Betty and Veronica/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A character has two conflicting love interests and must choose one.

  • Straight: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, who must choose one or the other. Both equally offer different things that Blair likes in a partner.
  • Exaggerated:
    • Alex and Chris are both in love with Blair, so they organise a gladiatorial fight to the death to decide.
    • Up to Eleven: more and more people join in the fight for Blair resulting in city-wide mayhem. Blair is disgusted and leaves while the fighting continues.
    • Alternatively: The Bachelor.
  • Justified:
    • Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, since Blair is having an affair with both of them at the same time.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, since they're both the same person (clones, present/future versions, alternate reality twins).
  • Inverted:
    • Alex and Chris are in love with Blair and they must choose who gets her.
    • Cock Fight
  • Subverted:
    • Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, but Blair and ends up entering a relationship with Darren.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris both pretend to be in love with Blair for their own reasons, but they aren't. Maybe they're just in it for the competition, or they both actually want Dana but think they can't have her.
    • Alternatively: None of them have a problem with polygamy.
    • Alternatively: If homo- or bisexuality is involved, Alex and Chris fall for each other and tell Blair where to go.
  • Double Subverted:
    • Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, but Blair chooses Dana -- so Alex and Chris team up to get rid of Dana.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris both pretend to be in love with Blair for their own reasons, but they aren't... until they both fall in love with Blair for real.
    • Alternatively: Blair chooses Dana, but has second thoughts about turning down Alex. Chris is now out of the picture (or vice-versa).
    • Alternatively: Blair chooses Dana, only to discover that Eddie is also vying for Dana's affection
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris both love Blair, but for whatever reason one thinks the other would be the better match, and pushes Blair in that direction.
    • Alternatively: They both think the other is the other match, so Blair ends up alone or with disgusting, destructive Darren because Alex and Chris seem to shun her.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris fall for each other and tell Blair where to go. But it turns out that Alex still loves Blair, so now it is he, who has to choose between two love interests.
  • Parodied: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, but both Alex and Chris are horrible and/or obsessive people who Blair can't stand.
  • Deconstructed:
    • Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, and the resulting strain this three-way triangle places on them ends up ultimately destroying the relationships between all three.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, and one of them decides to Murder the Hypotenuse.
    • Alternatively: Alex likes Blair and Chris, Blair likes Alex and Chris, Chris wants the others as Just Friends but is too nice to say anything or enjoys the attention.
  • Reconstructed: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair, and the resulting strain this three-way triangle places on them ends up ultimately destroying the relationships between all three. They eventually manage to repair their relationships and come to an accommodation.
  • Zigzagged: Alex and Chris are in love with Blair. Then they aren't. Then Blair's in love with them but they don't reciprocate. Then they do, but Blair's moved on. Then Dana enters the picture...
  • Averted:
    • Alex, Chris and Blair are just friends.
    • Alternatively: Alex and Blair love each other, and Chris is just friends with them.
  • Enforced: "We need romantic tension between these three!"
  • Lampshaded: "You know, having two men fight over you is not as much fun as you'd think it would be."
  • Invoked: "Let's see if I can get Alex and Chris to fall in love with me at the same time..."
  • Defied: Alex and Chris love Blair, but Alex withdraws, respecting Chris as a friend and not wanting a lover to come between then.
  • Discussed: "Much as you'd like to believe otherwise, Blair, having two women chase after you at the same time hardly ever happens."
  • Conversed: "I wish Alex and Chris were both chasing after me..."

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