Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Xkcd_Wait.jpg|frame]]

 

When a couple is separated against their wishes, and their love is particularly strong, it is fully expected that they will try to find each other, and refrain from getting involved with anyone else. However, sometimes this is actually quite hard to accomplish, especially in the case of someone believing their lover will never come back, or that they are dead. But unexpectedly, their lover comes back to them, and they are happily reunited.

 

{{examples}}

* In the animated movie ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]: Do You Remember Love?'', protagonist Hikaru Ichijyo, after being separated from his beautiful pop idol girlfriend Lynn Minmay, quickly forms a romantic relationship with his female superior officer Misa Hayase. Minmay's feelings for him, on the other hand, never diminished during his absence.

* Something similar (although in this case it's coma related) is what kicks off the plot of ''[[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien]]''.

* In [[Shaman King]], when both Jun and her spirit partner Bailong look at each other in the middle of a battle and faintly blush, Tamao is quick to point out that they make a good pair. To which hilariously, Anna then points out that Bailong did have a wife previously and declared he was cheating on her. Of course, Bailong is dead and then again, [[Death of the Hypotenuse|so is his wife]].

** The xxxHolic: Rou OVA explains that {{spoiler|Doumeki and Kohane got married, but implies that they actually both loved Watanuki and were marrying each other primarily out of convenience}}. It's actually far more heartwarming than it sounds.

 

== Comic Books ==

* In [[DC Comics]], Stephanie 'Spoiler' Brown has just discovered an unpleasant consequence of [[Faking the Dead|faking your death]] for a year—her boyfriend, Robin, has since started dating again. She was gone long enough that Robin's relationship with Wonder Girl had both come and gone, but at the time of her return Tim was dating Zoanne, a normal girl at his high school, and she took it quite well, acknowledging that it was her fault for disappearing. She and Tim managed to remain friends and crimefighting partners as he stayed with Zoanne. Of course, then <ref>a new creative team came on board, Steph was ordered by Batman to betray Tim to a villain to help 'make him a better Robin', in the process entirely ruining her friendship with him. Very shortly after Tim then finally hit the end of the [[Trauma Conga Line]] that his life had turned into ever since [[Identity Crisis]] and Steph's faked death, had what can only be described as a complete nervous breakdown, and in the process of cutting himself off from any and all beneficial human contact Tim broke up disastrously with Zoanne.</ref> And so the whole point was rendered spectacularly moot.

* Bucky in ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'' plays it more seriously—he married [[Captain America (comics)]]'s fiancee while Cap was [[Human Popsicle|frozen in ice]].

* Sort of kind of done in ''[[Y: The Last Man]]''. The story in short: Yorick has a long distance phone call with his girlfriend, Beth, but it gets disconnected before Yorick, who had intended to propose over the phone, can say what he wanted to say. After this, complete [[Gendercide]] ensures, and Yorick is left the only living man on Earth! One year and a lot of adventurers later he finally meets up with his dear sweetheart, Beth... only to find out that she had intended to break up with him during that phone call one year ago, because her heart had gone yonder during his absence. Not only that, but she had realized that she was actually in love with Yorick's sister! C'mon, let's say it all together now: [[Alas, Poor Yorick]].

 

* This is what Marian fears in ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', that Robin had simply forgotten about her during their time apart. However, the very next scene subverts it, as Robin is clearly shown thinking about her.

* According to Chuckles the Clown from [[Toy Story (franchise)|''Toy Story 3'']], this is actually the main reason why {{spoiler|Lotso}} was evil in the first place: {{spoiler|Both Lotso and Chuckles were once owned by the same little girl, but one day, the girl accidentally left the two toys behind while camping with her family. Both Lotso and Chuckles eventually make it all the way back to the girl's home, only for Lotso to discover that his owner had threw him out and replaced him with another Lotso Bear. As a result, Lotso became crazy and vowed that one day, all other toys will suffer from his wrath. The two eventually got onto a Pizza Planet truck in search of a new home, both of which will ultimately fulfill the now-opposing toys' destinies: Chuckles was eventually rescued and is now happily living in Bonnie's house, while Lotso ended up in Sunnyside Daycare, where he then planned to terrorize all of the toys living in the daycare center.}}

* This happens to Tom Hanks's character in ''[[Cast Away]]''; he comes back after five years to find that his loved one started a family with someone else two or three years after he vanished. In a subversion, she's instantly ready to completely abandon her family and run away with him, but he rebukes her.

** This, in turn, was referenced in ''[[Family Guy]]'', after Peter was stranded with Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe on a desert island, only to finally return home and find that Brian had taken over his former role in the home. (They explicitly only married for stability, and, to Brian's chagrin, never did the deed. This is to keep their [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|UST]], well, U.)

* Variant in ''[[Casablanca]]'' - Ilsa hooked up with Rick, believing her husband Victor to be dead. Turns out he wasn't. Oops!

* Slight variation in ''[[The Dead Zone]]'' in that Johnny wasn't presumed dead while his fiancee didn't wait for him, he was in a coma from which no one was sure he would wake.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (novel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'', Edmond Dantes is gone for years, and Mercedes marries his enemy and raises a son during that time. Despite the fact that she was told he was dead and did not know that her husband was his enemy, this is supposedly a terrible thing for her to have done.

** Actually the problem Dantes had was just that she chose to marry his enemy, not that she chose to marry. He specifically said the eighteen months (unlike in the film adaptation, Albert wasn't Dantes's son in the novel) she waited before moving on was all a lover could ask for.

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and [[The Parody|parodied]] in the ''Simpsons'' episode parodying ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (novel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'', where everyone including Marge as Mercedes turns on Homer as Dantes for his revenge plot.

* ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' has Jay Gatsby going off to war, and Daisy marrying Tom Buchanan before he returns and finds her.

* The book, movie and TV series ''[[The Dead Zone]]''. She didn't wait while he was in a coma.

* [[Peter Pan]]'s mother gave up waiting for him to come home, and when he went back the window was closed and there was a different boy in his bed. Of course in Peter Pan's case, he could have returned at any time, so really he's the jerk for letting his mother think he was gone forever.

* In [[Tranquilium]], the female main character falls in love with the hero. The hero is then separated from her for a long time, eventually leading her to reunite with her husband, whom she never got around to divorcing (this turns out to have been the right choice, as they discover they still do love each other after all).

* In ''[[Great Expectations]]'', Pip ignores Biddy's obvious love for him as he fruitlessly pursues Estella. After he realizes the error of his life choices, he returns to claim Biddy as his bride, only to find out she has married Joe instead.

* In ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'', Hester's husband has been separated from her, and she (erroneously, it turns out) believes he's dead, and falls into the arms (and bed) of Reverend Dimmsdale. She becomes pregnant, thus bringing the affair into the open, and setting the story into motion.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Degrassi]]'' has Leia and who breaks up with Danny in the hope that he'll want her more. He's relieved for it to be over though. Anya expects that if she's happy without Sav then he'll want her back but he realizes that he really doesn't want a manipulator.

* On ''[[The Middle]]'' this is [[Played for Laughs]]. Sue's first boyfriend, Matt, moves to another school. They then attempt a long-distance relationship, but Matt keeps talking about this other girl he met that is showing him around the new school and being really nice to him. Sue doesn't get the hint that he's started dating the other girl until Matt outright breaks up with her.

 

== Music ==

* "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley and Alison Kraus has this as its theme, coupled with guilt on the girlfriend's part. The music video's opening makes it especially clear.

 

 

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Both Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra were unfaithful while he was off fighting in the Trojan War. When he returned, his wife and/or her lover murdered him.

** Although the fact that he [[Human Sacrifice|sacrificed their daughter]] for the gods' favor may have had something to do with it. As well as bringing home his new squeeze, Cassandra.

** Penelope was dealing with dimwitted suitors who were happy to live off her nation while they waited for her to make a choice. Odysseus was dealing with goddesses who ''don't'' handle rejection well. He did only what he had to do to get home to his wife and not, y'know, be transformed into a pig for the rest of his life. And even when offered a goddess, he still just wanted Penelope.

 

* Mocked in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' with the line:

{{quote|Oh, here is love, and here is truth,

 

== Video Games ==

* You. [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|Yes, you]] in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''. Assuming you romanced Kaidan, Ashley, or Liara (none of whom will join you in your adventures the second time around) in the first game and they survived only for you to choose to romance a different person in the second game, it's this. ''Particularly'' if you start a romance with one of the new love interests ''before'' meeting your old flame for their [[One-Scene Wonder]]. Depending on how that meeting goes down though, you may or may not feel guilty about it.

** While you were {{spoiler|dead}}, Kaidan's friends convinced him to begin seeing a doctor, since it's not like most guys expect their ex-girlfriends to {{spoiler|come [[Back from the Dead]]}}. It's also eventually revealed that {{spoiler|he still wasn't over you, which is why your reunion on Horizon goes so badly}}.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Parodied in the webcomic ''[[Xkcd]]'', [http://xkcd.com/57/ here].

* In ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', Mike is in a [[Long-Distance Relationship]] with Sandy. After he rejects a [[Love Confession]], one of his friends [[Invoked Trope|invokes this]] by telling him flat-out he should dump Sandy and get together with the local [[Love Interest]], as "long distance relationships never work out anyway". Mike isn't too pleased at having ''his'' feelings on the matter brushed away and his love for Sandy trivialized, and it only damages his friendship with the others.

 

== Western Animation ==

* A parody of ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' was used on ''[[Drawn Together]]'', though working at a lemonade stand was used instead of marriage...

* A man frozen in ice in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode ''Prehistoric Ice Man'' returns to find his wife has remarried and had two children with her new husband, who are eight and thirteen. He's understandably confused since he was only gone for three years...

* There's a couple stories floating around about men who went off to fight in wars (most notably, the Mexican-American War) with their girlfriends promising to wait, and when they get back, they find out their girlfriend - didn't. Usually by walking in on their girlfriend and her lover.

** War is not even a necessary prerequisite. At least in Russia the (un)commitment of girls waiting for their drafted boyfriends to return from the service (two years until recently and one year now) is a common topic of drama both in fiction and in real life. More often than not it can turn ugly, as the thoughts of their betrothed ones are usually among the few things that keep the conscript's spirit high throughout the army hardships and a sudden hammer slam of a letter saying "[[You Have Waited Long Enough|I Have Waited Long Enough]]" can become that last straw that breaks the camel's back and lead to violent or suicidal behavior. Sometimes they desert and venture to "sort the things out". Sometimes they take their guns with them.

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[The Lost World (novel)|The Lost World]]'' by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]].

* ''[[The Witches of Karres]]'' by [[James H. Schmitz]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]