The Universal Shapes of Stories

Ah! I like this sort of plot as long as the actual events aren't always the same. Your origami and kirigami mages would do well with this sort of thing.. maybe I'll try to keep them in mind for a future fishbowl.

Spiral plots like that, where themes repeat, are rather like incarnation with karma: Someone starts off breaking off an important relationship to pursue something else, beginning a cycle of troubles with the heart that eventually tops out with being shot in the chest (or similar intense heart-related trauma) -- and each step along the way, while the potential exists to realize what's wrong and change, there's always something else that calls the subject away for a different activity.

Now add a second (or even third) character with an intersecting or related character arc, who makes the necessary realization regarding their karma about one-half to two-thirds of the way in to the story arc. Suddenly we have a spiral that starts wobbling upward instead of downward, and a visible contrast that isn't necessarily about conflict between two people. Make it subtle enough that the consequences of the choice aren't just Deus ex machina but a clear follow-through of action and reaction, and the contrast of characters helps clarify for Westerners what the point of the story is...

I like this. Heck, it's how I tell stories anyway, half the time, just spread across multiple characters.