Love triangles - Hate them or love them?

AffectedMind 2016-01-16 11:49:01 UTC #41

Yup, couldn't say it better, in otome it works, you choose the guy's route you like, your character is blank as sheet of paper because you are behind the screen. But if you adapt it to anime at least give the heroine some personality, or don't adapt it at all, otherwise you will be stuck with annoying character(s) and ridiculous plot. In UtaPri the plot wasn't that bad, you could sit it through, but when I was watching Amnesia I just gave up. I just can't believe a few guys would like the girl that... almost doesn't talk at all or doesn't act at all

eagle1 2016-01-16 14:08:02 UTC #42

I'm Poly, and have been all of my life, so the whole idea of a love triangle is something that I just don't get. I have two titles that have something that someone might consider a love triangle, but neither of them really fit the definition, and no one is being "indecisive" (which implies that the correct thing to do is choose between two people you are attracted to). I also tend to not see a lot of things in real life that look anything like a traditional fiction love triangle, so why would I write one, or want to read one?

Eagle
(In general, my answer is: Choose Both)

HNLEE 2016-01-16 15:13:30 UTC #43

I really DON'T like love triangles

It's really unnecessary for me since almost all the time the main couple will just end up together anyway and if they don't then it just messes up the love story just for the sake of some angst or conflict.

Adding a love triangle would just make the hero/heroine forced into a position of choosing one of two people. The circumstance might end up being hasty and choosing a bad partner. I especially hate it when the two rivals pressure the protag to choose. Also, the rivals end up doing a little more than they would have just to outdo the other and that feels so fake to me. Love is not a thing that should be rushed, it simply isn't a good idea to be in a love triangle.

The only way I would consider a love triangle successful is if either the protag is rational enough to not pick either and gains character development or if the two rivals end up with each other instead lol

but it all the depends on how well it's written. Good writers can make bad tropes look good.

KreativeConfusion 2016-01-16 19:23:50 UTC #44

because it's such an over used cliche it get pretty boring for me. If you play it right and give the person a proper reason to like both boys but also reasons why it can't work then it's understandable. It can also be fun to see.

However I honestly have a guilty pleasure in reading overplayed romance stories like that for the laughs, so at times I honestly love them.

Jabbage 2016-01-17 09:56:26 UTC #45

I was about to write in here that I really dislike love triangles, but then I remembered about the Book of Life and the Legend of Korra, which somehow managed to feel fresh and interesting with their love triangles (discounting bits of Book 1 of LoK, where I remember getting a little bit tired of it) Mind you, while they were well done, the love triangle was still the least interesting part of those stories. Perhaps they key is to treat your characters with respect and not make the triangle the focus.

agentfink 2016-01-17 10:18:11 UTC #46

Good points here. A love triangle is not the only type of relationship trope that can be played with though. I know of the typical stories associated with them (harems, ditzy confused girl, enter suave obviously not mister right etc)... If it adds to the characters growth, not necessarily the main aspect, then I don't mind them.

Some people may think they are obtuse, but I think if handled correctly, they are acute little side story.

Sorry--- it's almost 2:30 a.m. here...

JigokuNeko 2016-01-17 13:38:25 UTC #47

Mostly hate them....which is why I'm making one, lol. I love finding crappy tropes and challenging myself to make them work.

That said, a love triangle is pretty common in real life. For one reason or another people can and do love more than one person at a time because different people do fulfill different emotional (or physical) needs. And different people do react in different ways to this; they might choose, they might try to play both sides, they might go for a menage a trois etc. It's fascinating to see all these reactions.

The problem is how this ends up depicted in media due to lazy writing. If you are setting up one OTP you have to give the readers a convincing reason why this third wheel would threaten the OTP status. However, this is a fine line to tread because hey, if you're going for "tru luv" how true can it be when a hot interloper is enough to break them up? One of my pet peeves is when the introduced rival is actually better at everything than the main love interest, there is a lot of chemistry between the hero/ine and the rival and s/he still gets rejected without a valid justification. Wut??? Or when the main love interest reacts with creepy jealousy and controlling/stalking behavior and that's portrayed as romantic. Like, I love you so much, I'm gonna lock you in my basement to keep you from seeing this other hot bishie...it's tru luv (tm). What the hell, Charles.

The way to make this trope work is if you give every character a fully fledged personality and then base the attraction between all of them on that, not just because "hot dude/chick appears". What traits does any given character find irresistible? Do they find them irresistible enough to abandon everything? Or can they smother this feeling? Whatever their reaction, it cannot be arbitrary, it must be based on personality, upbringing, moral values etc.

AffectedMind 2016-01-17 15:49:12 UTC #48

I know right? It's so much fun to play with all these cliches and tropes and try to find a different way to handle them.

Abusive AF xD I play with abusive relationship as well (in my comic of course!) But do I want people to see this as something romantic, no, not really, because it's not. Also it's not the way love should work.

chanalli 2016-01-17 22:15:37 UTC #49

I have a love/hate feeling for love triangles.
I guess it depends on the characters because I've seen some that are developed very well and others are just annoying, so annoying that you want to punch them on the face, but you want to keep going because you want to know!

aspiderjonny 2016-01-18 06:22:45 UTC #50

For me, love triangles can work if all the characters involved are likable and understandable. Too often one of the characters becomes the "rival" that is overly mean and obviously not the right choice for the one that has to choose. This is a pretty weak plot trope and is too predictable. However I still think they can work if I, the viewer, also don't know which person I want the main character to end up with, because I like both possible relationships.

Another problem is that they tend to end way too happily. For a love triangle (and all drama in general) to work, there needs to be real consequences. They usually end with "HA, bitch got what she deserved" instead of showing their heartbreak of being rejected. If you want a love triangle done right I think the one in Spectacular Spider-Man might be my favorite use of the trope, because there's no winners and losers, just people caught up in a bad situation. And the choice has a real effect on the characters.

Personally I find the "on-again/off-again" trope to be WAY more insufferable. Unlike the love triangle, I have yet to find a series that used this that didn't make me want to punch something (I'm looking at you HIMYM!)

JigokuNeko 2016-01-18 19:11:02 UTC #51

Oh, yes, I love playing with this stuff. It's like repairing something shiny but broken!