#undead throuple

[endofthe-world]

[glassbead-xx]

Ok but now that the fight with God is almost here the people in Union need to do something before it starts and no I don’t mean Remember

They need to talk about their feelings and fix their situationships

[see-arcane]

When it comes to the question of 'Would polyamory have saved them?' in terms of Nosferatus (Thoseferatu), the ranking goes like this:

Nosferatu, 1922: Orlok is way too interested in the Hutters, but in like. A weird bug way. All the plague stuff might have been avoided if the Hutters just let him cling ominously to a wall in their house. Maybe give him a little sippy cup of blood once in a while. He mainly just stares at them all night. It's fine. They're fine.

VERDICT: Polyamory would have saved them, if only on paper. Orlok is not their third, but he is there. Staring. No telling if it actually makes him happy as he has no expressions, but it's chill. The rats are just hanging out. The Hutters are very careful with their bread knives. It's fine, it's cool.

Nosferatu the Vampyre, 1979: Everyone's names are Draculafied, but for all intents and purposes, they're filling the same roles as Orlok, Ellen and Thomas of 1922. That said, Orlok (called Dracula) is the saddest wettest most soggy and mournful death-bringing immortal ever put to screen. He undeadifies Thomas (now Jonathan) and begs Ellen (now Mina sorry, 'Lucy') for a scrap of love rather than just blood. Acts like an elementary schooler with a crush. Wanted to collect the full Harker-Hutter duo so so bad, it's the first thing he's wanted in centuries p l e a s e

VERDICT: Polyamory might have saved the three of them specifically, but it'd be hell for everyone else as evidenced by Thomas-Jonathan turning full Nosferatu by the end and riding off to sow more death. The full polycule would have been a tripled plague on the world. But it'd be almost worth it to have all three of them still kicking.

Nosferatu, 2024: Oh man. No. No no no. At best, Orlok introduced the Hutters to the concept of antique BDSM, but the cadaverous bastard himself is a terrible dom. All aggro, no aftercare, no safewords, no acknowledgment of consent beyond some bullshit ~but we have a covenant~ technicalities to coerce both Hutters into a corner. Also, textbook abuser beats in threatening loved ones and assaulting Thomas and Ellen as shows of power. The Hutters deserve a better third, with or without the supernatural super-death plague.

VERDICT: Polyamory might have saved the Hutters if they had a better undead addition to their situation--I recommend Gautier's hedonistic dream-trysting Clarimonde, she'd show them a good time--but with Orlok? Fuck no. He's just in it to plant a flag of 'I'm owed access to you because you pinkie promised as a teenager!!' ownership on Ellen and be weird at Thomas in full 'It's not gay if I'm the top/I will prove I am more Man by making you the Woman' mode. Utter trashfire of a relationship in the works there.

That being said, the very rancidness of that hypothetical throuple is such an enticing gothic trainwreck to envision.

Orlok: "This is my contractually entrapped undead forever-bride, Ellen, and our wife, Thomas." :)

Dracula, wishing he'd stayed home on his end of the Carpathian mountain range: "You mean groom?"

Orlok: "I said what I said." :)

[tyrantisterror]

Some stuff I learned at the Medieval Studies Congress today that will be of interest/use for Midgaheim:

There's a passage of Beowulf that, in the original old English, lists Grendel's kin/fellow descendents of Cain (the biblical first murderer). Two are easily translated to modern English: elves and giants (specifically "gigantes," one of the few times the poem uses a latin word rather than an Old English word, which probably specifically implies these are Biblical giants/nephilim like Goliath). The other two words are hard to parse because they have no modern English equivalent, and different translations use different words to try to give the same flavor. One is translated roughly as phantoms, undead, revenants, draugr, goblins, evil spirits, or demons, while the other is translated as trolls or ogres. However, both of those words mean something different than those equivalents - in the second term's case, it specifically means Jotunn, i.e. frost giants. And that's especially important for two reasons: 1, Grendel is referred to as being most closely related to that term, sometimes outright being called a Jotunn, and 2, Jotunn are VERY different than giants/ogres mythologically speaking, and the Beowulf poet would have known that. Troll is probably the best fit of all modern English monster words, since trolls were synonymous with Jotunns (and most other monsters) early in the history of Germanic languages, but the word Troll now means its own specific thing, so it's still not a good fit, and as the speaker surmised, it's probably best just to translate Jotunn… as Jotunn.

On a related note, the word "Ettin" is derived from Jotunn, so at some point I should make Midgaheim Ettins some sort of sister clade of ogres to Jotunns.

Beowulf says that giants were "wiped out in the flood," and because it specifically uses the Latin word "gigante," it's likely this is a reference to the death of the nephilim in Biblical apocrypha. BUT! Given how "Jotunn" is used often in the poem, it could alternatively refer to the flood of Ymir's blood in Norse mythology that ALSO wiped out a population of giants. OR! it could refer to BOTH, which would be an explicit instance of the poem trying to fit Norse myth and Christian apocrypha into one united mythos. It is possible the Beowulf poet may have been trying the same heretical bullshit I've been doing in Midgaheim.

A prominent theme in Norse myth was people who act monstrously turning into monsters as a result, and it's possibel that the word "Jotunn" may be rooted in the Germanic word for Gluttony, since early descriptions of Jotunns describe them as cannibals/maneaters whose voracious appetites are particularly destructive - a trait that they share with folkloric ogres across Europe.

Dragons, especially in Norse myth, have some psychopomp connotations, particularly with regards to the word "wyrm," which has always had an intended double meaning to include both serpents/reptiles and vermin/invertebrates. A wyrm is both viper and maggot, snake and worm, with the connective trait that unites all things under the category being its ability to inspire a primal fear. The Beowulf dragon specifically has connotations with Death and Rot, living in an ancient grave and ending the life of the near-unkillable hero of the poem. Nidhoggr also fills this role, as do his fellow root-chewer dragons who torment the particularly dishonorable dead in Norse Hel.

Gawain and Lancelot were disaster bisexuals. It is also probably arguable that most if not all of the knights of the round table are disaster bisexuals, but Gawain and Lancelot definitely are.

At least one incarnation of King Arthur kinda blatantly desired to be a throuple with Gwenevere and Lancelot, which would have solved so many problems. Like, he was aware both Lancelot and Gwenevere were more functional when they could fuck, and he loved them both dearly so come on, let them be a throuple.

There's a good argument that many, if not all versions of Mordred could have been gay.

One Gawain story has him accidentally kill a woman while getting into a fight with a knight over a dead white stag, and Gwenevere tells Gawain that from this day on he has to take a solemn vow to ALWAYS respect and protect women. Or, to sum up:

Lanval was a sub and that's why the fairy maiden asked him to visit her. Their dynamic also subverts a lot of medieval expectations of masculinity and feminity in Marie de France's version of the story, which subsequent authors tried to "fix" in later retellings - a big example is how in Marie's version, the Fairy Maiden steers the horse that rescues Lanval, while in subsequent retellings Lanval gets to steer despite the Fairy Maiden being the one who came to the rescue. Marie's version has both of them take on masculine and feminine roles, serving and protecting each other in turn, and seems to have this message that a good relationship should be an equal partnership where both sides shoulder each other's burdens while also caring for themselves. Marie de France continues to be my favorite medieval writer.

There was a lot of argument and theorizing about the nature of souls as incorporeal things that still can feel pain, with a lot of Christians arguing about what pain means to a spirit without a body, and how exactly hellfire can hurt a soul without a body. Dante kinds put the final word on it by drawing on the fact that angels and demons, who are beings of soul without corporeal forms, can create corporeal representations of themselves from air, smoke, fire, and light - damned souls are given substance, and thus pain, by Hellfire that wraps around their bodies, with one passage of inferno describing how the fire surrounding Ulysses curls at one point "almost like a tongue" to allow him to speak. The fire is also something that, depending on how you translate the poem, may be self inflicted - summoned by the sinner, or at least manifesting as result of their sins and faults, which goes with the theme of Dante's Hell where all the punishments are self inflicted/reinforced by the sinners themselves.

There's a medieval French poem about an island called Cokaygne (pronounced "Cocaine," no I'm serious I'm not shitting you it's called Cocaine) where the houses are made of crepes/pancakes, the rivers are made of sweet milk, food is plentiful, the weather is never bad, predators and disease are nonexistent, and the only people who live there are monks and nuns who spend all their time eating, resting, and engaging in kinky and satisfying sex. The poem is a satire of other stories of the time that attempted to describe Heaven, and explicitly says Cokaygne (Cocaine) is better than Heaven, because all you have to do in Heaven is look at clouds and grass, while in Cokaygne (Cocaine) you get to fuck nuns in your pancake house. To get to Cokaygne (Cocaine) you have to sit up to your neck in pigshit for seven years straight. It kinda reminded me of that hobo folk song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain."

Finally (for today), there's a Medieval story that's based on the story of the Buddha that fucks up the concept of "letting go of attachments" when trying to adapt it to fit a medieval french worldview, turning the concept from "free yourself from your desires" to "listen you shouldn't care about material wealth because the wealth you'll get in the spiritual world of Heaven will be WAY better, you get jewels and a throne and stuff it's sick dude," which proves white people have been fucking that concept up in stupid ways for centuries.

[vabam-fr]

🐸🐨

(For the ask game! -ringleaderising

🐸Share three dragons who would lowkey start a secret society together

This was a lot harder to find dragons for! But I managed (getting a throuple is harder to find than a duo...)

The most similar in concept I have is the Shaded Outcroft

Rasmus is a coroner / mortician, Xylant is a .. goth, and Anastasiya is a dhampir that Rasmus and Xylant take care of. While it's not as whimsical as the question sounds, the three of them live in relative secrecy, since Rasmus spends most of his time studying how to put down Revenants (Imperials that died away from other Imperials, but did not receive proper burial rites, and thus came back from the dead to siphon magical energy from living dragons.) Xylant likes to pretend he is undead and bothers Rasmus most of the time. Both of them have a sense of adoration and loyalty to taking care of Ana, who is still relatively young in their story canon.

The secret society part is a loose concept mostly relating to the Revenant Hunters. The Shaded Outcroft is a very very small village that have come together to mourn, or seek the defense the hunters provide.

Rasmus' wife, Blackmore, became a Revenant, and is something like a Bloodborne eldritch god. She seeks out Rasmus through a twisted, undead sense of love and devotion to her mate. Her goals mostly include turning Rasmus into a Revenant as well so they can live eternally together.

🐨Share two dragons who are smart on their own, but become stupid together

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK --

I already had ideas for these two before Riot got to my lair! LOL Varg, the mirror, is the first "official" member of the Hunting Corpse, and is the one to eventually suggest the name. Riot meets Varg early in her Search, and they become good friends fairly quickly! Varg helps Riot with Lesser Falls to harvest magic for her leg. Very Timon and Pumbaa vibes in their early days.

To pass the time during their hunts, they entertain each other with games -- gambling or otherwise! But mostly games of Knucklebones. This habit spreads to a small portion of the Hunting Corpse, and they often meet secretly to play Knucklebones for coin or treasures they have harvested.

One such instance of Knucklebones happens in the Highland Scrub while on the hunt for a Lesser Fall, and Riot and Varg convince a couple locals to join them in a game. Their Boss isn't too fond of this behavior, and is quite vocal about his distaste with the Plague dragons and their influence. He tries to catch them in the act a few times, to little success.

[orkbutch]

Oh my god I love the way you draw isobel 😭 a really interesting take on her design that I haven't seen done before. Most forget that she's been resurrected by an evil God of the undead and in her journal she even says there's a rot inside her that can never leave. So having some traits of death totally make sense. Very tasty I love the throuple 👏👏👏🤌🤌

YES. My friend and I were just talking abt this but I find the mutual half-death of Aylin and Isobel, their shared potentially permanent damage, to be very romantic and just extremely sick thematic writing. I also think it takes these potentially very pious goody-goody characters (when contrasted with Shar and SH's struggle) and grounds them a lot more as good people that are as complex and potentially pragmatic as every other character is within the game. So I like the idea of Isobel's deathliness being a little more present in her body

[askundeadbluelesbians]

Phases:

Phase 1 (August 2020 - December 2020): Beginning with Vicky and Polly's graduation from Spooky High, ending with their first Hanukkah together.

Phase 2 (February 2021 - June 2021): Beginning with both Vicky's and Polly's moms meeting, ending with the first major roadblock in their relationship. (Featuring a June Takeover from Oz, Amira, Brian, and their partners!)

Phase 3 (August 2021 - December 2021): Beginning with Vicky and Polly getting couples' counseling, ending with them inviting Isis into their relationship.

Phase 4 (February 2022 - June 2022): Beginning with Vicky and Polly adjusting to Isis being a part of their relationship, ending with Polly about to propose to Vicky. (Featuring a June Takeover from Miranda!)

Phase 5 (February 2023 - June 2023): Beginning with Vicky confirming that they and Polly are indeed engaged, ending with Dr. Schmidt adopting Hazel and having them join Vicky, Polly, and Isis on a road trip. (Featuring a June Takeover from Vicky and Polly's families!)

Phase 6 (August 2023 - December 2023): Beginning with the road trip already underway, ending with them at their destination: Veranotone.

Phase 7 (August 2024 - December 2024): Beginning with the moving on of Polly's parents, ending with our main throuple planning their wedding.

Undead Vignettes: Side stories taking place in between batches/posts that wouldn't fit into a simple ask.

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[italeteller]

If there's any multi-ship from any media franchise you like that you could have become a canon throuple/polycule, what would it be?

Hmm. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard from Netflix's Castlevania could definitely have all gotten together, and it would've gone over much, Much better than what season 3 did

I could see Marinette, Adrien, Alya and Nino all becoming a polycule, the groundwork's definitely there. I guess Luka too but I dropped the series before he got together with Marinette so idk much about him

The main trio from Singin' in the Rain, definitely. I hear it's got a healthy fan following

...

Ok look, Imma be honest, I misinterpreted the ask to be "what couples I think could have been a throuple/polycule" and not "what couples I'd make like that into canon" so. I mean my previous answers don't really change but I felt like I had to be transparent about it

So ok, back to answering the real question this time: I've had a thing for Naruto-Ino-Hinata for a while, so that'd be one for sure

Also Taiyo-Mutsumi-Ayaka from Yozakura Family. I mean come one, the groundwork's already laid, she's their live-in maid, she's canonically bisexual and attracted to both of them, it would actually be the easiest canonization in the world

Also Peter-MJ-Felicia... I don't wanna say I'd make them canon because I've seen what Marvel does to canon these days, and these weeks, and these months, and these years, but in a theoretical universe where I Had The Power to make them canon I guess I'd also have the power to keep them safe from editorial bullshit so yeah, them

uuhhh there must be some more that I am forgetting so I'll get back to you whenever I remember, so I'll end this with some undead unluck spoilers below the cut

Andy, Fuuko and Gina. Come on. Come on Tozuka the groundwork is already there. Gina's clearly head over heels for Fuuko, and when they use Remember she's gonna get 50 years of pining for Andy, come on you can make it happen, come on man you have the power

Also from UU, Billy-Tella-Veronica-Tatiana's parents. Also 99% of the way into canon, but I really think they should all move into a huge house and raise Betty and Tatiana as sisters

[princess-of-the-corner]

So I just found an interesting sounding anime called 'The Faraway Paladin', I haven't watched it yet but the description makes it sound like an undead throuple raises a child to become a paladin.

That sounds hilarious actually

[blorbologist]

Aljdskjfksd I can't believe you tagged me, thank you so much. A literal honor!! 😭😭 (I hope you're having a lovely and wonderful day over there)

BUT THAT IS NOT WHY I AM HERE.

WHAT IS 'BLOOD IS SOUP'. PLS ELABORATE

!! <33

It's... still rough, but Prehistoric Planet 2 cheered me up this morning and I am Aggressively Compartmentalizing. Yknow how Percy takes 114 episodes and 7 in-universe years to go 'I miss my family'? like that. The Simosuchus were animated so well, so very reptilian, they made me think of my boy tho :c

ANYWAYS.

Blood is soup is my vampire!Bashter AU! It's mostly coming together in bits and pieces during prompt games, because I don't have a solid plan for what scenes I want to include in the fic.

Yasha is a vampire, dating pre-campaign. I think Obann turned her, or she was bitten/cursed after Zuala's death. Either way, she was a vampire when she tore apart her tribe, and caused a fair bit of death elsewhere too before getting her hunger to heel. Her frequent solitary bouts during the campaign are her going off to not be a danger to her friends. She needs to work through her guilt not only regarding Zuala, but the creature she's become and the deaths she continues to cause. Most divine magic hurts her due to her nature... except Jester's, because Artagan isn't quite a normal god, is he?

Beau remains a human, and thinks the whole vampire shit is hot. A lot of her conflict is just... her gut reaction is to hide vulnerability, and protect herself, and letting Yasha get some omnomnom would be a major show of trust she can't actually justify.

The title is a reference to the fact that, during the canon M9 Hero's Feast of comfort foods (including soup for Essek), Yasha blurts out that she can give her blood to anyone in the party. In case they want insurance against death for this final fight against Lucien.

Fjord takes her up on the offer for practical reasons. Jester... Jester does it because she thinks it's fucking cool.

(And Beau thinks the whole thing is hot and chugs her soup in embarrassment, and then as we know Jester dies during that Lucien fight, soooo.... Jester becomes a vampire too. )

It ends with a smidge of Polynein? Because Beau, Yasha and Jester become a throuple, but Fjord is still Jester's boyfriend. He and Yasha might be a bit closer in this AU due to dealing with dark powers n shit. Shadowgast are still their own thing, Yeza and Veth still happily married, and Caduceus has a lot more relationship counselling to feel responsible for. (Also wondering what a follower of the Wildmother's reaction to an undead vampire would be, and if there might be a fun angle there.)

[damienthepious]

3, 22, 99 in the 30-day range for your music ask? :3c

3: You Are Loved - Defiance, Ohio (on my post-election survival playlist)

22: Vampire Weeknight - Jenny Owen Youngs (on the writing playlist for my undead necromancer throuple novel project lol. which i haven't even been working on, but it was good vibes for when i was reading Witch King by Martha Wells)

99: Honeydew - Small Talks (might also be on the previous playlist)

[Send me a number 1-100 and range [Last 30 Days] [Last 180 Days] or [Last 365 Days] and I'll tell you what song you picked out on my lastfm top tracks!!!]

[maturespeakertothedead]

yes. and also:

evil threesome to steal gods cum to impregnate the psychotic TERRORIST virgin mary so the baby jesus can be EXPLODED unlocking an ancient tomb holding undead evil barbie (who is in a throuple with Jesus), thus killing God

evil threesome to steal gods cum to impregnate the psychotic virgin mary so the baby jesus can unlock an ancient tomb holding an undead evil barbie. not even top 3 insane tlt plot

[lexilangfeld]

So, lately I've been pondering asymmetrical polyamorous threesomes in fiction. They are somewhat rare, not least because the symmetrical "throuple" is considered by many to be the platonic ideal of polyamory (to the point where people are annoying about it IRL).

But, I've seen two anime series recently that feature such asymmetrical threesomes.

Let's start with the healthy one! First, we have Ore Monogatari (anglicized as "MY Love Story") which is about a really nice, really big dude, his first girlfriend, and his ace queerplatonic life partner. Some people may tell you that I'm lying about the last part, but ISTG, they take him on like half of their dates. And I'm pretty sure the asexual part is canon. Anyway, it's a very sweet, very healthy love story with very little jealousy anywhere in it.

Then, on the unhealthier side, we have Undead Murder Farce, a recent series that's like if The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was Japanese and also good (yeah, I said it). In it, Shizuku, Lady Aya's maid/bodyguard pretty much flat out tells Carmilla (yes, That Carmilla) that she and Lady Aya used to be in a physical relationship. And Tsugaru, Lady Aya's apprentice/henchman is pretty much in a physical relationship with her now. And Shizuku and Tsugaru manage to keep their attempts to maim one another to a minimum, for Lady Aya's sake.

Now, the power (and age) differentials here would make either of these relationships kind of unhealthy on their own even without the rancor between two of them. But the fact that the relationships are in the background, rather than the foreground, help keep things from getting too annoying or uncomfortable.

Anyway, this has all been making me have feelings about asymmetrical threesomes, which is pretty unusual for me! Feel free to share any thought you have in the notes.

[stickandthorn]

pointing at a faun and an undead woman role playing a dead rat puppet and a paper doll name Caviar and Paté arranging a throuple in some AGGRESSIVE accents: what happens at girl sleepovers.

[approximately20blorbos]

Wip Intro: To Sing Again

As the daughter of sailors, Princess grew up on shanties and tales of the sea. Having fallen in love with the ocean from the stories told to her by her parents, she begs and begs to be taken sailing herself—and finally, her fathers agree. Everything goes wrong, however, when one of her dads is killed in a mysterious attack on their ship. Torn apart by grief, Creed takes his daughter home and tries his best to keep raising her on his own. But strange things keep happening to him—things that eventually prove his husband Blue is still around and refusing to move on after death. In his ghostly state, however, Blue is only capable of interacting with his husband—or, it turns out, those trained in dealing with undead.

Desperate to see her late father again, Princess enrolls in a school for grave clerics, where she’ll be taught to channel divine magic and guard the barrier between life and death, rejecting all that would blur that line. Secretly, though, Princess has her sights on something higher than holiness—she intends to uncover the lost magic of resurrection, and bring her father back to the realm of the living entirely. Meanwhile, Creed’s grief ferments into anger, and he’s determined to make those who would tear his family apart pay. But the events leading up to Blue’s death are shrouded in mystery, with no clear leads about the culprits or their motives. To get his revenge, Creed will need to do a lot of detective work first, and Blue’s new ghostly visage may come in handy for just that.

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: Quapara, a typical D&D-esque fantasy world. Takes place at least 50 years after the events of SATT and will contain spoilers for the ending.

Tropes/Themes: grief, revenge, self-destruction, ambition, new beginnings, magic school, love triangle that ends in a throuple, rivals to lovers, falling in love with the mark

Characters: 

Blue: Half water genasi, half tiefling, 100% blue from head to toe. Has a great many tattoos, curly hair, ridged horns that frame his head like a crown, and eyes that swirl like pearlescent fluid. Dies at age 35 and would be 39 for most of the novel. Raised communally by sailors and it shows. Jovial, mischievous, and artistic, and loves to be the center of attention.

Creed: A tiefling with ruddy red skin, tall, imposing horns, a scruffy beard the color of rust, and a harpoon-shaped tail. 35 when Blue dies, 38 for most of the novel. Raised in a tavern and it shows. Grumpy and a bit cynical, with a soft spot for the people in his family.

Princess: Blue and Creed’s adopted daughter. 12 when Blue dies, and 15 for most of the novel. A pink tiefling with purple eyes and hair and curly ram horns. Stubborn and ambitious, rough around the edges, and good at taking charge.

TW/CW: death, murder, gore, alcohol, self-harm, religion

Vibes: ice and fire mixing together, stormy seas, ghost ships continuing to sail, rebellious teens at a private school, dark academia, royal balls, rowdy taverns, blood on a ship deck, hozier and sea shanties, flowers growing out of a heart