More than or less than

[nightshade]

I got thinking about love triangles, is it really a triangle or a more than sign < or >

So...
Gunn
Fred <
Wesley

Now are Gunn and Wes more than Fred in their relationships with her?

Just using Fred as an example, what way would you put other relationships?

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Is Gunn & Fred Greater Than Wesley? Is that the question?

Generally, from the world of soaps, you can express one as Arthur/Guenivere/Lancelot.

 

[Stake fodder]

Are you asking if two sides of a given love triangle are weighted more heavily than the third? Or do you mean the relationship is unbalanced, as in Wesley has more power in it than Fred?

If you mean the former, I might say that Angel, Buffy, and Spike are:
Angel and Buffy > Spike.

I would say Wesley and Fred > Gunn, though I personally preferred Funn!

 

[nightshade]

Or do you mean the relationship is unbalanced, as in Wesley has more power in it than Fred?

More like this, does the person at the point of the triangle, so Fred in the example, have less, not power, but focus of that storyline, than the ones that are on the other side.

 

[NotASlayer]

Often, the point of the triangle can have less story focus. Such was certainly true of S7 Buffy (with the Buffy/Spike/Angel triangle) who was reduced to a one-dimensional character who existed purely to drive Spike's story.

I would say that probably the point of the triangle is less story focused, as they exist in it to drive the actions of others. Not usually to the character-destroying extent of Buffy, though. With Dru, it was the interaction between Spike and Angelus that was the story focus, and similarly for Gunn, Wesley and Fred, though Fred I would say had more focus than Dru or Buffy.

 

[Stake fodder]

More like this, does the person at the point of the triangle, so Fred in the example, have less, not power, but focus of that storyline, than the ones that are on the other side.

Ah, OK. Yeah, I would say that Fred was less of a focal point. I'm trying to think of all the love triangles, but I thought it was interesting that Angel, Buffy, and Spike could all be seen as the weak arm at different points:

- Angel in BtVS S7 when he's mainly there for a cameo, and Spike and Buffy are the main relationship;
- Buffy in AtS S5 when she is just something for Angel and Spike to argue about;
- and I guess it's a bit of a stretch, but Spike in S5 when Buffy is uninterested in him.