Do not romanticize the accent, the food, or the festivals. Focus on the exhausting labor of translation—literal and emotional. A romantic scene might involve a character learning the wrong pronoun in their lover’s language for six months, leading to a blowout fight that somehow ends in deeper intimacy.

Pim’s romantic desperation is often a direct response to his childhood. Coming from a household characterized by yelling and a tense relationship with his sister, Amy, Pim views a stable romantic relationship as a way to "break the generational trauma" of the Pimling name. This makes his romantic pursuits feel high-stakes, as he isn't just looking for a date, but for the domestic peace he lacked as a child.