(1/2) I'm writing a scifi/murder mystery novel & the main characters are triplets. One is on a spaceship going to colonize another planet, and the other two remain on earth. I thought the worst/cringiest trope I was using was that they're telepathic, but reading through your twins post, I realized that I'd never considered some tropes. For example, one of them dies (of her own reckless behavior, but). I'm wondering if this is permissible, because she is eventually able to communicate again...
Well, I’m not the authority, although I can provide insight. Triplets are along the same line as twins, although rarer. I have read books where a twin dies and as much as it makes me sad, I’m okay with it. However, I find this particular trope overdone and kind of lazy. Ask yourself why this character is dying, why is important to the story. Is it just so her siblings will be sad/depressed/motivated to moving the plot along? Because that would be a form of fridging, although that’s usually in reference to gender, it could potentially applied to this situation. I’d look through some of these tropes, specifically the ones that mention death. Keep in mind this is an incredibly common trope. The more you look at stories with twins, the more deaths you discover.
This isn’t to say you can’t use the trope. I’m not here to dictate anyone’s writing choices, merely here to provide insight. I’d urge you try to avoid the trope. There are other way to create drama and tension between twins/triplets. Flex your creative muscles to see if there are other situations that cause the same drama/rift for your story without death. At the very least, it could be a good writing exercise. At best, it may provide you with an alternate plot point. See how they play out.
Thanks for asking me, I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me more questions, I always love talking fictional twins (and triplets!!)
ps never found mind reading a cringy twin trope, in fact I rarely see it XD
