Ngh. The "I was made to be a -- oh, no, NOT a sex toy, honest!" angle strikes me as a bit contrived. I don't think I could give that one a "fair" hearing. It seems like something out of a bad episode of Star Trek. Or, it seems like several rejected stories for Pawprints Fanzine, ages ago. (Oh, gee wiz, yet another story where the reason for anthropomorphic animals to exist is to be peoples' private sex toys! But as long as we don't use any naughty words or show any naughty pictures, it's supposed to be classy. Riiiiiiight.)
But I sympathize on the basics regarding the love triangle thing. There have been stories that bothered me where we have Appointed Male Hero, Appointed Female Love Interest, and then Interesting New Guy comes along and Appointed Female Love Interest takes a liking to him. Optionally, Interesting New Guy might actually be more interesting than Appointed Male Hero, and I may find myself thinking, hey, come to think of it, Interesting New Guy might just be better for Appointed Female Love Interest. Maybe the writer has let things get out of hand, or this wasn't the writer's intention, or whatever, and then we end up with a sloppy shift -- Interesting New Guy has to die tragically (but not before, with his dying breath, giving Appointed Male Hero his blessing to take care of Appointed Female Love Interest, so he doesn't have to feel *guilty* about it or anything), or -- out of the blue he's revealed to have a sudden (and heretofore uncharacteristic) personality shift (he's abusive! evil! an ALIEN!), etc. And, like, bummer, here I was getting all these vibes of the "preordained" pairing, and thought it would be rather gutsy for the writer to let go of that.
Maybe it'd be nice if Mr. Hero can have a bit of irrational jealousy for a bit, but then ... he snaps out of it. Maybe he comes to a realization on his own when he sees how She and New Guy are so happy together, or maybe a trusted friend slaps some sense into him (literally or verbally). And then, after he comes to his senses, he isn't "rewarded" by the universe dropping a plot-rock on New Guy's head. (I HATE it when that happens. Like, what was the POINT, then? Just to make us feel better about Hero and not hate him so much for being so jealous of rival suitors?)
Heh. For one of my many abandoned story projects (I feel silly even pretending that they exist in any meaningful form -- VAPORWARE!) there's a hint of a "love triangle" ... but, ha! Our hero DOES NOT GET THE GIRL. He doesn't get a consolation prize, either! That wasn't the point, anyway. Sometimes when a guy is too busy saving the world and constantly putting his life at risk (and, inadvertently, everyone around him to a certain extent as well, once the bad guys realize they could get to him that way), maybe he's just NOT the best choice for a stable relationship. Maybe that's just how it goes. I'd hate to think that would be a deal-breaker.
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But I sympathize on the basics regarding the love triangle thing. There have been stories that bothered me where we have Appointed Male Hero, Appointed Female Love Interest, and then Interesting New Guy comes along and Appointed Female Love Interest takes a liking to him. Optionally, Interesting New Guy might actually be more interesting than Appointed Male Hero, and I may find myself thinking, hey, come to think of it, Interesting New Guy might just be better for Appointed Female Love Interest. Maybe the writer has let things get out of hand, or this wasn't the writer's intention, or whatever, and then we end up with a sloppy shift -- Interesting New Guy has to die tragically (but not before, with his dying breath, giving Appointed Male Hero his blessing to take care of Appointed Female Love Interest, so he doesn't have to feel *guilty* about it or anything), or -- out of the blue he's revealed to have a sudden (and heretofore uncharacteristic) personality shift (he's abusive! evil! an ALIEN!), etc. And, like, bummer, here I was getting all these vibes of the "preordained" pairing, and thought it would be rather gutsy for the writer to let go of that.
Maybe it'd be nice if Mr. Hero can have a bit of irrational jealousy for a bit, but then ... he snaps out of it. Maybe he comes to a realization on his own when he sees how She and New Guy are so happy together, or maybe a trusted friend slaps some sense into him (literally or verbally). And then, after he comes to his senses, he isn't "rewarded" by the universe dropping a plot-rock on New Guy's head. (I HATE it when that happens. Like, what was the POINT, then? Just to make us feel better about Hero and not hate him so much for being so jealous of rival suitors?)
Heh. For one of my many abandoned story projects (I feel silly even pretending that they exist in any meaningful form -- VAPORWARE!) there's a hint of a "love triangle" ... but, ha! Our hero DOES NOT GET THE GIRL. He doesn't get a consolation prize, either! That wasn't the point, anyway. Sometimes when a guy is too busy saving the world and constantly putting his life at risk (and, inadvertently, everyone around him to a certain extent as well, once the bad guys realize they could get to him that way), maybe he's just NOT the best choice for a stable relationship. Maybe that's just how it goes. I'd hate to think that would be a deal-breaker.