#polyandry

[zuko-always-lies]

Historically Accurate Polyamory and ATLA?

One thing that's inexplicably on my mind right now is that East Asian royal families were generally historically polygamous, so if you wanted to have Azula or Zuko or King Kuei or some other Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom royal or noble take multiple partners, that would actually be reasonably historically accurate. It seems like the Fire Nation royalty has avoided polygamy in recent decades (or you would expect the royal family to be much, much bigger), but isn't the point at the end of the series that they are supposed to return to old ways?

Interestingly, some of this applies to the Water Tribes as well. Although I don't know nearly as much about this subject as I know about East Asian royalty and I don't want to say anything too confidentially, I know some Inuit groups sometimes practiced polygamy. I also know that some groups sometimes practiced "spouse exchanges" where two couples would temporarily exchange spouses in order to create fictive kinship between them. Although the SWT is not identical to historical Inuit groups and the NWT in particular seems very, very different with it's city and state, I think you could definitely justify polyamory being in the tradition of both Water Tribes.

While the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Water Tribes might have traditions of polygyny (where one man marries multiple women), the Air Nomads might have a very different traditions. They are inspired at least in part by Tibetan Buddhism, and Tibet has it's own traditions of plural marriage. Historically, the most common type was fraternal polyandry, in which two or more brothers would take the same wife. However, apparently polygyny, conjoint marriages, and of course monogamous marriages were also historically acceptable in Tibetan society. Of course, there were specific economic reasons why fraternal polyandry made sense in Tibet, which might not apply to the Air Nomads and we really don't get a sense of how their marriages and family life might look like, but it's another reminder not to force their culture into "Western marriage norms, circa 2007."

With all the various forms of plural marriage that would theoretically be culturally appropriate, I think you can culturally justify just about any form of polyamory you are interested in writing.

[und3rcoverchaos]

My boyfriends car broke down at a light today. The battery died completely, it couldn't even he jumped. My husband and I drove out, and he took him to get a new battery while I waited with the car. Then they installed it together.

It's moments like these that I see the future together. I'm a hinge partner, meaning there's no romantic thread between them (they are both heterosexual men), but they are both in relationships with me. It makes the concept of a life with all three of us a little more complicated, especially since they are both monogamous to me. But today was one of those wonderful examples of their building friendship and how they are coming to appreciate each other.

Afterward, my boyfriend told us how lucky he is to have us both. My husband told me how lucky they both are to have me. I told them how lucky I feel. How did we all get so lucky?

His car is fixed, just in time for the festival we are going to this weekend. Lucky, indeed.

[writingwhilecaffeinated]

Chapters: 10/12

Fandom: Bridgerton (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Anthony Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Benedict Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Violet Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington Characters: Penelope Featherington, Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Simon Basset, Daphne Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Gregory Bridgerton, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Portia Featherington, Jack Featherington, Prudence Featherington, Philippa Featherington Additional Tags: Depression, References to Depression, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Reverse Harem, Polyandry, No Incest, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Setting with Females Able to Inherit All Traditionally Male Titles, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Age Difference, Exhibitionism, Slight Character Study, Penelope Featherington Needs a Hug, Penelope Featherington Growth, Protective Anthony Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton Needs A Hug, Supportive Benedict Bridgerton, Protective Benedict Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton Doing Emotional Labor, Benedict Bridgerton Needs a Hug, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Masturbation, Sex, Oral Sex Summary:

“I never said I was an easy teacher. I will challenge you. I will push you. But I will help you be great.”

Something about the way he said those words awoke something inside her. A desire, a need, to prove people wrong. To prove to her mother and sisters that she could turn the estate around and support all of them despite the fact they wouldn’t lift a finger to help her. To prove the plethora of men who dominated the House of Lords wrong, because she knew they would take one look at her and assume she’d be weak because she was a woman.

But, crucially, to prove herself wrong. To squash her self-doubt and succeed where she believed she would fail.

____

Due to a new law and a surprise will and testament, Penelope inherits her father's title as Baron on his death. Terrified and lacking in confidence, she is surprised when Viscount Anthony Bridgerton and his brother, Benedict, offer to help her take the title, claw her family out of debt, and become a powerful, flourishing figure.

The three of them have no idea what this deal will set in motion.

Source: archiveofourown.org

[themotherofrevelation]

What does that mean? I know people speak of sex with women turning men into gods are you saying that is how it should be? Women having their own god while still creating gods

Abundant male service (Shiva excellence) and female nirvāṇa/fulfillment (Shakti essence) foster the evolution of humanity. In erotic union, the Shakti-womban heals/transfigures gentleman. Womban’s erotic prana is gentleman’s wellness. Initiation is the rare rite of deliverance.

[stevieseven6]

[pr1ncessk1tty]

[princess-of-thebes-1995]

I am inspired!

Okay. After my school semester is ends. I want to make another series. Encanto universe. Older and legal age Camilo Madrigal x Reader x Younger Bruno.

Camilo and Bruno both love you. You are newly married to Bruno.

Camilo is jealous and uses his shape shifting powers to pretend to be Bruno. He has sex with you from time to time.

One day, you are pregnant!

Camilo thinks you are pregnant with his child and Bruno feels the same way.

What do you think?

I love polyandry

[dresyreads]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Bridgerton (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Anthony Bridgerton/Benedict Bridgerton/Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington Characters: Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington, Daphne Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Michael Stirling, Simon Basset, Gregory Bridgerton, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton Additional Tags: Reverse Harem, Polyandry, No Incest, Foursome - F/M/M/M, Cunnilingus, Colin Bridgerton Loves Boobs, Penelope is Pleasured, ABC Are Willingly Left With Hard-Ons, The Sacrifices They Make, Christmas Smut, Humor, Bridgertons Being Bridgertons, Never Challenge Francesca to Uno, The Modern Version of Pall Mall is Catan You Can't Convince Me Otherwise, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Competitive Bridgertons Summary:

Penelope and her husbands were just having a normal, Christmas family game night. But when she goes to retrieve more wine from the pantry, her husbands decide to give her one of her gifts early.

[writingwhilecaffeinated]

The Becoming of Baron Penelope Featherington (108208 words) by happilyinsane13 Chapters: 11/12 Fandom: Bridgerton (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Anthony Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Benedict Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington, Violet Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington Characters: Penelope Featherington, Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Simon Basset, Daphne Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Gregory Bridgerton, Hyacinth Bridgerton, Portia Featherington, Jack Featherington, Prudence Featherington, Philippa Featherington, Michael Stirling Additional Tags: Depression, References to Depression, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Reverse Harem, Polyandry, No Incest, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Setting with Females Able to Inherit All Traditionally Male Titles, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Age Difference, Exhibitionism, Slight Character Study, Penelope Featherington Needs a Hug, Penelope Featherington Growth, Protective Anthony Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton Needs A Hug, Supportive Benedict Bridgerton, Protective Benedict Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton Doing Emotional Labor, Benedict Bridgerton Needs a Hug, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Masturbation, Sex, Oral Sex, Light Dom/sub, Dom/sub Undertones, Oral Fixation, Threesome - M/F/M Summary: “I never said I was an easy teacher. I will challenge you. I will push you. But I will help you be great.” Something about the way he said those words awoke something inside her. A desire, a need, to prove people wrong. To prove to her mother and sisters that she could turn the estate around and support all of them despite the fact they wouldn’t lift a finger to help her. To prove the plethora of men who dominated the House of Lords wrong, because she knew they would take one look at her and assume she’d be weak because she was a woman. But, crucially, to prove herself wrong. To squash her self-doubt and succeed where she believed she would fail. __ Due to a new law and a surprise will and testament, Penelope inherits her father's title as Baron on his death. Terrified and lacking in confidence, she is surprised when Viscount Anthony Bridgerton and his brother, Benedict, offer to help her take the title, claw her family out of debt, and become a powerful, flourishing figure. The three of them have no idea what this deal will set in motion.

[themotherofrevelation]

Mother, what is your belief on monogamy?

Sacred monogamy/marriage (with sanctified polyandrous tendencies) is key to evolutionary success. Polyamory is a failed mating system. Polyamory is not for man; the evolved, single-starred Shiva-gentleman worships one Dea.

[simmervrc]

Still thinking about the Wikipedia article I read the other day about how bearded vultures have been seen practicing polyandry and now I can’t stop thinking about a big bearded vulture lady character courting several flustered vultures.

[ancientgoddessofegypt]

I want two boyfriends. Im not going to hold off on this no longer. I'll make it work and it will be a sensual experience for all three of us. Making sure my lovers get their needs met is something I am capable of committing too.

Im not hiding this or being ashamed of it either, I want them to feel safe because polyandry is seen as shameful and 'dirty' when its not.

[genrerolereversal]

#so might as well play with the trope. have a woman surrounded by hot and attractive dudes vying for her attention #she could be average looking, or older, or charismatic

I've seen some examples of this in media aimed at straight women, although the woman is always young & attractive too since that's the default for women in media lol.

Examples I know of:

Bloodbound 2 from Choices: Stories You Play app has a cover with the LIs (including 1 of the female LIs) surrounding her whilst she's sat down.

Finding Twilight webtoon from the Lezhin website/app has a cover where the guys literally have half open shirts whilst the f!MC sits on a throne lol.

Lady & Maid from Tapas website has a cover where the female character is sat in a suit whilst the male characters are sat around her in maid costumes.

Love & Thirst, an upcoming otome game has a cover with the f!MC sat on a chair surrounded by guys.

"Reverse harem" books seem popular on TikTok so maybe there's more there?

Thank you for the tip, Anon! And sorry for the late reply, I kept wanting to add more to the post haha. I don't want to derail the original thread so I will compile the examples here.

(^ Finding Twilight)

I'm always down for women in suits :P And I like that the guys are casually wearing maid outfits, not looking humiliated or embarrassed.

Baka-Updates also has a number of reverse harem stories, though it might take some effort to find the ones you like.

As for the ones I know... There's Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, a josei manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. It's an alternate history of Tokugawa Japan, depicting the shoguns from this era as female. It starts with polyandry as the premise, explained as the result of a plague reducing the number of men in society. Because the shoguns are now women, the inner chambers employ hundreds of men as concubines.

(The live-action adaptation)

I would argue that Ōoku is more diverse than average when it comes to women who aren't conventionally attractive. One of the shoguns, Ieshige, has a speech defect and other health problems like her historical counterpart. The rest of the court underestimates her because of it, but she isn't dehumanised or vilified by the story (imho).

Baka-Updates was actually how I found out about Queen's Palace/Empress's Harem :D It's set in a matriarchal society, has a dominant female lead, and a whole bevy of other GRR stuff/flipping gendered tropes. It's one of my personal favourites.

Like you said, many of the examples are still young, light-skinned, conventionally attractive women, so I'd love to see more variation. And for the men too--they don't have to be skinny anime boys or muscle-bound hunks all the time :P

[und3rcoverchaos]

When I was a kid, I had so many ambitions and dreams. I was a gifted child with lacking parents who didn't help drive me in any direction. It wasn't that they weren't supportive, they were just so lost in their mental illness and addiction that they had no room to actually help.

I married very young and had kids as a teenager and in my young 20s. I dedicated the first part of adult life to raising them, giving myself totally to being a mother. I didn't want them to feel like I wasn't present, and I don't regret that, at all. During that time, I started writing at home for pay and I don't regret that, either.

Once they got a little older it was my time. I went back to college. Then, I got sick. Just as I was finding that ambition again, making connections, finding a career path, my disability shut it down. It broke me. I thought I would never recover.

Instead, I rediscovered the other side of my childhood I had repressed: the wild side. I'd had no supervision and so I had run the streets. I messed around with whoever I wanted to, did whatever drugs I liked (thankfully all light, recreational ones), and filled myself with experiences. I'd noticed that so many older people seemed dissatisfied, even though they had done everything the "right" way.

By the time I was 14 I was a radicalized, far Left, Bisexual psychonaut who had slipped into the polyamorous lifestyle without realizing the word for it (I affectionately referred to myself as a "greedy slut"). I did acid with abandon until I turned 16 and married my first husband, and calmed down, except occasionally behind his controlling back.

Now, in my late 30s, I am once again an open psychonaut. I grow mushrooms, extract DMT, am part of several related spiritual churches, have two long-term partners, have no traditional job thanks to my body giving out on me. And I think back to that little girl with all her dreams and ambitions, her wildness and fears, her plans and expectations, and wonder what she would think if she could peek into the future and see where we ended up. Especially if she saw everything we went through - te abuse, heartache, clawing, scratching, discovery - to get here.

What would she change? Would she change anything?

[borgiabeacon]

Her Five Husbands: Insights into Ancient Indian Polyandry

Imagine being married to multiple men simultaneously. Dreamy for many gay people, probably horrific for some ancient women of any orientation.

Polyandry, or polygamy with more than one husband, was typically practiced for various reasons including keeping land within the family and economic necessity in ancient India. Though it may sound exotic to most of us, the tradition is still alive in some communities of the India Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet.

Draupadi, a pivotal character in the Indian epic Mahabharata, is renowned for her marriage to the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. 

The story of Draupadi's marriage begins with a contest for her hand, which Arjuna wins. However, when the brothers return with Draupadi, their mother, Kunti, thinking they are talking about alms, instructs them to share whatever they have brought. This motherly command is taken literally and respected, leading to Draupadi's marriage to all five brothers. Each husband had specific roles and times with Draupadi, reflecting a structured approach to this polyandrous relationship.

This union of Draupadi and the Pandavas is a profound example of polyandry that raises questions about marriage, fidelity, and duty, offering deep insights into the gender dynamics and family structures of ancient Indian society.

[frothytundra]

Polyandry

A friend and I were discussing polyandry the other day and trying to figure out why a woman would have multiple husbands. We were having this conversation because one of her adult children is visiting Bhutan where polyandry was once considered to be normal, and that knowledge triggered her curiosity. We began, of course, from our own experience of husbands and we struggled to understand why…