Cooperation & Friendship in 'Love-Triangles'
Overall I don't like love triangles because my queer little heart just wants to tell them 'be a throuple' lol
But since love-triangles are nearly unavoidable in CDramas I at least apreciate the ones that don't make it about hateful tension and backstabbing, so this is a list of shows I watched on the spectrum between 'grudging cooperation' to 'friendships even tho love rivals' ^^
(this is not exclusively romantic love-triangles but also friendships/bromances)
If anyone comes across this list feel free to leave your recs pls :)
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1. Cang Lan Jue
Chinese Drama - 2022, 36 episodes
MLs more on the grudging cooperation side (start out as enemies), but I appreciate their bonding for a shared goal
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2. Mirror Twin Cities
Chinese Drama - 2022, 43 episodes
cooperation & friendship between ML & SML
their interactions don't just revolve around shared love interest but also come from being leaders working out a treaty
SML is also very respectful of maincouple and more on the hidden pining side of things -
3. Ben Yue
Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes
cooperation & friendship between ML & SML
their interactions don't just revolve around shared love interest but also come from being leaders working out a treaty
SML is also very respectful of maincouple and more on the hidden pining side of things -
4. Shen Yin
Chinese Drama - 2023, 40 episodes
Cooperation & friendships (multiple people involved)
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5. Hua Rong
Chinese Drama - 2023, 36 episodes
grudging cooperation but also deep trust to protect shared love interest (start out as enemies)
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6. The Story of Hua Zhi
Chinese Drama - 2024, 40 episodes
grudging cooperation since ML can't quite let go of jealousy even when SML simply becomes a friend instead of love interest ^^
also overall most of the women of the family learn to cooperate with each other and I appreciate that :)
(1. wife & concubine situations in background couples) -
7. Dong Lan Xue
Chinese Drama - 2023, 30 episodes
my queer little heart was happy with this because instead of the ususal ML & SML rivalry for a shared love interest instead we had a ML & SFL interested in the same FL :)
they had a good cooperation and wished it could've evolved more into a friendship (and throuple vibes lol) but it's a mini-drama and very short so I'm still happy with what we got -
8. Joy of Life
Chinese Drama - 2019, 46 episodes
this is more a honorary mention since the drama teases with love-triangles but the ML himself is only interested in FL in the drama version and I appreciate the friendship between Fan Xian and Haitang ^^ (no Wan'er hate allowed here because I love her mutual understanding and communication with Fan Xian I just wish they could've given them more screen time as couple to flesh out their relationship a bit more, but overall the show just prioritizes other thinsg more)
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9. Qing Chuan Daily Life
Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes
another honarary mention since SFL came into this due to an arranged marriage and wasn't interested in ML, while ML & FL were already in love
but I just really love how they handled being thrown into this arrangement and the women overall in this show are (mostly) supportive of each other or learn to support each other instead of hate between 1. wife and concubine(s) :) -
10. Shao Nian Ge Xing
Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes
more an honorary mention because mostly the couples are set and they just have to get over some jealousy regarding old crushes ^^
the show generally is more focused on the friendships as a main-aspect than a romance show ^^ -
11. Legend of Anle
Chinese Drama - 2023, 39 episodes
cooperation & friendship but SML is mostly just hiddenly pining (also other pining charas)
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12. The Silent Criminal
Chinese Drama - 2020, 13 episodes
cooperation & friendship
some don't like it because 'unnecessary woman' in a bromance, but I just see it as it could've been a throuple but due to storyline it ended with bromance ^^ -
13. The Lotus Casebook
Chinese Drama - 2023, 40 episodes
listed for grudging cooperation (& growing friendship) in a bromance throuple :)
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14. Chun Gui Meng Li Ren
Chinese Drama - 2023, 38 episodes
grudging cooperation between ML & SML (they start out as enemies)
(show is a mixed bag for me because I love parts of it but also really dislike things about it) -
15. Are You Safe
Chinese Drama - 2022, 31 episodes
listed here for bromance throuple aspect: there's friendship-jealousy going on that slowly grows into mutual respect & a new friendship
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16. The Lost Tomb 3
Chinese Drama - 2020, 32 episodes
listed for bromance-jealousy that ends in new friendships :)
(Hi snarky cat Liu Sang, I did not expect to adopt him as one of my fav charas) (I'm honestly so glad there are people out there writing Iron Triangle & Liu Sang fics (whether 'just friendship' or shipping or also just generally Liu Sang stories) thank you haha :) -
17. The Story of Mystics
Chinese Drama - 2024, 34 episodes
only slight pining love-triangle(s) but such good bromance & sismance that I just polyship anyway lol
enemies to soulmates & cooperation with 'the jealous ex' -
18. Jiao Cang
Chinese Drama - 2024, 40 episodes
love triangle due to certain circumstances you could say XD
I love that FL steps back from both ML&SML for a while to sort out her own goals/life
cooperation bewteen ML & SML due to common goal to protect nation (growing respect development is A+) -
19. Zhu Lian Yu Mu
Chinese Drama - 2024, 40 episodes
slight love triangle, but one of the best written since all 3 charas broaden each other's horizon & grow with each other, in my head I'm shipping them as throuple ;)