#love triangles

[eraofprocrastination]

listen. I know we all agree that the love triangles in the PJO/HoO series were unnecessary. but NOBODY was writing them like Rick Riordan.

sure Annabeth vs. Rachel was kinda uninspired (though I could make the argument that it contributed to Percy's character development) but then the secret element of NICO being involved??? the SHOCK FACTOR. the DRAMA. the way no one can think of anything else when rereading BotL. the entire layer of relationship dynamics it adds.

and then Hazel and Leo and Frank??? 13yo Era was SHOOK when she read the Sammy flashback. You're telling me Hazel has these awkward moments with Leo not because she likes him, but because she was in love with his GRANDPA?? the total pathos of the moment when Hazel realizes Sammy TOLD LEO ABOUT HER??? the way Leo wouldn't exist if Hazel hadn't given up her entire life??? I was crying at the tragedy of it all.

[sinfulpatata]

the one that got away

"i write the regrets of our love on burning paper and send its ashes to your new lover."

: au where lwj gets betrothed to nmj post-burning of cloud recesses for political reasons. Cue unrealized wangxian AND nielan 🤩😍

wonderful threadfic available on twitter by happyyycaat! 😍

[before-it-felt-like-a-sin]

"Love triangle" baby that's a throuple

[kalihoffs]

Mizu

[vladdyissues]

How do you feel about all this Sam x Danny (knowing we literally ship Vlad and Danny), I feel like if Sam finds out about a pompous relationship he would try to take Danny off Vlad's hands 😭 (I was thinking about a fanfic of that style, what do you think?)

(About the ship) I'd probably feel a lot more positive about Amethyst Ocean if Sam's character had been written a little better and their relationship wasn't bristling with so many red flags and contrary, counterintuitive moments. Like in S3E09, when Danny dreams of kissing Sam, wakes up screaming, and literally calls it "a nightmare". This is supposed to be the endgame relationship of the entire series? Come on, Butch.

But I don't hate AO. I tolerate it in canon and pretty much ignore it in fandom. Ship and let ship ✌ But when it comes to fanfic, it's all too easy to end up unfairly bashing the "unwanted" character in the love triangle, especially if the author already doesn't like the character.

Character bashing is the expression of hostility towards a character by fans. Bashing occurs in a wide variety of fandom activities and fanworks, such as fanfiction and meta posts, and takes many forms. It may be done by demonizing a character, referring to them with derogatory terms, or making them the subject of deathfics or spitefics. Discussion of character bashing is often the subject of drama, as fans may take personal offense at what they perceive as undeserved bashing. Fanlore, Character Bashing

I wrote a few fics of this nature long ago, and while they might have been mildly funny on the surface, they were really quite boring and out of character. Crackfic, basically. I kind of cringe just thinking about them because they fall under the fandom faux pas of "annoying female character with the canon romantic connection getting in the way of my beloved non-canon m/m ship".

This isn't to say you shouldn't write a fanfic about a shocked or jealous Sam trying to break up Danny and Vlad's relationship, but I think it should be handled with care—at least if you're trying to write Sam realistically or have a story with a semisweet or bittersweet ending. If you want to go the toxic, twisted, dark route—which is quite intriguing, to be honest—all that matters is making sure Sam doesn't turn into a parody or a punching bag. She's got to be believable, human, and at least somewhat true to her character.

Like, we know she loves Danny. (Unless she's planning on getting revenge, she isn't going to intentionally hurt him.) Her heart is broken, possibly her dreams, too. She's worried for him. She doesn't trust that Vlad hasn't brainwashed Danny or is manipulating him somehow. Why didn't Danny even tell her he liked Vlad, or that they had made peace with each other? Was Danny so repulsed by the thought of dating her that Vlad looked like a better option? Does she think she's responsible for Danny realizing he's gay or bi? Oof.

These are some of the questions I'd be asking myself before I even started writing. Of course, you're welcome to ignore me and proceed with your own concepts if you've already decided on how you want to write your fic. Whatever you decide to do, do it with all your spirit!

[phantom248]

Zhuo Yichen is literally the center of every "love" triangle in fangs of fortune, huh?

With Li Lun and Zhu Yan

With Wen Xiao and Zhao Yuanzhou

And with Ying Lei and Bai Jiu

I don't know how Pei Sijing and Pei Siheng escaped his orbit but goodness if she was sent to his bureau to spy by chongwu camp I am pretty sure he would have been in that trio too.

[kawa-goat]

This will probably be my stupidest post, but can anyone tell me I'm overthinking this?

These are screenshots from pages 66 and 67 of Waking Nightmare, respectively.

The focus here is the last few paragraphs (i.e., the ones highlighted).

When I first read this book, I thought that the reason Maritza's cheeks turned red was because she was angry at Nicky for keeping this hidden from her for so long (the event between Nicky and Mya happened a few months before this scene).

Think of it like this: Maritza was Mya's closest friend, and since her disappearance she's been going to the GAAP by herself despite Enzo's protest. Next to Enzo, Nicky is Maritza's closest person and really the only one she can confide in her burdens with the Peterson family. So when Nicky keeps such a crucial piece of information hidden from her like that, it's understandable why she'd be upset.

Besides, Nicky retorts defensively in an angry tone, further evidence for what I said before.

And yet...

I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm seeing things where they don't exist, but lately I've been thinking her cheeks turned red over something else (you know what I mean...) rather than, y'know, the explanation that should make more sense, IMO.

And then again, Nicky turned defensive for "no particular reason", or so he said. Which is... strange. If Maritza was trying to accuse him, shouldn't that be the reason why he turned defensive in the first place? Nicky is not stupid. He's very observant.

So maybe his reaction is because Maritza wasn't trying to accuse him? And her question was for... something else?

Man, wtf am I even writing.

I hope my first assumption is the correct one, because I hate love triangles (no matter how short-lived they are) and how they are poorly written.

At least, if the passage was implying in that sense, I'm glad Mya died before this became an actual thing, icl. /j

[tryslora]

On being demisexual and reading insta-attraction love triangles...

So today I was reading a fantasy romance novel (pretty sure it’s billed as a romantasy but y’know, that genre has one meaning for me and this isn’t it? but that’s a different topic). The POV character has been experiencing attraction (for the first time, I think?—she’s had a lot of trauma in her century of life so she hasn’t wanted to get attached to people) to one male character. Now she’s experiencing attraction to a second one, is equally confused by it, and I see a love triangle forming.

The love triangle is often the basis of relationship conflict in genre romance books. I kind of hate it.

But today I realized WHY I don’t like the typical framing of it, and why my brain is almost always like “why not both?” as a solution.

I’m demisexual. For me, physical attraction is intrinsically linked to an emotional attraction/attachment. So when I see this instantaneous attraction, in the back of my brain, I assume there must also be a huge emotional thing going on. I don’t think of physical first, then emotional.

And if someone is physically attracted to multiple people, they must also be experiencing an emotional pull, right? Which means the simplest way to resolve it is to entangle further with everyone. Because I love emotional entanglements.

Of course, this isn’t how the writers are usually thinking (I can’t say for sure on this book—I’m only 60% in and just found the second person she’s attracted to). A more typical love triangle starts with physicality in multiple directions, but resolves into it only being emotional in one.

My brain continues to insist that emotions come first.

And I’m really not opposed to the concept of polyamory. Communication and trust and building a community of solid love and affection? I mean. How awesome is that idea?

But hey, at least I know now why I feel like the insta-attraction of a typical love triangle feels so weird to me.

Nothing like being in my 50s and still untangling my psychological issues around words for certain kinds of sexuality not existing while I was a teen.

Also see: why I write the books I needed when I was growing up.

[sincericida]

ANDREW GARFIELD and FLORENCE PUGH

playing "Yay or Nay" in new video for the press of "We Live In Time".

(X)

[valewritessss]

My hate for love triangles stemmed from me reading Keeper of the Lost Cities in 5th grade and loving Sophitz until I found out they weren’t endgame and it pissed me off so bad (I hate being wrong) that to this day I feel bitter about it

[coverteyes]

The Love Triangles of Escaflowne

I count 8 official and 2 maybes/in some opinions.

Did I miss any? It's been many months since I've seen the series in full.

[fragmentedink]

can't have a love triangle without at least 1 queer character because otherwise you just have an upside down v and that, my good dudes, is not how shapes work

[centuryberry]

In Yue shadowpeach work, she should add a rival that wants macaque. It's not azure, no one in the mortal realm or Celestia realm would think it's azure, but wukong and macaque knows. (This "fictional" person would probably be written pretty likeable, loyal and dashing, suffering from angst of unrequited love, manipulative only for love. A good 2nd choice if things had been different. Gains a small cult following that has wukong riled up)

Rofl Yue giving her Azure inspired OC 2nd male lead syndrome. She does a very tasteful job with his character too. Not that she doesn’t do Wukong and Macaque’s characters justice but there’s something more charismatic about Azure’s character. The whole “unrequited love” bit also makes him very relatable. (Yue accidentally made Azure into Eponine and Wukong as Cosette.)

It’s one of Yue’s more popular works. Wukong hates Azure’s character with a passion and side eyes his sworn brother even though Yue insists that this character is completely fictional.

[intexda]

Harem anime are a funny concept to me because they never start out with the multiple women fighting over the guy.

Most of them start out with the guy and one girl forming a pretty clear relationship and then having a second girl bust down the door trying to get in on some of that.

Then a few more get in on the weird envy fest. It never starts out as an actual poly harem with whatever their equivalent to a sibling rivalry is.

"Who is the protagonist gonna get with?" probably the first girl he's already in a relationship with.

I'm watching Arifureta, and it's pretty clear hajime and yue are already a married couple and shea is their horny pet rabbit.

I have no clue if that dynamic changes but i'm only in season 1 currently.