Love Trigonometry

I am having trouble with a story arc.

I have two characters who are having a growing chemistry between them and are considering a relationship. I was thinking of introducing a third character. The first idea is that an ex-boyfriend of the female meets back up with them, and the question is whether she will get back with her ex or enter a relationship with the new person.

The latter is a villain who is trying to tempt her to be with him. While this seems cliche, I am looking to put a new spin on it.

It is not a major plot in the story, it's a subplot plot for characters who are in the main cast but neither not the main character. Thoughts?

 

I agree with the Moose on this. I have heard too many book reviews from women in their 20's
that are really tired of the Love Triangle trope. So would say don't head that direction, unless
you can't help yourself.

 

Personally, I'd prefer if Person A likes Person B who Likes Person C who likes Person A, so nobody gets who they want but in the end two of them settle for each other anyway and agree it's a shame it had to come to that.

Oh right, that was not your question. Well, I think the love triangle is very popular trope so a lot of people will probably like it as a sub-plot.

 

I find love triangles also pretty boring. Does it serve some other purpose? I enjoy such drama when it pushes other parts of the plot, but I don't if it's just something that's there.

For example: In Peter Benchley's Jaws the extramarital affair between Hooper and Mrs Brody served to sow distrust and friction between Hooper and Brody when they're on Quint's boat. I enjoyed this because Benchley's characterization of the characters is a little flat elsewhere.

In Stephen King's The Stand I found that the love triangle between Nadine, Flagg, and Larry didn't seem to serve any purpose at all. It was teased that if Nadine slept with Larry, she would become tainted for Flagg, but since it never happened the whole plot just seemed unnecessary.

 

I also find it a tiresome cliche, I was considering it for the purpose of pushing other parts of the plot and adding drama. The original idea is that characters A and B are a couple, character C is the villain's right hand man and one of his motivations for going after the main characters (in addition to them opposing his and his boss' plans) is a lust for B. During this time I was considering the idea of introducing a love triangle but you've helped me confirm that I will just not do a love triangle.

So on that note, is there any feedback on that plot device; two major characters - neither of them are the protagonist - are a couple but the villain's right hand man lusts after the woman; any thoughts on this? Anyone can respond to this one.

 

I don't like love triangles. Reminds me too much of algebra.

What's the point of picking the ex as a second option when he's... well the ex? Could've just picked someone else. In addition, you just said the two current characters are considering a relationship. I smell forced conflict here.

So, the guy the female character is considering to be in a relationship with is the bad guy? See, this is why I don't add algebra to my writing - gets too complicated.

Ok...so the subplot doesn't even have any purpose for the main plot or the even main character. OP, I think you should reconsider this subplot. My two cents.

 

Neat. I don't add algebra to my writing cause I R bad at the rith-mo-ticks.

 

Right, but like you said, that worked better. I used the bad one from The Stand as juxtaposition against the good one from Jaws.

 

I can answer that. Sometimes, people don't want an exclusive, heavy relationship, but they want companionship, let's call it. Sometimes people want to date, and they want the illusion of a significant other but not the drama or time commitment.

In my 20' s I tag-team dated a guy with a friend of mine for about six months or so. We were all busy people, none of us had the time for a major relationship (I was a full-time student and had a job and an internship), and it worked pretty well. He dated us on alternate nights and alternate weekends. Neither of us girls were seeing anyone but him, and he wasn't seeing anyone but us. No threesomes or anything like that, although we did all go to a street fair and a couple of concerts together, and we all had dinner together at my place or his place a few times. But, and here's the but, I wasn't majorly in love with him and knew I wouldn't be. Loved and cared about each other in our own way, but not "love of my life".

I wouldn't rule it out again, under the right circumstances and with the right parties. Least stressful relationship I've ever had.

ETA: But I do think it's important for me to add, I am not a jealous sort of person. It takes a lot for me to get jealous in a relationship. Jealously over people just isn't a thing for me, because I don't believe people are possessions. Other people's mileage may vary.

 

I was never considering the female character going with the bad guy, I just wanted to explore the idea like he is a skilled charmer so there was temptation that she overcomes. But you're right. I've already been leery of this idea and needed some outside input, so I started this thread. I've already decided to scrap any love triangle ideas. It will merely be the villain's second-in-command wants this major female character in a one-sided lust/infatuation and thus hates the person she is with for reasons in addition to the usual "good-guy/bad-guy" dynamic, and I would like any suggestions or feedback on this.

 

I don't think a love triangle has to be cliche. We all know the story of heartache and unrequited love. A love triangle is a great way to get there. Also, since it's not the main plot of your story, I really wouldn't worry too much about it being cliche. What I would worry about is this whole villain thing. Aren't women over the villain? Falling for or even tempted by the "bad boy" is more of what I see as cliche.

 

Definitely more than friends with benefits, but less than major love of my life. But it could well be that my definition of casual is different, and that my definition of friends is different. I think of a friend as someone I have no romantic feelings for at all and never will. Semantics.

I do think it could be an interesting plot line for a trio of characters, though.

 

I see what you mean. I meant it as a temptation she has to overcome, but I've instead decided to go the whole "villian's right hand-man lusts for a female major character; combined with cultural and racial issues, this creates a personal motive driving the villain's right hand and also leads to more animosity to the one she is with. Also, this isn't racial as in human race and ethnicity, this is one between different types of aliens.

 

I hate to say it since you already decided to scrap one part of your idea, but... I kind of hate this. It's really cliche, and I also hate how often female protagonists are sexualized by villains. It's uncomfortable and boring all at once. It's not a "never do" for me, just a "do very rarely and with very good reason which stays true to the characters."

On the other hand, I personally don't mind love triangles, as long as they don't feel contrived. Granted, contriving one seems to be exactly what you were trying to do when you started this thread.

Here's my advice; it's what I do when I'm trying to turn a trite idea into something more unique. It seems like you want to introduce some kind of conflict involving romantic attraction or lust. Sit down with a pen and paper and just start writing possibilities. Put down as many twists on the idea as you can think of. Write down everything that comes to your head, even if it seems stupid and you know you won't use it. Just keep going. Eventually, you might pull something out of the depths of your subconscious that is truly interesting and original.

 

Sorry if off-topic but I think it would be fun to twist the love triangle trope. As I mentioned above, A likes B who likes C who likes A. Or two rivals compete furiously over a love interest but when one of them loses interest, the other suddenly does too because underneath it was really just about wanting to beat the rival.

Also, fwiw the whole aliens who from different groups standing in for real world racial issues seems stale to me. I feel like I've read it repeatedly in writers' plans for their fantasy stories. Just a thought but something a little different might be fresher, taboo age differences or something.

 

Then again, maybe it's better to just write your first draft without outside input at this stage. Even if it's an old idea, that doesn't mean your take on it won't be fresh. Sometimes I am not sure about threads like this because it's easy to get your enthusiasm for your unique vision ruined when we really can't judge a story that hasn't been written yet.

 

I like the way you think with the variations on the love triangle.

As for the aliens, I'm not sure it'd be a stand in for real-world racial issues; it's more about culture. The closest it gets to racial issues is "I don't oppose it because he's 'X', I oppose it because he's not 'Y'". Not to mention... have you ever heard of the "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" trope? I recommend looking it up if you haven't heard of it. That does play into why people don't like the characters being together in-universe.

 

That is a very interesting idea. I think I will use that approach. Thank you.