1. animefans12

    animefans12 Member

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    Love Triangle Situation

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by animefans12, Feb 28, 2012.

    I'm unsure if there's a thread on this already, so feel free to delete/lock this thread up. :)

    I'm writing a fan-fiction and I'm stuck on a situation revolving around the "Love Triangle" system. Can someone explain to me clearly on what this system actually is besides two boys/girls loving the same one person. I also wondered what kind of emotions would spur up when the two people that love that one person come and see each other. And lastly, in my fan-fiction, the two people that fell in love with the person don't know each other well enough to become friends.

    Thank you very much! :3
     
  2. jo spumoni

    jo spumoni Active Member

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    There isn't anything to the love triangle except that two people love the same person. The exact dynamics and emotions in the triangle are very much up to the author, which is why the triangle is such an adaptable structure. There are some amazingly varied examples, e.g. Casablanca, Cyrano de Bergerac, Twilight, and Snape's back story in Harry Potter.

    As for your question about the two people that love one person coming to see each other, there is no one way to do it. Cyrano de Bergerac has a scene like the one you describe, but the circumstances of the play are very particular: Cyrano, who has a huge, ugly nose but who is wondrously articulate is secretly in love with Roxanne. Meanwhile, Roxanne is in love with Christian, a handsome fellow who cannot speak or write for the life of him. Cyrano and Christian's meeting is the coming together of two incomplete lovers to make one perfect lover. This contrasts pretty sharply with Harry Potter, when the two lovers despise each other to the extent that they bully and sneer at one another all the time. In Casablanca, Rick holds Victor's and Ilsa's destiny in his hands, even though Victor "stole" his lover (the circumstances turn out to be much more innocent than they appear at first). In the end, he defers because he wants Ilsa, whom he still loves deeply, to be happy. So basically, there is no right answer to your question. It depends entirely on how your premise is set up and what your characters are prepare to do for each other and even the nature of the love itself. For instance, there are a lot of examples of love triangles where one of the lovers isn't legit or doesn't really love the person s/he pretends to love. Examples? The Princess Bride for one, in which the prince plans to have his new bride killed to start a war, but the dread pirate Roberts (a.k.a. Westley) is in love with her. Their confrontation appropriately involves a sword fight. Even though Casablanca is a love triangle as well, a sword fight would be particularly out of place in that context.

    Last, your other question: I don't really understand what you're asking. You mean that in our triangle where A and B both love C, that A and B are not friends? I don't see why this would be a problem. Two rivals who hate each other can both fall for the same person. Snape and James Potter from Harry Potter are prime examples. Just because they are attracted to the same person doesn't mean they share some spectacular connection with each other. They might not even know each other for that matter. The reason that many movies or book choose to make A and B friends is because it heightens the tension of the triangle since no one wants to hurt anyone else. But this doesn't mean that every triangle has to work this way.

    I'm sorry if this is vague or confusing, but quite frankly, there is no right way to write story (there are plenty of wrong ways, though). The love triangle is flexible precisely because it is vague. The details can be filled in with incredible ease and since love is universal, the setting can be changed to virtually anywhere and any time.
     
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  3. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    It's a rich source of conflict, and conflict drives plot.
     
  4. CheddarCheese

    CheddarCheese New Member

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    Sorry for not addressing the original post, but I'm slightly confused regarding the "Love Triangle" thing.

    So people are saying that when "A and B both love C", they are in a love triangle. Yet I always thought a love triangle was when "A loves C, but C loves B (where B may or may not love C back)". Am I completely wrong? Or are they both valid? If wrong, what is that situation called?

    Sorry again, I'm not a fan of romance so I tend not to know this kind of stuff.
     
  5. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    A love triangle can take many forms. She loves himA, but himA dislikes she; himB loves she, but she thinks himB is a shallow jackass.

    Or He1 and He2 both want She, but She doesn't want to settle down and can't decide which Him is better for her anyway.

    Or she1 is married to him, neither is happy. She2 likes him, him likes she2, but is too honorable to break his vows. And she2 and she2 are best friends and don't want to hurt eacjh other.

    Many variations, but tension is the essential element.
     
  6. Ettina

    Ettina Senior Member

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    You could also have non-heterosexual love triangles, in which case it could get more complicated because anyone could potentially be in love with anyone!

    Basically, a love triangle is when three characters have some combination of romantic interest in each other that results in difficulty settling down to a single pairing.
     
  7. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    From what I've read involving love triangles, most of the focus tends to be on the person/people whose love is not recruited. While that position does indeed suck, focus on the other side, too: the struggles of the person who has someone madly in love with him/her but does not love them back. It's a hard place to be. You've got to deal with worrying about how to let the person down kindly, guilt over hurting them, etc., and that's only if they're a nice person and don't become a stalking jerk. Same with breakups: most songs, poems, etc. are from the POV of the person who is heartbroken, but the one who initiated the breakup often goes through a much more painful struggle about it.

    Something else I know from experience is that it's the hardest when the person you're letting down has done nothing wrong. If someone is controlling, possessive, abusive, rude, cheating, etc., then it's very easy to tell them to let the door hit their ass on the way out. But what about when the person is sweet, kind and loves you desperately, but you know that you want incompatibly different paths in life and must go your separate ways? Or if you know they love you, but you simply can't return the feelings? Then dumping or rejecting the person is VERY hard.
     
  8. marcuslam

    marcuslam New Member

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    If there's a love dilemma with three people involved, then it's a love triangle. I could be wrong, though!

    Since your username is animefans12, I'll take a chance at use Inuyasha as an example. Inuyasha, Kagome and Kikyou are in a love triangle :).
     

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