I largely hate them for the same reasons, and I feel like they've gotten worse/more obligatory since Twilight. On the other hand, I hate this new trend for female protagonists to basically settle down with their first crush.
Some that worked for me:
Alanna in Song of the Lioness--I like that she dated three men, and I like that one of them it was never really going anywhere even if Liam didn't die and they knew it. I liked that her conflict was not "is George or Jon hotter?" but "Would marrying Jon stifle everything I am? Would marrying George be equally stifling for different reasons?" and she made, IMO, the right choice from a self-retaining point of view--she would have been a terrible queen and Jon would have stifled her utterly--vassal and wife don't go together well.
Cutter, Leetah, and Rayek in Elfquest--the possibility of a threemating is explicitly brought up at various points, but as Rayek says, all three parties must like each other very, very much, and that ain't happining.
Dewshine, Scouter, and Tyldak in Elfquest--not exactly a love triangle, as Dewshine and Tyldak are more gripped by overwhelming mating urge and don't even like each other much, but I like that the three of them found a way to deal with it without damaging Scouter and Dewshine's relationship or saddling Tyldak with something he wasn't really capable of (the actual raising of a child).
Of course, Elfquest also has polyamory all over the place--it's the usual solution (not even a solution, since usually there's no perceived ~problem~ when bisexual polyamory is the default), which is why it is suggested and discarded due to intense personality conflicts in the Cutter-Leetah-Rayek situation.
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Spoilers for Elfquest and Song of the Lioness
Date: 2011-08-25 06:50 pm (UTC)Some that worked for me:
Alanna in Song of the Lioness--I like that she dated three men, and I like that one of them it was never really going anywhere even if Liam didn't die and they knew it. I liked that her conflict was not "is George or Jon hotter?" but "Would marrying Jon stifle everything I am? Would marrying George be equally stifling for different reasons?" and she made, IMO, the right choice from a self-retaining point of view--she would have been a terrible queen and Jon would have stifled her utterly--vassal and wife don't go together well.
Cutter, Leetah, and Rayek in Elfquest--the possibility of a threemating is explicitly brought up at various points, but as Rayek says, all three parties must like each other very, very much, and that ain't happining.
Dewshine, Scouter, and Tyldak in Elfquest--not exactly a love triangle, as Dewshine and Tyldak are more gripped by overwhelming mating urge and don't even like each other much, but I like that the three of them found a way to deal with it without damaging Scouter and Dewshine's relationship or saddling Tyldak with something he wasn't really capable of (the actual raising of a child).
Of course, Elfquest also has polyamory all over the place--it's the usual solution (not even a solution, since usually there's no perceived ~problem~ when bisexual polyamory is the default), which is why it is suggested and discarded due to intense personality conflicts in the Cutter-Leetah-Rayek situation.