#a polycule and/or a group of queer friends

[ilackallhonour]

.

[hmslusitania]

Origins: the world is ending and you and your one remaining coworker are the only option left to save it.

II: the unavoidable tragedy of a queer friend group/polycule trying and failing to save their fucked up city

Inquisition: you went to a conference and accidentally ended up in charge of saving the entire world (again) with a team of colleagues who are (mostly) professionals and outstanding in their fields.

**

Veilguard:

Rook: hey, I suffered from “sudden field promotion” after “fucking everything up worse than it already was.” I’m putting a team together to kill at least one, maybe three, Gods

Seven of the most unwell people in Thedas: say no more, I’m in

[the-velvet-worm]

I really love how Vox Machina was like yeah we are fruity and sometimes people speculate we’re in a polycule and we play into that for the laughs and while we are queer for the most part we all end up in relationships that look traditional to the untrained eye, but are actually quite forward-thinking and queer in nature.

Meanwhile the Might Nein are like we are gay we are so so very gay. All of us have crushes on each other and every single person we encounter along our journey. Beau is out here having one night stands with every single woman/nonbinary individual they meet, she has a crush on Jester, she has a crush on Yasha, she’s a lesbian disaster. Caleb had a boyfriend and a girlfriend at the same time and now he’s in a monogamous relationship with a war criminal. Molly will fuck anything that moves. Cad is the archetypal aroace emotional support friend. Just so much variety in one group of people how can you even.

[drdemonprince]

woof. your recent posts really resonate with me especially now that im making more gay and trans friends, im meeting so many cool nonmonogamous trans people that seem to have casual sex with basically all their nonmonogamous trans friends and like. its almost giving me a complex where if i think someone is cool and want to be friends with them, even if im not attracted to them, i have a perception that the only way to befriend them is to pursue them sexually. or that if they dont wanna fuck me when they fuck all their other trans friends that means there's something wrong with me (again even if i don't particularly want to fuck them!)... i love being trans and poly, and i love having more trans and poly people in my life, but sometimes i think about this one reddit comment where a dude said he noticed his gay friend had way more fun at straight bars than gay bars bc at straight bars he wasn't worrying about his appearance/body image/validation/sexual prospects

yeah honestly i get this so much and it's a very dismaying swirl of emotions to have. i don't like fucking friends. at all. it actively makes me feel unsafe and like i'm only useful to someone insofar as i'm satisfying a desire for them. it makes me feel more disposable. plus im insanely jealous if i have an actual emotional connection with someone i'm fucking so i wouldn't do well in a whole poly queer mish mosh of dear devoted friends who also sometimes bang. i would be plotting the downfall of the people i was most primed to view as a threat and sowing discord between people and shit. not good.

i also think it is a little fucking concerning when people only date/have sex as their sole way to make friends, and are only friends with people they want to fuck. this tends to create a very homogenous friend group that is heavily restricted based on desirability politics. it's also just really objectifying and unsustainable.

now i must say!! this is very much in the minority of poly people -- poly people are generally fucking AMAZING at being friends because even as just their buddy they treat hanging out with the same degree of intention and care as they would going on a date. they can hang! they want to go out and do things! they're more practiced in building a new intimacy of *any* kind than most monogamous people are.

it's just that there are some weird culty up their own ass bad boundaried polycules out there, in the same way there are abusive, codependent, jealous, miserable fucking monog couples.

but even tho most queer and poly people are more ascended than that, yeah, there is a weird unsettling constant self-evaluation that can happen in spaces where fucking almost anybody is theoretically on the table. some of that is a problem in how people treat one another, and some of that is just insecurity in between your own ears.

i get it fully. im hyper conscious of myself and how i imagine im being perceived and how people are seeing me when im out in queer spaces. and most of it is me being fully insane and making myself miserable based on nothing. because literally who cares who is attracted to me in that space and who isn't??? what matters is what i want in that moment, and my behavior, which i have control over. i should be able to just float around smiling at people and dancing and chit chatting and if someone is feeling my energy and we can talk, great, if they try to make it sexual when i dont want it to, i can just walk away. like it fully does not need to be that deep.

but it's a hard internal hurdle to overcome and every time someone hits on you, ignores you, misreads your identity, etc it can be used by your mind as fodder for The Narratives and The Insecurities and make things worse and it really has to be an intentional practice to not do that to yourself.

if you can bounce along carelessly in the straight club because you're not worrying about how people see you, you can bounce along carelessly in the queer club and not worry about how people see you. literally treat queer people the same way you'd treat straight people who seem perfectly fine but are not your problem and not a focus for you. you can stop trying to mind read the intentions of every queer person and stop sizing yourself up in their eyes and not worrying about who is fucking who and who is in love with who and who is secretly jealous but pretending not to be. and just. hang out. and feel things out. and exist in your own body and pay attention to what interests you and what you are experiencing rather than how they are experiencing you.

i say this as a reminder to myself!!

[rottingvulture]

let's play, is it a queer friend group or a polycule

trick question. It's both

[tozawas]

Death Riders remind me of that 2020 toxic queer friend group that was lowkey a polycule that we were all in

[gay-batboy]

How it feels to watch Heartstopper when your queer high school friend group was a co-dependant polycule that had a nuclear breakup and doesn’t talk at all anymore:

[featheryfoxes]

Hello all and welcome to my ramblings of Dead Boy Detectives Polycule;

Definitely inspired by @petvampire and their amazing works.

So breakdown is as follows;

Edwin is romantically and sexually involved with Charles, Monty and the Cat King. He is queer platonic/platonic life partners with Crystal and Niko.

Charles is romantically and sexually involved with everyone but Niko being queer platonic/platonic life partners with her.

Crystal is romantically and sexually involved with everyone but Edwin.

Niko is ace but does like making out and is involved in that way with Monty and Crystal and romantically with them and the Cat King.

Monty is romantically and Sexually involved with everyone in the Polycule.

The Cat King is romantically and sexually involved with everyone. Romantically with Niko, and he and Crystal have a bit of friends that never hang thing where they don't end up pairing up for romantic or Sexual intimacy alone but often do with others in the group. They do share non sexual intimacy one on one with each other.

The non ghost members often curl up to sleep, Monty and Niko are often the center of the sleep pile but if Thomas (tck) or Crystal are having a tough day they get middle spoon.

Once a week is movie night the Cat King makes a huge bed and everyone cuddles, the same happens after a bad case.

[booksandchainmail]

@the-yuri-librarian

Will someone please tell me if any of these series have lesbians

(in regards to this post)

Of the two web serials featured in that meme:

Pale Lights, by erraticerrata one of its 2-4 protagonists is a lesbian. There hasn't been much in the way of romance for her yet, but the series is pretty early on, and also romance-light. One of the other female protagonists is possibly bisexual, and the male protagonist is ace. Pale Lights is about new recruits to an elite god-hunting organization in a gunpowder-and-sail era world that is also entirely within a massive cavern full of strangeness. Ongoing

Twig, by wildbow umm. ok. so how do I put this. It has ambiguously bisexual girls in an situationship? It got a lot of submissions to a yuribait poll tournament. Also in the main cast is a trans girl. I cannot in good consciousness recommend this on the basis of lesbianism, but I do like it. Twig is about a group of child lab experiments/field agents of a biopunk empire. Complete

Other web serials that may be of interest to you!

A Practical Guide to Evil, by erraticerrata Protagonist is a bisexual woman, and almost all of her romantic interests are other women. PGTE has my favorite slowburn romance of all time. Also in the main cast are (at least) two more bi women, and an aroace man (there are more queer characters depending on how you define main cast). In a medieval fantasy world where narrative tropes have metaphysical weight, a new group of villains begin fighting smarter to overcome their narrative disadvantage. Forty years later, a teenage girl from a conquered country, seeing how heroes have failed, chooses to become the Squire of the empire's Black Knight. Tagline: Do Wrong Right Complete

Katalepsis, by HY Lesbian protagonist, largely lesbian supporting cast, including a couple trans women. Lots of romance, including an expanding polycule. A young woman tries to rescue her twin sister, who was erased from reality as a child by an eldritch entity. Tagline: A web serial of cosmic horror, urban fantasy, and making friends with strange people Ongoing, almost finished (with the first "book"/major overarching plotline)

Necroepilogos, by HY I think literally the entire cast of this one is queer women (including at least one trans woman) having homoerotic moments with each other all the time. A bioengineered supersoldier wakes millennia after her death to find the world a wasteland, populated by women resurrected from across history who must now kill each other to live. Tagline: Lost girls in the ashen afterword Ongoing

PGTE/Pale Lights and Katalepsis/Necroepilogos would be my primary recommendations. Some other webserials:

Some of wildbow's other serials have more lesbians than Twig, but it comes with caveats: Worm (and its sequel Ward) are, uh, controversial for how they handle lesbians. Pale is much better, but I'm also only 1/3 of the way through so I can't vouch for it entirely. Pact has a single important lesbian character.

I lost interest and didn't finish Heretical Edge, but it does have a poly lesbian protagonist.

Time to Orbit: Unknown is not particularly lesbian in specific, but it is largely queer and genderqueer.

Another option of thing I read is quests and original/fan fiction on the forum site Sufficient Velocity. The downside here is that they mostly have really irregular update schedules (unlike the above serials, which update 1-2 times a week on a fixed day) and are prone to being abandoned. I'd recommend looking at how often/recently thy update before starting. With that caveat, some titles with lesbian (or bisexual) females leads and queer romance: Petals of Titanium, The Last Daughter, Lieutenant Fusilier in the Farthest Reaches, Castles of Steel, On the Road to Elspar, Mercy (and Other Costly Mistakes), Pound the Table, and A Little Vice

[k-nkypills]

Just had the most sexually charged / weirdly queerly platonic but still sexually charged experience of my life help (FRIENDS INVOLVED IF YOU SEE THIS NO YOU DONT LEAVE ME BE🧍🏻)

Me: *tells gecko I love when him and fly tease me in front of friends, how I wish they would do it more often (because lowkey something queer platonic and very very sexual lurks within this server istg cuz my friends be FINE AS FUCK sometimes man, I’ll explain in an end note)*

🦎Gecko: *takes me up on it, we get consent from the group of friends we’re gaming with because we’re at that kinda friendship / bond level and the conversation turns to my tumblr because the conversation had been a lil sexually charged for a HOT second.*

Me: *attempting not to die in our game, fully and well embarrassed and flustered because this is extremely hot and everyone’s focusing on me, I’m trying to think but literally all my blood rushed to my dick on top of me being stoned*

A friend of mine: *asks about getting a link to my tumblr and asking if he should read out my posts*

Me: *silently asking god if this is what people feel before dying because I’ve never been that unfocused, highkey so hard I might cry and light headed*

🦎Gecko: *dms me a picture of a post I made about 🌅Haven*

Me: *feels my heart stop and I fully blue screen, im definitely gonna have complicated feelings about this later but that’s not my business*

Another friend: *makes a comment about how none of this surprises them, adding to my embarrassment n struggle to think properly (not negative)*

Everyone: *making comments about me like I’m a dog they’re cooing at, getting called cute by gecko in DMs, one of my other friends making a comment about how flustered I am making my head swim*

Bonus:

*me and a friend texting, I’m stoned and wanting attention and someone to game with and I keep begging them to join me and I’m being a brat about it and we’re lowkey kinda being gay and sassing one another*

Nonbinary (Ikyk) friend of mine: “keep begging I dare you, I might get the wrong impression”

Me: *literally stop’s functioning and my brain turns off a second before I react totally normal and in a normal way* “YOU CANT JUST SAY THAT TO A HOMOSEXUAL”

(Note: something homosexual keeps happening in this server istg, this shit keeps happening and istg at some point two (or more) ppl are gonna kiss and everyone who’s been flirting platonically is gonna fuck😒. God help us all /j this little note is mainly a joke, we all flirt, and some of my friends are hot; can you blame me? However THIS made me hard and I will be thinking about it later)

(Are you really a large friend group of poly, queer/trans assholes if you don’t act like a large polycule)

(Another note: I love my boyfriends and only my boyfriends romantically, sometimes the homies can hit is all ����) (I fear what they’ll do with this, am actively anxious help)

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

I guess they thing that annoys me when it comes to She-Ra couples is not exaclty that it have too many couples but that they don't really make sense most of the time.

A lot of shows have a lot of canon couples, but most of the time they make sense and have some sorta of build up and development. Like in Harry Potter, it makes sense Hermione geting together with Roney, in Demons Slayer it makes sense Nezuko getting with Zenitsu, those are couples who are build to be together (honestly in the movies especifically Hermione and Rony are like, the only couple that had development).

But in She-Ra is like they make those couples so that some character don't end up single, like why does Lonnie have to be in a polycule with Rogelio and Kyle even tho she never showed interest in any of them? Why is Mermista and Sea Hawk a thing even tho Sea Hawk is a freaking annoying pyromaniac? Why Bow and Glimmer are a thing even tho they never had any chemistry and are so freaking boring together?

This is some Chris Chan levels of writing, every character have to be together regardless of whatever sense that makes (if you don't know who he is, basically he made the Sonichu meme and every character on the comic got together because he wanted a girlfriend). Is like in Boruto where all the cast started to date each other and most of them didn't make any sense

yeah, for a show that's about queer representation, they sure left out ace and aro representation. and even allo people sometimes choose to stay single. not everyone NEEDS a romantic partner.

in the end, spop really didn't do anything too progressive because they still valued amatonormativity over good character arcs. most of the platonic relationships were pushed aside for the sake of romance, and people who showed absolutely no romantic interest toward each other were suddenly in love (*cough* glimbow and scorfuma *cough*).

and the BFS suddenly included catra, just because she was now adora's girlfriend. all these allies and people who genuinely cared about adora, glimmer and bow, and yet the only person worthy of being in their friend group is the war criminal who tortured them for fun.

and it really sucks that the one of the very few canon queer polycules we have in media is.. a neurodivergent-coded queer kid, and his bullies. if they really wanted a good polycule, they could have gone with the BFS. but a lot of these were just for brownie points imo. they didn't really care about GOOD representation, they just wanted to cram in as much representation as possible.

[unhingedpolycule]

Happy pride everybody. I hope the Pride month did empower and educate you!

As a little token of my love for our community: Headcannons on how the boys would behave at their first Pride as a polycule:

Soap: Bisexual menace. Decked out in his flag because he is there to serve a look. Looks out for younger queers and his big, angsty boyfriends, who really need some guidance in the crowd. Has a few drinks, but only in moderation. He is friends with everyone immediatly and is quite popular with the local bear population who are not deterred by one terrefying Simon Riley and one big ass Aaron König. Gets a lot of kisses and makeouts in, when Aaron is buisy with drunk Ghost. Seems a little selfish but its the same thing every year and simon told him to enjoy himself.

Would probably identify as Pan if he knew more about gender as a spectrum and all related things.

Ghost: Is just there because Johnny dragged him there „To get out of his shell and socialise with other queers“. He is very much a closeted gay man because his father tried to beat it out of him and he still kind of hates himself for his sexuality. Johnny tries to compensate through gentle touch and soft praise. Wars a very small Gay Prideflag. Gets hammered immediatly just to be able to cope with the crowd and the fear of being spottet. Tries looking out for Aaron but he has his own shit going on right now so he is no real help. He can’t kiss his boyfriends for the life of him because he can’t be seen doing it. He holds hands with Aaron though because it grounds him and he likes to have him close.

König: he is shy but very happy to be there. The crowd is a little bit much but he generally enjoys himself. The parade is great too but he flushes when the more kink themed groups roll past. It gives him ideas.

He gets hit on SO much! Man and woman alike love his soft demeanor and his height. (Doesn’t hurt that he is pretty muscular and easy on the eyes as well.) The constant flirting really helps his ego and he tries flirting back clumsily. Ghost watches out for him as good as he can and Johnny sends all the pretty people his way.

But when he notices whats going on with Simon he focuses all his energy and attention on him and pretends he needs his touch for grounding

All in all they would have a good time. Each year, it gets easier for Ghost, his trauma resurfaces but the positivity of his Partners really helps!

~Corr

[catis15]

My Opinions/Reviews on Saphic Books:

- Bright Falls Trilogy

- All of them are cute and heartwarming and giggle worthy and shit

- It's cool seeing each of the friend groups POVs and they're all pretty relatable in my opinion

- Pretty good representation of various family relationships especially with mothers

- the various relationships are actually really well written but the stories are still very much focused on the romance, they're not sidelined persey but they're not the main focus of that's what your looking for it's very much about the couple

- I like the variety in body types through the series, there's different heights, weights, yada yada and it's nice to see and they're all appreciated

- There aren't any POC MCs but there are side characters, also lots of gender and lgbtqia+ identity representation NB characters, ace characters, lots of queer couples, I think there may be a polycule mentioned but I'm not entirely sure

- Smut? Yes there is, how much varies between book but I'd argue there's more every book with Iris's book having the most; Id also argue it gets intenser as the series continues but it's all pretty mid (not in the it's bad writing way in the I've read far worse but I've also read some relatively pg 13)

DELILAH GREEN

- I love Delilah sm she can fucking step on me and Id ask her to do it again

- It's a sorta an asshole to everyone but you between her and Claire but not in the typical way? Like it's there but it's not written the way a lot of that trope usually is, idk I just really like how these books are written I think the author does a fantastic job

- Delilah seeing Claire for who she is and like just how much emotion she has is just yes, and also Claire seeing Delilah as like a sweet person and not just an asshole is nice too

- Because I know it bothers some people, Claire is a mother and the kid is talked about, I don't mind parent tropes but ik some people just don't enjoy reading them, I thought Ruby was sweet though and Claire seeing how Delilah interacts with her is also really cute

- Delilah also providing that safe and comforting space for artwork for Ruby is also really sweet and seeing Delilah kinda give Ruby what she herself didn't have is wholesome ASF and Claire just appreciates it and shit idk it's cute

- Hating On The Straight White Man TM (because he is gross to Astrid)

- Delilah is a photographer and Claire runs a bookstore

ASTRID PARKER

- It's cool getting to see Astrid's POV compared to how Delilah (her sister) views her

- Mommy Issues TM and in my opinion it catches some of the subtleties of growing up with a toxic parent really well

- Jordans ex comes along so warning for that, ok some people don't really like that

- Also handles like not missing your ex but feeling like YOU failed because the relationship failed

- again the subtleties of so much is just so well written

- Jordan is very stereotypical lesbian and I'm here for it

- her truck is named adora, her cat is named catra (if I'm remembering correctly), she wears random button ups, got that half saved short hair going (funnily enough I myself had both Astrid and Jordans haircuts at various points in my life lmao), she's a carpenter sorta, she's got an attitude, is into taro, like I love her sm 😂 she's so me fr 😭

- enemies to lovers

- Astrid's a bitch and Jordan pretends not to be into it

- they fuck in a pantry

- it's funny

IRIS KELLY

- iris doesn't do kids and marriages and her more or less traditional family is giving her shit for it

- Stevie has anxiety and handles it the same way I handle mine so that was relatable

- handles the shit that goes along with having anxiety really well so props to the author once again

- fake dating tm

- They're basically giving each other 'classes' because they think they're bad at things; but in reality it's just them being comfortable with stuff they're actually pretty good at; Stevie helps Iris be more comfortable with everyday romance and Iris helps Stevie be more comfortable with adult fun time intimacy outside of committed long term relationships

- but at the same time in queer Shakespeare and it's beautiful

- Home Field Advantage

- will add later

- The Song of the Huntress

- Just bought it and haven't read it yet

- The Priory of the Orange Tree

- Just bought it haven't read it

- Late Bloomer

- a few chapters in

- th author notes are funny and enjoyable

- good representation of things like people pleasing, autism, trust issues due to family trauma, bad relationships that you stay in for the comfort, toxic friends

- They're some pretty heavy themes but their handled in an easy to swallow way

- while these are very present themes the main focus is still the romance, but they're handled a bit more in depth than say the Bright Falls Trilogy

[tulipanthousa]

kiss your crooked teeth (the trestle of your smile)

A very human kind of revel, a very fey kind of relationship model. Or, The queer friend group re-specs into an almost-polycule whose connecting thread is that everyone has at some point had a life-altering crush on Logan.

[polyshipweek]

Polyship Week '24 - Day Six Prompts

We are (less than) four weeks away from #PolyshipWeek24, and it’s time to take a closer look at the prompts!

Day Six

Queer Disabled Polyam For this prompt, we're spotlighting polyships with queer and disabled characters! Write about a character adapting to a new disability, or one for whom disability is an old familiar companion. Show us those little everyday annoyances, the big frustrations, the adaptive tech and accommodations, and most of all, the way the members of your ship make space for and support one another.

Parties Time to celebrate! Birthdays, holidays, victory celebrations, class reunions, play parties, house parties, afternoon tea parties, or all-night raves — whatever the occasion, show us your polycule at their most festive! Who's the wallflower of the group? Who's made three new friends in the first five minutes? Who brings the best dessert to the potluck? Who should never be allowed to control the aux? Let the good times roll!

Kink Discovery The path from "oh, that better not awaken anything..." to "new kink unlocked" is often a short one, and this prompt is all about those moments of kinky enlightenment. Shows us those first times trying something new, those vulnerable fantasy reveals, and those times your blorbos trip and fall into something that makes their brains go brrrr. Sexual and non-sexual kinks are both welcome for this prompt!

Tight Squeeze Throw your ship into an awkward situation — literally! Redraw a frame from this iconic Sailor Moon scene or explore a time your polyship got stuck in close quarters. Are they hiding from bad guys? Breaking and entering? Stuck in a trash compactor? Maybe the proximity helps them finally confess their feelings, or just ratchets the tension through the roof — or maybe they're an established ship and happy to take advantage of the snug conditions.

As a reminder, feel free to make any kind of fanwork for any of the prompts, mash them up, or do your own thing entirely. Check out the 2024 Masterpost for the full prompt list!

[redriotinggg]

For the ship bingo: sanuso, zosopp, usonami and lusopp 👀. You can pick and choose if these are too many

Yaaaay thanks so much!! I’ll do them all <3

SanUso

Of COURSE I got a bingo with SanUso. They're my top OP ship, if that's not obvious. I have So Many thoughts about them; they spin around in my head 24/7. They're my favourite characters, and their canon dynamic is so fun and heart-warming, so it's no wonder why they've stolen my heart. I resonate VERY strongly with both Sanji and Usopp's characters so projecting onto them is my favourite thing in the world. I read and write fic for them constantly. I WANT TO KISS THEM BOTH I HAVE A HUGE CRUSH ON BOTH OF THEM. SANUSO CALL ME PLEASE. I need more canon scenes of them together before I lose my mind because it's been way too long. Love them as a monogamous couple, and as an OT3 with Zoro and the East Blue Polycule.

ZoSopp

OKAY SO I love these guys a lot!! They were my very first One Piece ship because of all their interactions pre-timeskip. Their canon relationship is what is most interesting to me. Since they met, Zoro always had unwavering faith in Usopp's strength and I think he's helped him become more confident. I love how Usopp always messes with Zoro and hides behind him. I think about what their dynamic post-Water 7 must be A Lot. I enjoy them romantically, but I think I like their platonic relationship the best. I love them in the ZoSanUso trio and the East Blue Polycule. ZoSopp fic is rare, but what's out there is so good. I hope to write more for them.

UsoNami

THE BESTIES EVERRRRR!!!!! I definitely prefer them as friends/in a queer-platonic relationship, but their friendship is so sweet that a romantic relationship isn't out of left field. I strongly believe that they have a FWB relationship (I'll finish my fic soon I PROMISE). I like them in the East Blue 5 polycule, where they are the Bosses of the group. I don't really read fic of them but maybe I should.

And they look so good together like?? Their matching fits are adorable, I adore them so much.

LuSopp

GOD, okay. Again, the bestie vibes are super strong with these two, which can easily lead to a romantic relationship, especially with how tactile they both are. Their canon dynamic makes me INSANE. The love they have for each other is so obvious and sweet. Despite their similarities, they're so different in how they think that it makes them clash HARD, as rarely as it happens. And again, big fan of EB5 polycule. I occasionally read fic for them.

If you wanna be messy like I do, y'all should send me ships that I don't talk about on my blog 👀👀👀

Come play Ship Game Bingo!