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 :)

randomshowenthusiast Jun 15, 2024
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  • Love Between Fairy and Devil

    1. Love Between Fairy and Devil

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 36 episodes

    8.0

    MLs more on the grudging cooperation side (start out as enemies), but I appreciate their bonding for a shared goal

  • Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities

    2. Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 43 episodes

    8.5

    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 

  • Song of the Moon

    3. Song of the Moon

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes

    8.5

    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 

  • The Last Immortal

    4. The Last Immortal

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 40 episodes

    9.0

    Cooperation & friendships (multiple people involved)

  • Beauty of Resilience

    5. Beauty of Resilience

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 36 episodes

    7.5

    grudging cooperation but also deep trust to protect shared love interest (start out as enemies)

  • Blossoms in Adversity

    6. Blossoms in Adversity

    Chinese Drama - 2024, 40 episodes

    9.0

    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)

  • Dong Lan Xue

    7. Dong Lan Xue

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 30 episodes

    8.0

    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 

  • Joy of Life

    8. Joy of Life

    Chinese Drama - 2019, 46 episodes

    9.5

    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)

  • New Life Begins

    9. New Life Begins

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes

    9.5

    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) :)

  • The Blood of Youth

    10. The Blood of Youth

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 40 episodes

    9.0

    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 ^^

  • The Legend of Anle

    11. The Legend of Anle

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 39 episodes

    7.5

    cooperation & friendship but SML is mostly just hiddenly pining (also other pining charas)

  • The Silent Criminal

    12. The Silent Criminal

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 13 episodes

    8.5

    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 ^^

  • Mysterious Lotus Casebook

    13. Mysterious Lotus Casebook

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 40 episodes

    9.5

    listed for grudging cooperation (& growing friendship) in a bromance throuple :)

  • Romance of a Twin Flower

    14. Romance of a Twin Flower

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 38 episodes

    7.5

    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)

  • Are You Safe

    15. Are You Safe

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 31 episodes

    9.0

    listed here for bromance throuple aspect:  there's friendship-jealousy going on that slowly grows into mutual respect & a new friendship 

  • Reunion: The Sound of the Providence

    16. Reunion: The Sound of the Providence

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 32 episodes

    8.0

    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 :)

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