kattahj:

Ten tropes of romantic complications that I like so much more than those boring-ass triangles

(in honour of the time wasted on triangles in the shows I watch)

1. I don’t even like you…oh wait, yes I do.
2. I love you, but I have been hurt before and don’t know how to love anyone.
3. This was supposed to be fake, but now it’s real and I don’t know how to tell you.
4. We have been friends for so long we never even noticed when we fell in love.
5. People around us have bullshit rules that keep us apart.
6. My love interest is from another world and isn’t used to human courtship.
7. My partner died and the whole ghost/reincarnation thing gets complicated.
8. I love you, but we’re on different sides of a moral conflict.
9. I love you, but our life goals aren’t compatible.
10. I love you, but we should probably finish this murder investigation before we do anything about it.

As I said when I discussed this stuff on Facebook, I think a reason triangles are so common is the persistent notion that Love Conquers Everything, and that, particularly for straight women, any man at all beats no man. So the only complication that can then postpone the happy ending is the introduction of another man, to drag the whole thing out, instead of asking any sensible questions about what makes the relationship work out or not.

I also pointed out that the one story I know where the love triangle actually serves to enhance the story rather than drag it down is Selma Lagerlöf’s Jerusalem (pt 2), so, you know, there’s always an exception for the rare Nobel prize winning author.

(Oh, and actual poly relationships, to the extent that they’re even in media at all, don’t count as boring-ass love triangles. Obviously.)