at the Northern Crater. We also hear of "Sephiroth's will" numerous times and this amazingly strong will being the reason why he was able to accomplish such feats as spawning the SHM out of thin air—just to survive.

In real life, there are people who believe in ghosts—supposedly spirits who have passed away but are unable to "move on" to the afterlife because they have unfinished business that keeps them bound to the living world. Perhaps in FF7 this same idea is manifested in when a deceased person's body returns to the Lifestream.

And if Vincent's body did not dissipate upon his death because his spirit could not move on, and if this was because of Lucrecia, then it would follow that Hojo was only able to experiment upon his corpse and Lucrecia was only able to bring him back to life because he loved her too much to return to the Lifestream upon death. And that would give a whole new to meaning to "Thank you... It was you. You were the reason I survived."

*I think this must have been that last line, which uses the word "survive" in the English game and "live" in Souya's translation, if that quote from spirit_chasrer is correct. Unfortunately, since AC.net and DoC.net both went poof, this is the most complete version of Souya's translation that I can find, and it falls just short of the end of the game.

The other thing I've noticed since coming up with this theory is that the Compilation Ultimania, as recorded on this very site (here, specifically), says that Vincent was only in a "death-like state" but still living, which would of course prevent him from becoming Lifestream. However, in both versions of the game, Hojo speaks of Vincent being dead/decomposing ("to be able to become something useful for the woman he loved after death" in Japanese and "even after he's begun rotting away" in English), and even the Ehrgeiz manual says "After being killed by someone within the Shinra Mansion, Vincent underwent anatomic reconstruction, and was brought back to life."

I wouldn't mind hearing some thoughts on this theory of mine, still.

 

[looneymoon]

I'll join, but I doubt I'll have anything to contribute until I finish/start DoC I am a sucker for drama thiough, and Vincent/Lucrecia was probably one of the most dramatic relationships in the compilation.

Just like to add a little blurb - even if Vincent "gets over" Lucrecia as he supposedly does in DoC, I really don't see him moving on with anyone else. It seems to me that Lucrecia was his one and only. He could probably move on living, but I don't really see him loving anyone the same way again.

This gives me motivation to finally crack open my copy of DoC

 

[sephirothpaine]

[quote author=looneymoon link=topic=217.msg5129#msg5129 date=1230785843]
I'll join, but I doubt I'll have anything to contribute until I finish/start DoC I am a sucker for drama thiough, and Vincent/Lucrecia was probably one of the most dramatic relationships in the compilation.

Just like to add a little blurb - even if Vincent "gets over" Lucrecia as he supposedly does in DoC, I really don't see him moving on with anyone else. It seems to me that Lucrecia was his one and only. He could probably move on living, but I don't really see him loving anyone the same way again.

This gives me motivation to finally crack open my copy of DoC
[/quote]

Agrees. Vincent seems to be very loyal, even if the relationship is impossible at that time, to try agian with anyone else.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

He may have gotten over some of the pain, but I really don't interpret what he says as getting over her, especially right after he finally found out that she did have feelings for him.

Also, as Ivy, the author of protect you from afar . EVEN IN DISTANCE put it: "Lucrecia is going to always occupy a large part of his heart. He's not likely to forget her. And possibly even more, he's not likely to forget the effect she had on him. When your first love ends up being unrequited and the catalyst for death, anatomical reconstruction and new demonic attributes, I can hardly blame Vincent for not being interested in further relationships."


And now to share some of that media I said I'd get around to...



Websites —

protect you from afar . EVEN IN DISTANCE
I'd strongly recommend reading the entire site I linked above. It's basically a long essay on their relationship broken down into several small parts.


Version-F
This site, while in Japanese, also has lots of gorgeous VxL fan art.


Another scanned FF7 doujinshi~
..and karaii of deviantART has taken the effort of scanning Nightmere [sic] in full.


Honeybee Manor
Most people know about this one, but you can't have a collection of VxL links without it. Japanese site, but gorgeous fan art (if you can manage to figure out which links get you there).



Fanfiction —

The Reflections of Refections, by Ravynne / Ravynne Nevyrmore
MINE LULZ. "Taking place between the fade-out of the end of FF7's grotto scene and the continuation of the crew's journey, Vincent spends some history-charged time in Lucrecia's company. Contains references to Dirge of Cerberus."


Weeping Roses, by Lady Megami / winternightBliSs
A short, dark take on Vincent's innermost thoughts regarding his past with Lucrecia. "The flame of love never dies...she doesn't seem to care, but he will try everything to kindle it once again."


Icy 0blivion, by Lady Megami / winternightBliSs
A slightly longer but equally dark piece on Vincent finding Lucrecia in FF7. (And, now that I read it again, I realize how much I ripped off this poor fic for RoR. D: )


First Glance, by Amara Enid
A very silly, but very humorous take on the early relationship of Vincent and Lucrecia. It's also a very old fanfic, so it never could have been written in the post-DoC fandom world, but as long as you keep in mind that DoC doesn't exist yet and suspend disbelief that Vincent and Lucrecia's characters ever could have been as they're depicted here, it's a really good read that will definitely keep you laughing.


Regret, by Calis Cheah
Although there's nothing spectactular about this one—not the story, not the characters, not the writing (and god do I hope Calis Cheah doesn't stumble upon this thread after I've said that, haha)—this fanfic still captures me because it was one of the first ever written from Lucrecia's point of view, back in time when no one really gave much thought to Lucrecia or what would have been going through her mind. (The fanfic was written in 1998.)


Something Borrowed, by NineShadows
Dark in an entirely different way. A take on how Vincent copes with Lucrecia and Hojo's wedding, in a not-entirely-healthy way. (Also comes with yummy fan art!)


As Crimson As My Sins, by Dance Macabre
My new favorite VinLu fanfiction ever. While Dance tends to write Vincent a tad on the emo side, his telling of the familiar old story and some of the words he uses to describe Vincent and his predicament will really dig into your heart and make you feel what it is that is so tragic and beautiful about VinLu. Also, I drew a piece of fan art for this story.


Also, I apologize for the crappy formatting of the two that are on my site (with the white text and red background that doesn't tile very well). To view it within the proper framed formatting, go here, then to "fanfiction," then find the appropriate pieces in the library.



Fan Art —

The following are from Version-F:

Spoiler: click here for a fucking LOT OF IMAGES

 

[Tennyo]

Oh ho ho that is some beautiful fanart!

And is Vincent turning into a cat in the second to last one? And is Lucrecia floating over him? lol

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

I think he's a neko-Vinny and Lucrecia is pouncing on him. To be honest, I thought it was an adorable picture before I realized he was a cat. Now it's just...weird.

I mean, still good art, but I'm not really into the whole neko thing.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

I've been going through Souya's translations and there's a line I think is worth discussing here, especially since there's such an issue of "Did Lucrecia love Vincent?" It seems much clearer in the Japanese script that she did, but I also know that Souya doesn't wish for semantics to be argued based on her translations.

The line that interests me the most is this one, from Chapter 6:

Lucrecia: I’ve… found it… I…to you…. [Note: Original is “Watashiga mitsuketa…watashiga…anatani…” I wanted to say “I’ve always felt…towards you…” but gah, it might mean something else so, I’ll leave it at that.]

And since Souya doesn't want anyone to base anything on her translations alone, especially since she seems unsure of this line, I was wondering if anyone else had enough knowledge of Japanese to know what "mitsuketa" means (or even a good enough way to look up Japanese words in a dictionary).


Also, I thought I'd share something I'm working on.

 

[len]

Mitsuketa (????) means "found it".

Based on what I can understand about Lucrecia's character in DoC (and if I interpret her character the way it should be), I would think that Lucrecia is being ambiguous about her feelings to Vincent by saying "I've found what I am looking for, I've always feel this way about you".

Just my 2 cents :p

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

That actually makes a lot of sense (or maybe it's just that I want it to make sense), because I do understand the "watashiga" and "anatani." I know she's not really saying anything about "feeling"—or I think not, but both you and Souya seem to feel it's implied—but something is definitely being implied as being from her and toward Vincent, right? And I suppose if she were to actually say what is from her and to Vincent, that would be a verb at the end of the sentence, so really she's just trailing off before finishing and we kind of lose that in English...

Is that correct? =o

 

[len]

I think the reason why I interpreted it that way is because I conceptualize Lucrecia as a person who is torn between career and love. (I would think that she's probably 70% career and 30% love prior to the "killing" of Vincent.) I forgot exactly where, but in one of those flashback scenes, it was shown that Lucrecia was really eager into getting ahead of her research, that's why I think she denied herself of any feelings that has to do with Vincent.

Then after the whole Hojo "killing" Vincent and "manipulating" Lucrecia event, I got the sense that she felt guilty of being the cause all of the unfortunate events. So for the second time, she couldn't confess directly because she probably thinks she has absolutely no right to tell the person she loves that she indeed loves him from the bottom of her heart after causing him all the pain and suffering.

So at the end, I just pieced it together in my head and re-examine that line with all those in mind to come to that conclusion. Though grammatically speaking (?), whenever someone says "watashiga anatani......" it is often implied that they want to come clean about their feelings, but the author/script writer want to left it off and make it dramatic. At least that's what I was told .

 

[Kamui]

Okay I've returned to Innocent Sin! But I do not return empty handed!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_1M19cVyaA#noexternalembed One of my more recent AMVs, I had the idea of it to do this after I replayed DoC during my weekend one day. I just thought that the music would fit it. I always like making Vincent and Lucrecia AMVs, I made one to Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Oh and I love the picture of Galian Beast asleep on Lucrecia's lap. So kawaii!!!!!

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Yeah, that one definitely makes me "awww," the way she so totally doesn't mind that there's a monster sleeping in her lap, because it's Vincent. And he just looks like a sleeping puppy.

Though grammatically speaking (?), whenever someone says "watashiga anatani......" it is often implied that they want to come clean about their feelings

Now when you say "come clean about their feelings," do you mean specifically a confession of romantic feelings, or just any sort of feelings?



Also, I'm not sure if anyone remembers(/cares), but some time ago I made the happy discovery of Lucrecia's birthdate listed in DoC and shared it with the old Lucrecia fan club, but the bloodtype was still pretty blurry and I was never sure if it said A or B. Well, Balthea's scans of the ultimania make it pretty clear that it's B.

http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq18/20thannivultimanias/FFVII/?action=view&current=Scan20037.jpg

 

[Mantichorus]

Heh...I'll apologise now if I come off a bit grumpy at any point...I just went to reply to find my login time had elapsed, so I lost the post. Ah well.

Suffice to say, I'll start this time with what I said halfway through before. I'm here, and I'd like to join. As always, Ravy, your posts are certainly food for thought, and I enjoyed all the pcitures you've posted. (In fact, some of them are already marked as future avatar fuel...)

To my mind, Vincent and Lucrecia's relationship exemplified the ideal of courtly love, where the possession of the beloved by the lover was considered secondary to the purity of the emotion... heh, as you might have guessed from my wording, I'm something of a romantic.

Yeah, I remember you being excited about that scan, and I'm interested. *looks at scan* I'm also wishing I could read Japanese better...

"As for ideal and tragic love, that, I don't doubt, you can do marvellously - and all honour to you. Now you will have to learn to love a little in an ordinary human way." ~ Hermann Hesse, "Der Steppenwolf".

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Always glad to see you, Manti.

The wikipedia link you provided is interesting as well, particularly this list at the end:

Stages of courtly love
(Adapted from Barbara Tuchman)

- Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
- Worship of the lady from afar
- Declaration of passionate devotion
- Virtuous rejection by the lady
- Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
- Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other physical manifestations of lovesickness)
- Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
- Consummation of the secret love
- Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection

We can surmise that Vincent's love for Lucrecia went as far as #7, or at least that the "heroic deeds of valor" were performed. Whether or not they "won the lady's heart" is of course what is perpetually left in interpretation, though I do believe that this was the end result of his death for her—albeit too late.


#1. Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
#2. Worship of the lady from afar
This obviously occurred. I don't feel the need to go into that.

#3. Declaration of passionate devotion
#4. Virtuous rejection by the lady
We might have a tendency to debate these two ("Vincent never told Lucrecia that he loved her!&quot, but they did in fact occur. The Compilation Ultimania says that Vincent proposed to Lucrecia and she (obviously) rejected him. (http://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-vii/931/vincent-valentine-character-profile-p68-71/#more-931)

#5. Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
I actually doubt this, since, as we all know, Vincent was pretty content to just let Lucrecia's rejection be the end of it and bury his heart. Of course, since he's such an introvert, they may ahve occurred within himself.

#6. Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other physical manifestations of lovesickness)
This is worded rather hilariously, but I'm pretty sure they just mean "lovesickness." Vincent's emotional anguish, or lovesickness, was kept pretty quiet in his youth, and didn't quite resemble "moans of approaching death," but it could describe his behavior as an older man. And I don't think "approaching death" is meant to be taken literally, as in the sense that Vincent was about to die (though, coincidentally, he did), but that this anguish is so painful to the rejected lover that he "moans" as if he is dying. (I'm reminded of the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo is melodramatically pining over that other chick.)

#7. Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
If anything that he ever did was a heroic deed of valor that might have won her heart, it was placing himself directly in harm's way for her safety and getting himself shot. I think that's what made her realize how much he cared for her, and his condition what made her realize how much she cared for him as well.

Oddly enough, though, the thought that their relationship follows a formula kinda cheapens it for me. D:

But I do believe that "true love" actually existing between two individuals only occurs in fiction. In reality, it only exists "between" one person and an ideal, because the things we fall in love with are personal to ourselves. Sometimes we project these ideals onto other people, and I don't believe that love for those ideals is false in any way, but sooner or later you'll come to realize that the person you're supposing to embody these ideals is just another person and the only thing you were ever in love with was yourself. And it sounds from that article that medieval, Elizabethan, and Victorian poets had that spot-on, because they acknowledged that in order for this transcendent type of love to flourish it had to never be realized. That, too, is why Vincent and Lucrecia's feelings for each other would no longer be so inspiring if they ever had "happily ever after."

..though a lot of fanfiction authors fail to realize that. e.e

And, of course, since they are fictional characters they can possess true love, because they were specifically created and designed in tandem with one another, whereas humans only become what they are through a random series of events that never puts them in the same place.

And I think it is the absence of #8 and #9 that keep us wanting more.