I've recently been inspired to include a polyamorous relationship in a story I'm in the process of planning, and I'd like to reach out and get a little advice before I begin.

I'd like to make sure that my portrayal is accurate in regards to the dynamics present in a realworld poly relationship. I'm aware, of course, that every relationship is unique, and I certainly don't wish to just copy another authors approach. I'm mostly just looking for common elements that tend to turn up, things I can address to make sure I don't make light of any issues that tend to crop up that I'm not aware of, that sort of thing.

On a related note, I'd also like to make sure that I don't inadvertently invoke any negative stereotypes, or otherwise go about things in an offensive manner. Is there anything in particular I should watch out for?

Anyway, I might be taking my lesbian horses a bit too seriously, but I appreciate any input you guys might have.

5258724 Ok, I'm pretty sure I can apply some brain power to getting you a more helpful response, but first I want to say that you need to accept the fact that the negative stereotypes exist for a reason, and that while looking for common elements to include is admirable, any 3+ group dynamic hits the threshold of chaotic differentiation very quickly.
That said... /dons thinking cap

5258724 First of all, there's the question of whether or not you actually want to have it mimic RL human poly; RL horses and ponies live in extended groups in the first place (with interesting dynamics between the boss mare, stallion(s), and the rest of the herd's mares, but that's a long story).

Second, if you do, you need to decide whether you want the rare instance where everyone is actually okay with it in their hearts and the problem is figuring out mechanics and timing, or the way they unfortunately usually are, which is that some of them say they are ok with it, but either aren't actually, or have a different definition of what the poly relationship is/should be, and then conflicts start to come up from that.

Which is another problem: definitions. In a monogamous relationship you have A->B and B->A, and over time, AB as a group.
In a poly relationship, you have A->B, A->C, B->A, B->C, C->A, C->B, AB, BC, and ABC relationships (the latter three being bonding identities that form over time).

So, for example, say you have A, who is attracted to or loves B and C, and both B and C are attracted to or love A, but just tolerate each other, or aren't interested in the other (for gender reasons, or body type, or personality, etc.) They might even become rivals even if they didn't start that way if one or both starts to feel that the other is getting more or better attention; they might become friends or allies against silliness from A (Let's say Rarity and Applejack become allies to deal with Twilight's OCD and stress issues, helping the other cope with the fallout and double-teaming to prevent Twilight from hurting herself, as an example). They might even become lovers-- which may or may not be A's actual goal, and A her/himself might grow to resent or feel excluded if B and C spend too much time together.

And that's with a fairly simple bonding situation. You could have a situation where B and C are both attracted to A, but A is only attracted to C; C, however, refuses to "cheat" B out of A's attention; then there's another complication where A may resent this as C manipulating her/his affections, or be willing to at least try, and then there's theory versus practice...

Really-- presuming you want any kind of internal drama or conflict out of it at all, the way a situation shows up almost certainly has to be relatively unique by default. The best advice I can give here, I think, is to have goals in mind just as though the relationship were an entire story to itself-- figure out starting positions, how and by which methods you want those positions to evolve, how they will interact with each other, etc. and how and by which method you want it to resolve, right from the beginning.

Oh, and this is all separate from the concept of an open relationship, speaking of; closed-end commitments are not just qualities of monogamy.

As a side note, it can be useful from a literary device POV to either have one of the members of the relationship be experienced in poly relationships, or have a trustworthy outsider to go to for help or reference, and one or more members be newbies, giving reasons for the occasional exposition followed by exploration, again, of theory versus practice.

Musings on the Portrayal of Poly Pony Paramours.

Musing the First; Vector Dynamics, Prepositions, Propositions, and the Three Body Problem.
·1 Given a count of three (3) functionally identical Poly Pony Paramours.
·2 Given a relationship which contains a desirable internal dynamic [X].
·3 Given a relationship which is not continuously symmetrical.
·4 Given a relationship which approaches symmetry over an arbitrary time scale.
·5 Given a relationship which can be said to have a present aggregate state [.S].
·6 Given a value [E] for each Poly Pony Paramour representing individual elements of the relationship.
·7 Given a process [.S:E:X] characterizing the behavior Poly Pony Paramours in state [.S] governed by elements [E] to obtain a new dynamic [X], where [X] approaches symmetry relative to [.S].
·8 Given a process [X:E:S] where elements [E] yield a value of [.S] which diverges from symmetry relative to [X].

·: Then; we can begin constructing a model.

Stay tuned for our next post, which will include illustrations and value tables.

5258724 Aforementioned diagrams and such will take a bit. In the mean time, who are you shipping?

5258854

Twilight, Trixie and Sunset.

I Really appreciate the time and thought you guys are putting into these. I'll read through each one and respond in kind when I get home.

Are we looking at any particular time frame here? Obviously post-season three, given that Sunset is involved (assuming we aren't dealing with a significantly different AU), but are we dealing with season four/Rainbow Rocks, season five/Friendship Games, season six? I'm not going to try to dictate where you take your story or anything silly like that, but it might help in figuring out the kind of relationship dynamics (and problems) that might come into play.

5258724
There's already a lot of great information here, so I'll just make two points for now, One thing I'd like to clarify is that while the most popular form of polyamory in fiction is the triad relationship, the most popular thing irl is V relationships or polycules. Definitions if you need them, if not feel free to skip the next paragraph.

Triad is all three ponies dating each other. This has a lot of appeal for storytelling, and is easily the most relatable to people who aren't polyamorous because it's the most similar to mono relationships.
V relationships are where A is dating B and C, but B and C are not dating each other. Thus it hinges on one person, making a V shape when drawn as a line.
Polycules are like Vs with more people. It's a group of people who are all dating one or more of the others in the group, but everyone is not dating everyone else. Thus when it's drawn out it looks like a hot mess, kinda resembling a molecule.

Reason those are more common than triads is because, as was explained earlier, people have different interests. Even if we can safely ignore sexual orientation (all lesbians and what not) that certainly doesn't mean everyone's going to be interested in someone just 'cause their partner is. Since you already listed three ponies, we can assume it's limited to a triad/V. Whatever you wanna go with is fine, of course (it's your story) just making sure you know options and all that

My other point is on the nature of entertainment vs. realism. Telling a realistic story can be entertaining, and even if you don't go all drama you can absolutely draw on realistic things to add to your story. That said, your writing a story, not an essay. There's a lot of grey area in between pure entertainment and pure realism, and it's important to figure out where abouts you wanna be with all this. It's obvious you want some degree of realism, since you're here asking for input and all that, but that doesn't mean you can't simplify or blur things for storytelling purposes. Of course, it's also important to know where you're blurring the line, or else you could wind up erasing it completely and going way off course, but as pretty much any science fiction author will tell you, realities rules are guidelines in storytelling, and at the end what matters most is how well you told the story

5258745
Negative stereotypes certainly exist for a reason. What I'm really trying to avoid is inadvertently offending people. That wouldn't benefit the story, myself, or my readers.

5258813
Charts and tables are always welcome, I look forward to it.

5258753
My plan is for fairly standard human psychology. A Xenofictional look at pony culture and psychology would be interesting, and is something I've thought about doing, but it would be difficult to reconcile with the other themes and plot threads I've got going.

As for whether all the participants will be on the same page, I haven't put too much thought into that aspect just yet. However, the role the relationship is meant to play in the story would be better served by them being so, so that's most likely the direction I'll go.

I've already sorted out how the bonds are going form and evolve as the story goes on. Sunset and Twilight will bond fairly early on, perhaps even before the start of the story, if I think I can get a good prequel out of it. Trixie's involvement will come about later toward the end of the first act as the result of some undecided trauma, and Twilight and Sunset caring for her afterwards.

The relationship will almost certainly be a closed one, and open relationship isn't what I'm going for, and wouldn't really benefit the story.

5258933
The story will most likely be set after whatever the most recent episode of season six is when I finish my outlines and notes, unless I come across a compelling reason to do otherwise.

5259128
The relationship is definitely going to be a triad, a V would be interesting and is not something I had actually considered, but seems to me like it would be sort of an odd outcome of the setup I have planned.

As for how realistic I want to make the story, you're right that I do want at least a degree of realism. I'll certainly be making concessions for storytelling and tone, but I feel it's important to get right what I can.

Thanks for the feedback and comments guys, really helps me lock down the details and direct my attention where it needs to go.

5260414
lol it's nice to see the forum actually used for something non-porn related once in awhile Looking forward to the story

5260414 No, people who get offended by poni fic just need to fuck off.