Your Preferred Love triangle

Bing Z · Apr 11, 2014

Prodigy said:
Then you get stories where the Girl was described as average at best looking or not that attractive yet somehow ALL the guys want her.

Well, some phenomena:
a) MC is a guy, a quarterback. He dates a dozen at a time.
b) MC is a guy, a super cute guy. He dates half dozen at a time (lacks QB's physique & stamina ^_^).
c) MC is an average guy, but has superpower (like mind control) or superhuman ability or porn star capability
d) MC is a girl, star cheerleader or Duke porn star material. Every guy (incl every teacher and school board member) wants to get into her pants. She scoffs at mere triangles.
e) MC is a girl, a super hot girl. -ditto- but she dates a few more cuz she has more time.
f) MC is a girl, an average Jo but has superpower (like mind control, yeah, cliche but you get the idea) or superhuman ability (no clue what that will be).

I, too, find conventional 1vs2 triangles too boring... even though I feel for jaksen's J and Putputt's B. I need to find a chance to write from J/B's POV.

kenpochick · Apr 11, 2014

Actually I just thought of another scenario that works for me and typically only happens in fiction: Where the previous love interest has "died" and the person has moved on to another relationship before the previous love interest comes back alive. I find that works because I believe at that point that the person would be conflicted.

Sage · Apr 11, 2014

KateSmash said:
The whole "LI as personal metaphor" thing still chafes my nerves 9 times out of 10 because it still very often involves a female protagonist defining herself around what weaksauce dude she's romantically involved with.

I'll probably pay more attention to whether this is what I see now, but I think usually I see it the opposite (or at least write it the opposite). Where the girl chooses how to define herself, and that leads to her choosing whichever guy (or guy choosing girl, depending on the novel).

Although, now I'm thinking about Love Sucks, as I have for this entire conversation, and I'm realizing that in the end the MC's choice was actually split when it comes to this problem. If she chose one route, she'd be ultimately choosing it for the sake of being with Guy 1. If she chose the other route, she'd be choosing it for herself, but Guy 2 would be part of that choice.

Paprika · Apr 12, 2014

The best love triangles are the ones where noone gets anyone.

batmantis24 · Apr 12, 2014

kuwisdelu said:
I enjoy me a good unrequited love, too.

This. This. A thousand times this!
As much as a decent love triangle can keep me up at night, unrequited love has a way of burying itself deep in my soul, leaving remnants of hurt long after a book/movie is over.

I am working on developing my own love triangle/unrequited love scenario in my current WIP. I'm not sure if I want to torture my characters or myself. I have been having inward battles over this mess for quite some time... something tells me I can't abandon it, though.

maybegenius · Apr 12, 2014

KateSmash said:
The whole "LI as personal metaphor" thing still chafes my nerves 9 times out of 10 because it still very often involves a female protagonist defining herself around what weaksauce dude she's romantically involved with. THG might be the only place I've seen it done effectively. But in books like The Forest of Hands and Teeth? I really couldn't tell you what the difference between the two brothers was or why Mary was even attracted to them in the first place.

IDK, I just see this metaphor used a lot to justify the existence of a love triangle in a book without it actually being the case. And I'd really love see something other than a dude be used metaphorically with respects to which version of herself the heroine will become.

(Although, TBH, I prefer my love triangles end in death. Or the character realizing they can all better use their time and walking away. Or ANYTHING that will break the trope to little shiny pieces. (provided all characters involved are strongly written enough for me to care in the first place, of course.))

Honestly, I think skill and nuance in the writing and characterization is ultimately what makes or breaks it. It's also why I feel that the characters need to be strong CHARACTERS on their own, first and foremost, and then have additional layers of story/metaphor written in on top. But yeah, I get what you're saying.

Also, I am completely in favor of inverting, lampshading, and flipping expectations of the trope.

Windcutter · Apr 23, 2014

I dislike the popular first come first served trend when it comes to triangles, because I believe the logical way is the opposite. Like someone said, if you can't choose between two lovers, pick the second one: if the first one were your true love, you would not have fallen for the second one to begin with.

So this is pretty much the only type of triangle I like: when MC has a calm, comfortable affair with Person A, then Person B appears and it's like storm and madness and all things fierce, and eventually MC realizes what s/he felt for Person A was more like warm friendly affection, but now--now we are rolling.

There is also a certain type of triangle that feels pretty antifeministic to me. The one in which girl MC leaves the bland good guy (he isn't bland because he's good, but because he's supremely typical) for the delicious bad boy, enjoys him for a while, and then goes back to Mr Normal. It's like, okay, girlie, you can have your Devil's Food cake and let it eat you, too, but then you gotta go back to the white picket fence, don your pearls and behave, secretly remembering your little fling for the rest of your life.

Same goes for the triangles in which there is a Childhood Friend type of love rival and an Antagonist type of love rival, and the story is about MC growing into her power, yet Childhood Friend (whom we are supposed to covet) is in love with the old weak and flawed version of MC and it's the villain/antagonist who enjoys and appreciates her new and improved version. You know the type. Antagonist goes like, be my queen, let's rule the world together, wow you can move a mountain with a wink, so sexy. And Childhood Friend is all like, nooo, you used to be such a nice little girl, come back here so my Supreme Manliness can protect you from harm and don't you worry your pretty head about saving the world. Why are we supposed to root for the guy who doesn't believe in the girl he loves?

AlexHale · Apr 23, 2014

Windcutter said:
I dislike the popular first come first served trend when it comes to triangles, because I believe the logical way is the opposite. Like someone said, if you can't choose between two lovers, pick the second one: if the first one were your true love, you would not have fallen for the second one to begin with.

So this is pretty much the only type of triangle I like: when MC has a calm, comfortable affair with Person A, then Person B appears and it's like storm and madness and all things fierce, and eventually MC realizes what s/he felt for Person A was more like warm friendly affection, but now--now we are rolling.

I wholeheartedly agree with this! In pretty much every YA book I can think of, the protagonist ends up with Person A, even though often times Person B would be better suited to them. But then I feel like that perpetuates the whole "your first love is your only love" concept, which I don't think is true for everyone.

Bing Z · Apr 23, 2014

Windcutter said:
There is also a certain type of triangle that feels pretty antifeministic to me. The one in which girl MC leaves the bland good guy (he isn't bland because he's good, but because he's supremely typical) for the delicious bad boy, enjoys him for a while, and then goes back to Mr Normal. It's like, okay, girlie, you can have your Devil's Food cake and let it eat you, too, but then you gotta go back to the white picket fence, don your pearls and behave, secretly remembering your little fling for the rest of your life.

That's because they are too predictable. Too fairytale like. They need a twist. Girlie goes back to bland good guy but he's gone (dead or has turned into a junky boozer). OTOH delicious bad boy (as always) has moved on to dubious girlie #46.

And then girlie realizes she's a bi/lesbian. And there are heaps of cool lesbians out there. You can't have a better ending than this

.

Anyway, lesbian or not, I prefer tragic romance, or at least a bitter sweet (more bitter than sweet) ending. In my triangles, the MC will always make the wrong decision a little too late. Maybe happy endings for both LIs with newly found loves and MC heads to another triangle quest.

Prodigy · Apr 24, 2014

I am going through my MC and his love interest. Both boys are the Anti-hero type(With Ben being the childhood friend turned enemy & Cameron being the rebellious boy with a dangerous secret and tends to make decision on impulse and aggression)

SO I think in a way, there is no "Good Guy vs Bad guy" love interest.

Deep down inside both boys ARE good, however, neither boy is a perfect golden boy for my MC.

AlexHale said:
I wholeheartedly agree with this! In pretty much every YA book I can think of, the protagonist ends up with Person A, even though often times Person B would be better suited to them. But then I feel like that perpetuates the whole "your first love is your only love" concept, which I don't think is true for everyone.

Windcutter said:
I dislike the popular first come first served trend when it comes to triangles, because I believe the logical way is the opposite. Like someone said, if you can't choose between two lovers, pick the second one: if the first one were your true love, you would not have fallen for the second one to begin with.

So this is pretty much the only type of triangle I like: when MC has a calm, comfortable affair with Person A, then Person B appears and it's like storm and madness and all things fierce, and eventually MC realizes what s/he felt for Person A was more like warm friendly affection, but now--now we are rolling.

There is also a certain type of triangle that feels pretty antifeministic to me. The one in which girl MC leaves the bland good guy (he isn't bland because he's good, but because he's supremely typical) for the delicious bad boy, enjoys him for a while, and then goes back to Mr Normal. It's like, okay, girlie, you can have your Devil's Food cake and let it eat you, too, but then you gotta go back to the white picket fence, don your pearls and behave, secretly remembering your little fling for the rest of your life.

Same goes for the triangles in which there is a Childhood Friend type of love rival and an Antagonist type of love rival, and the story is about MC growing into her power, yet Childhood Friend (whom we are supposed to covet) is in love with the old weak and flawed version of MC and it's the villain/antagonist who enjoys and appreciates her new and improved version. You know the type. Antagonist goes like, be my queen, let's rule the world together, wow you can move a mountain with a wink, so sexy. And Childhood Friend is all like, nooo, you used to be such a nice little girl, come back here so my Supreme Manliness can protect you from harm and don't you worry your pretty head about saving the world. Why are we supposed to root for the guy who doesn't believe in the girl he loves?

lucyfilmmaker · Apr 24, 2014

I really like the love triangle that isn't. I don't want my MC to have her entire existance taken up by choosing the right man. Give her something else to do, a world to save, a competition to win... and let the boy be the icing on the cake. That's what I'm going for, anyway, trying to avoid "twoo wuv" and keep it real. I mean, if I've got supernatural murderers dogging my every move, I doubt I'm going to be too hung up on anything but surviving, no matter how cornflower blue his eyes are.

That said, I'm totally building up a triangle involving a childhood friend that's been through some heavy stuff and isn't how the MC remembers him, and the popular charmer that seems sincere, IS sincere deep down, but has all the wrong motives for pursuing her. Very complicated

CheesecakeMe · Apr 24, 2014

maybegenius said:
Some examples of books with love triangles that work for me:

Fruits Basket (manga) by Natsuki Takayahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsuki_Takaya

Haha! Whenever these love triangle threads come up I always think of Fruits Basket as an example of a love triangle well done. The protagonist has two very different guys in her life that she has a very strong bond with, (And the two guys have a very interesting relationship with each other) their relationships develop very naturally and it's easy to see why they'd both fall for her. I also liked that instead of the "omfg they're both so hot who do I chooooose" trope, the protagonist only falls for one of them but the reader is just not told who for awhile. Then when it's revealed you nod and think, "I can see that, they compliment each other really well."

I admittedly enjoy a good love triangle, but unfortunately they're usually terrible, and I end up rooting for the wrong guy. Latest example was the tv show Legend of Korra. Yes let's ditch the guy you have great chemistry with and end up with the guy you can't stop fighting with! Brilliant!

kuwisdelu · Apr 24, 2014

lucyfilmmaker said:
I really like the love triangle that isn't. I don't want my MC to have her entire existance taken up by choosing the right man. Give her something else to do, a world to save, a competition to win... and let the boy be the icing on the cake.

I like it when saving the world depends on the development of the relationship. Like, literally.

(Not just thematically or metaphorically.)

Bing Z · Apr 24, 2014

I like this idea.

Sleeping with fiery redhead will enable MC to learn mc charm {don't ask me how}. Whereas sleeping with dolly eyed blonde the MC will be given a magical Dáinsleif replica. Both the charm and the sword are essential to saving the king.

"Who should I love?" MC goes on ~~his~~{forgot this is lgbt} her knees. "Help me, my god."

A goddess in gold armor descends from cloud #10. "Thou shalt sleep with them all. And with me, too. Who cares about the king?"

AlexHale · Apr 24, 2014

lucyfilmmaker said:
I really like the love triangle that isn't. I don't want my MC to have her entire existance taken up by choosing the right man. Give her something else to do, a world to save, a competition to win... and let the boy be the icing on the cake. That's what I'm going for, anyway, trying to avoid "twoo wuv" and keep it real. I mean, if I've got supernatural murderers dogging my every move, I doubt I'm going to be too hung up on anything but surviving, no matter how cornflower blue his eyes are.

That said, I'm totally building up a triangle involving a childhood friend that's been through some heavy stuff and isn't how the MC remembers him, and the popular charmer that seems sincere, IS sincere deep down, but has all the wrong motives for pursuing her. Very complicated

This sounds really interesting, lucyfilmmaker! I would want to read that love triangle.

LadyA · Apr 26, 2014

I always seem to read love triangles where the MC has to choose between the decent, good guy who loves her deeply (and who IRL would be the guy all the girls wanted as a boyfriend) and the rude, arrogant, fated-to-kill-her/hates-her-at-first/some-ridiculous-barrier-to-their-relationship.

Because she always, always seems to go for the nasty guy - because he's so fiery and fierce and hot, and he treats her like crap but it's only because he knows he mustn't go out with her, despite his roiling lust for her, omgeez. And the guy who probably would've made the better boyfriend, made her happy in the long-run, is brushed off.

I don't know whether it's because I'm sensible and boring, but the idea of a kind, funny, respectful guy is much more appealing to me than someone who is a total a-hole but has glittering green eyes and amazing pecs.

(ETA: Katniss is the exception)

Bysshe said:
I'd like to see more exploration of other possibilities, such as the kind of triangle where A likes B who likes C who likes A.

PRETTY THINGS by Sarra Manning does this! And she is the queen of UKYA contemp.

shahrazad · Apr 26, 2014

Triangles are limited to two boys, pfft, I'd rather a YA female character who goes through boys like James Bond goes through women. Growing up, Jessica Wakefield from the SVH series was my girl because of this.

Prodigy said:
Then you get stories where the Girl was described as average at best looking or not that attractive yet somehow ALL the guys want her.

Ha. Although, I think a situation where a girl who isn't 'conventionally' attractive a la Anne Boleyn and yet, extremely charming and compelling as a person and attracts all the boys works perfectly well. But I know that's not what you mean.

StephNS · Apr 27, 2014

I'm on the love triangle depress me train; beyond that I also rarely find them well done. However, Maria Snyder's Opal books were a great exception for me.

kuwisdelu · Apr 27, 2014

shahrazad said:
Triangles are limited to two boys, pfft

Yeah, what about the boy and two girls kind?

JFitchett92 · Apr 27, 2014

The problem with love triangles nowadays is that barely any of them are actually love triangles.

If you have a female MC, who loves 2 male MCs, but can't decide which one to settle down with, you have a fickle MC, not a love triangle. If your MC then strings these two boys along and takes them for a ride, you create an MC that I immediately hate, and I end up feeling sorry for your two guys.

I think triangles are overrated. Make your romance interesting in other ways. Take The Host, one of the most interesting romances I've ever read. Two minds occupying one body, and both of them love different people.

As for your reference of Katniss from The Hunger Games, she didn't pick the lesser of two evils, she picked the tormented soul who had loved her all along over the one who potentially killed her sister. There's no "two evils" about it. (SPOILER protected)

sohalt · Apr 27, 2014

StormChord said:
I like love triangles that are actually triangles, rather than bent lines. It's more interesting if there's also some romantic attraction between the two equigendered characters, instead of a simple rivalry.

erikafabulous said:
I prefer love triangles when all parties have some kind of connection to each other too. It doesn't have to be attraction, but some kind of friendship or something, so there is some kind of loyalty as well as attraction at conflict.

This. Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevre is a gold standard, because we usually care just as much about Arthur/Lancelot as we do about Arthur/Guinevre and Lancelot/Guinevre. See also Truffaut's Jules and Jim. I find the relationship between the rivals often more fascinating than the question who eventually gets the girl/boy/object of desire. (Usually the girl. Though I'd like to see other gender-constellations. Why not two girls competing for a third for instance?)

It's either going to end up way fluffier than the conventional love triangle (everyone loves everonye, OT3!) or more tragical (if people can't hack the polyamory after all and more than one of the relationships gets irrevocably destroyed) - either is fine with me.

JFitchett92 said:
If you have a female MC, who loves 2 male MCs, but can't decide which one to settle down with, you have a fickle MC, not a love triangle. If your MC then strings these two boys along and takes them for a ride, you create an MC that I immediately hate, and I end up feeling sorry for your two guys.

Yep. The person who waffles too much between two options is going to lose my sympathies. Which is why these things usually work better for me from the perspective of one of the rivals (ideally the ultimately rejected one, because bittersweet and stuff). But you can do love triangles with a minimum of waffling, I guess. (the object of competition makes their choice early and the runner-up only gets their chance after the first relationship has run its natural course).

kuwisdelu · Apr 27, 2014

sohalt said:
This. Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevre is a gold standard, because we usually care just as much about Arthur/Lancelot as we do about Arthur/Guinevre and Lancelot/Guinevre. See also Truffaut's Jules and Jim. I find the relationship between the rivals often more fascinating than the question who eventually gets the girl/boy/object of desire.

Yeah. My own favorite love triangle is probably from the anime Star Driver. The love/friendship/rivalry between the two male main characters is every bit as important as the love between them and the main girl.

And it totally hangs a lampshade on the waffling bit, with Wako's voiceover during the finale, about how difficult it is to be deeply in love with two people at the same time.

(It ends with a scene between the two male characters; she never does decide.)

My other favorite love triangle would have to be from the anime Macross Frontier, between a boy and the two girls fighting for his attention. He never actually decides either. :tongue

I'm starting to see a pattern here in the kinds of love triangles I like...

sohalt · Apr 27, 2014

Ha, we might share that pattern....

When it comes to anime "love" triangles, I particularly liked Fuu/Mugen/Jin in Samurai Champloo. She also choses neither in the end - they all go their separate ways, and it's somewhat heart-breaking, but also beautiful (because you just know that they will always be important to each other, that they will once meet again even if life leads them now in different directions) and really the only possible ending, I feel.

kuwisdelu · Apr 27, 2014

sohalt said:
When it comes to anime "love" triangles, I particularly liked Fuu/Mugen/Jin in Samurai Champloo. She also choses neither in the end - they all go their separate ways, and it's somewhat heart-breaking, but also beautiful (because you just know that they will always be important to each other, that they will once meet again even if life leads them now in different directions) and really the only possible ending, I feel.

I never really saw it as a love triangle in the romantic sense. I always viewed their relationship as platonic.

sohalt · Apr 27, 2014

Hence the quotation marks around "love". But there were jealousies involved.

Your Preferred Love triangle

Bing Z

illiterate primate

kenpochick

I should be writing, not on AW.:-)

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Paprika

batmantis24

maybegenius

might be a giant

Windcutter

AlexHale

Bing Z

illiterate primate

Prodigy

Mr. Incredible

lucyfilmmaker

patron saint of wine coolers and awkwardness

CheesecakeMe

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Bing Z

illiterate primate

AlexHale

LadyA

Always lurking, never posting...

shahrazad

StephNS

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

JFitchett92

sohalt

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

sohalt

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

sohalt