#ot3: not everyone

[malifiquemakes]

"Let's go home."

AU where Kakashi doesn't stop searching, because he promised Rin he'd bring Obito home.

[majorbaby]

[scealaiscoite]

poly fluff alphabet ˗ˏˋ ꒰ 🍊 ꒱

a = affection; is anyone more overly affectionate than the others? when it comes to physical vs verbal, who prefers what?

b = bed; what’s the sleeping situation like? are there regular sleeping arrangements - does anyone like to sleep alone?

c = comfort; when someone’s feeling down, how do the rest look after them?

d = dates; what do dates look like? who usually plans them, or are is it a group affair?

e = events; who drags everyone else to their family/friends’ events?

f = fights; are arguments something that happen often? what are they over, and how are they resolved?

g = getting together; how did it all come about? were there any pre-existing relationships between them?

h = hobbies; does anyone share any hobbies/passions? how do they include the rest of their partners in them?

i = in sickness and in health - when someone falls ill, who’s the carer and who’s the germaphobe? is there anyone that resists being looked after?

j = joker; who’s got the best sense of humour? do they like to tease and banter with everyone else?

k = knowing; who can read their partners like a book? is there anyone who’s got their walls up, even around their partners?

l = lavish; is there anyone who really likes to treat their partners/show them off? how do the rest tend to react - who revels in it, and who’s made shy by it?

m = memories - is anyone more on the sentimental side?

n = nights; what’s the nighttime routine like when they’re all together?

o = open; how open is everyone with one another?

p = pda; what’s pda like with them? is there anyone who loves it, and anyone who’s less fond of it? what actions/words does it manifest as?

q = quiet; who prefers to spend their time with their partners out and about, and who likes to spend it at home?

r = romantic; is anyone a bit of a sap for their partners?

s = sharing; is there anyone who’s particularly territorial of their partners?

t = terms of endearment; nicknames! who’s crazy on them, and who do they make cringe? what’re the go-to’s?

u = urge; who’s the most impulsive? who do they loop into their plans, and who entertains their antics?

v = vacations; how do holidays go? are they big exotic trips, or the occasional staycation?

w = worthy; how are insecurities handled? is anyone more self-conscious than the others?

x = xoxo; who checks up on their partners a lot when they’re apart? do they call, or are texts enough to make them feel close?

y = yearn; who misses their partners the easiest (ie, calls them to hear their voices when all they’ve done is run to the grocery store)?

z = zealous; who was especially eager in their pursuit of the relationship? was anyone more reserved in their want for it?

[idiopath-fic-smile]

13k, complete. cosmo/don/kathy

summary:

Don and Kathy would move in together. They would have a dog or two and then inevitably, a small parade of adorable little brats who would call him Uncle Cosmo, and they would spend less and less time with him, not on purpose but busy with the rest of their lives, and ultimately Cosmo would learn to make his peace with it because he’d have no other choice and he would have to try to move on and not live too much in his memories. He could picture it so clearly, he figured if the songwriting gig with Monumental didn’t pan out, he could always return to the backwater circuit with a new act: The Amazing Cosmo of the Cosmos—ladies and gentlemen, he sees the future, he reads the stars, he silently pines for his best married pal and all the while tap dancing! Don and Kathy inviting him along on their honeymoon, though—that part was a surprise.

featuring multiple original showtunes, polyamorous shenanigans on a boat, feelings, romance, the worst knock-knock joke you've ever read, confessions, and some dawning realizations.

[mystickingstuff]

Gotta love when you have a character with two love interests and they're all so great that the only choice for them is to do polyamory. Hell yeah let them be a throuple, an OT3 if you will. A trio of lovers. And they're all bisexual?? That's even better!!

[formosusiniquis]

Unoriginal thought of the day, a first words leverage ot3 soulmate au is especially fascinating when you think that the non-Nate crew all technically met for the first time during the roshamon job. So you've got an absolute cocktail of reasons that they wouldn't notice, or wouldn't do anything about, meeting their soulmates because they're all working. It would only be in hindsight that they would realize and try to piece it together and as we see their memory is fallible. Not to mention you've got three criminals assuming they're soumates with civilians, even if they did remember fresh off the job, it would be a liability. Then years later and you're sitting in a bar with people you connect with on a level you've never connected with anybody before; talking about the one job that got botched and listening to everyone speak, hearing these familiar moments, you realize that they were there to. How would they react, how closely to the chest do you play it when it's your turn to speak or as they're laying their story out for you.

[suddenrundown]

“you left early” ELIOT GOES TO NANA’S FOR CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

[hualianisms]

Not father & son, not master & disciple, but a secret third thing

First of all, let me preface this by being clear that everyone is free to headcanon anything they want and like/dislike anything they like/dislike! That being said, sometimes I see international fans interpret FDB as LLH's son, or their dynamic as parent-child or otherwise familial, and as a native chinese speaker, I just wanted to share some reasons why I personally did not interpret them as familial.

Granted, at the start of the show, FDB is kept in the dark and also not up to LLH's level of skill in solving cases. However, FDB quickly catches up in crime-solving skills, intellect and maturity by the 2nd half of the show, after a well-written growth arc. I think the beauty of the characters and relationships in this show is that they grow & evolve, and are meant to do so. The dynamic that LLH & FDB had in episode 1 is quite different from their dynamic at the end of the show. By the later episodes, they are 2 adults who are very much equals.

Why I don't read them as father & son:

LLH & FDB act and speak in a manner that is far too informal & familiar with one another, which would be extremely inappropriate for any kind of parent & child, even a surrogate one. Several times, FDB calls LLH by just his first name "Lianhua", and sometimes even calls him "Damn Lianhua" when he is angry/upset at LLH. This would be extremely rude for a disciple to call a master, or a son to call a father. No son talks to his father the way FDB talks to LLH, and no disciple talks to their master like that. Unless the son/disciple hates the father/master, and is outright rejecting his father/master altogether. As we see in the show, not only does FDB not hate LLH at all, he instead cares deeply for LLH and would do anything to save him. Why, then would someone scold/curse someone they care about? Does the trope of the upset spouse/partner sound familiar?

For comparison, see FDB's interactions with He Xiaohui, who he is close to - he is informal & affectionate with her, but never calls her anything other than "娘 niang" ("mother"). I can't emphasize enough how taboo it is in Chinese culture to ever call your parent or parental figure by their name under any circumstance.

2. In ep 31, FDB himself explicitly rejects the idea of LLH as his shifu and himself as LLH's disciple, responding that he is too old to be LLH's disciple and it was merely a joke. He clearly sees LLH as an equal, and rejects the notion of their relationship being anything other than that of 2 adult equals. LLH also tells his shiniang that FDB is not his disciple, and a few episodes ago LLH told FDB that he has never understimated FDB.

Coding/hints as something other than platonic:

Zhiji/zhijiao - FDB calls LLH his 知交 zhijiao in ep 19, and 知己 zhiji in ep 34. "In this life, I, Fang Duobing, recognize you as my only zhiji." is practically a love declaration. And this bond is reciprocated by LLH, bc in a deleted line in ep 19, translated by forayuarchive on twitter, LLH is the one who first calls FDB his zhijiao.

To clarify, Zhiji is not specifically a romantic term, but it's what was used in both The Untamed and Word of Honor - both dramas based on danmei novels with canon gay main pairings - to bypass censorship, to code the bond between the main duo as deeper than your typical platonic male friendship. (See this post for a detailed explanation of the significance/history behind the term zhiji, and see this twitter thread for an explanation of the meaning of zhijiao in MLC - especially how zhijiao is specifically mutual, reciprocated).

2. Married bickering - forayuarchive on twitter has discussed in these twitter threads how the tone of many of LLH & FDB's interactions (especially FDB) is similar to how married couples or romantic partners speak to one another bc of the level of familiarity, tone and language. For my fav example, see this note (translation by forayuarchive) that FDB left LLH in ep 35, which reads pretty much like a note that a spouse/partner might write when leaving their shared house in a hurry.

3. "Xiaobao" - Personally as a native Chinese speaker, LLH calling FDB "xiaobao" in front of everyone is a level of intimacy that genuinely would make me feel embarrassed to hear as a third party. 小宝 xiao bao (literal meaning = "little treasure") is usually something you call actual babies/children AND is FDB's family nickname for him, so if you're calling a grown man that in front of everyone including his colleagues, family and even strangers, then one might assume he is likely either your biological family or your romantic partner. (For comparison, just imagine calling your s/o their parent's special childhood nickname for them at work.)

4. Deleted lines where FDB calls LLH "xiaohua'er". 小花儿 Xiaohua'er ("little flower") is very intimate and feels like something someone might call a lover. Or, at least, definitely not a platonic shifu, even less so a parental figure. (For meta on the names that LLH & FDB use for one another, see forayuarchive's twitter thread.)

5. More deleted scenes (translated by forayuarchive on twitter), perhaps cut due to censorship, which make apparent LLH's high regard and deep care for FDB. For e.g., a line of internal monologue by LLH in ep 40, translated here by forhenjun, shows that LLH thinks of FDB as the only person in his two lifetimes who has always treated him as a human being rather than putting him on an unfair pedestal.

6. Official MLC accounts act like as if they ship them.

As murderedbyhomework mentioned, there is a song in the official soundtrack of MLC called "Fanghua's Day-to-Day Life" (yes, the exact same words as their ship name). Sounds like a couple's daily domestic life, doesn't it?

The official iQiYi Romance youtube channel lists clips of LLH & FDB under the romance category.

The official MLC douyin account posts MVs with emotional captions (e.g. this one translated here by forayuarchive) that emphasize how much both LLH and FDB mean to one another. Another official MLC douyin calls LLH & FDB the person each other trusts the most.

The MLC clips posted by the official Guangdong TV weibo account also has captions such as these (translated by rice_jpg) that straight up describe FDB's feelings towards LLH as "when you like someone" (very similar CN phrasing as the phrasing used to describe romantic crushes).

7. They are subtly paralleled with a canon straight romantic couple (see fanqxiaobao's twitter thread on the parallels btwn LXY/QWM scenes and certain LLH/FDB scenes). MLC also made a distinct change from the novel by not having FDB get married to Princess Zhaoling, even though the drama could have easily given FDB a romance with her.

8. If you're familiar with chinese romantic tropes or the danmei genre, LLH & FDB fit many common romantic tropes e.g. sharing a drink on the rooftop under the moonlight, forgotten first meeting in childhood (and then meeting again properly as adults), power couple fighting side by side (they even held hands!), nianxia, protective younger ml, sickly older mc - just to name a few. Danmei even has many stories of shizun/shifu & disciple pairings who fall in love as adult equals.

There's honestly lots more but these are just some off the top of my head. Again everyone is free to interpret anything! This is just me explaining why as a native chinese speaker I personally did not read their dynamic as that of a father and son.

[fbisgayesttrio]

Can’t sleep so enjoy

[aq2003]

honestly it really is sick and twisted that the anne hathaway twelfth night photoshoot is one of tumblr's favorite images but that actual production is like. lost media

[alaynestone]

FIC RECS for @spnficrecfest - august 13-15 poly ships or rare pairs

i'm attempting to limit myself to just one small sample of the fics that could be recced in every category so that my list is more easily digestible. it's a given that many good fics will be left out but if we keep this up they will have their turn later.

sam/dean & others, various levels of consent.

it's not a question of want by dragonspell (sam/dean, john/dean, sam/dean/john) It's not a question of want; it's a question of need. So when John brings a hurt Dean back to the motel room at one in the morning after a botched hunt, Sam's going to do whatever's needed.

laying claim by bloodkisses (sam/dean, john/dean, sam/dean/john) Sam has no idea how he's ended up here, in bed with his father and his brother. All he knows is that Dean is his.

the air moves in by britomart_is (sam/dean, sam/dean/others) It's not about Dean. Really.

kissing in the blue dark by tebtosca (sam/dean, sam/dean/omc) Rick's not quite sure what to expect when he goes home with a couple of hot strangers.

vagabondage by rivkat (sam/dean, dean/omc, sam/dean/omc) A transient life means that sometimes improvisation is called for.

sloppy seconds by anonymous (sam/dean, dean/others) 5 times Sam gets sloppy seconds and one time he has Dean all for himself.

something deadly within arm's reach by trojie (sam/dean, dean/castiel, sam/dean/castiel) What's between them is a big, messy knot of control issues, and Sam needs Cas's help to cut through it all.

the shortest distance between two points by trojie (sam/dean, dean/castiel, sam/dean/castiel) Castiel watches over the Winchesters, which means he hears a lot of things he probably shouldn't, sees a lot of things he wishes he didn't, wants a lot of things he was never even meant to know about.

there and back again by deadlybride (sam/dean, dean/benny, sam/dean/benny) Benny came back with Sam from Purgatory, after the trials, and set up a quiet life in a cabin up in the Kentucky hills. Sam and Dean visit, sometimes.

you don't have to be an angel by amiwritesthings (sam/dean/mary) She feels her cheeks heat at the hazy memory of the night before, a drunken mistake if she’s ever made one.

in the valley of the shadow by fleshflutter (sam/dean/jess/madison) Their voices are pitched too low for Dean to catch the words but he figures it’s just girl-talk interspersed with the occasional soft, throaty giggle. He doesn’t think there’s enough in their heads for them to be saying anything important. Probably just dust and maggots.

[eryanlainfa]

Then they made out. The end.

[dhmis-autism]

like legit actually are we just gonna not talk abt them showing gay sex yaoi to the audience

[unfilteredcurse]

People fighting whether if XiaoJin or HwoaJin is better are so funny, because the obvious and the only correct answer is that they're a polycule. 🧡❤️💙

[werewolfsmile]

@independent-fics you wanted to know so here you go 😉

I'm working on an Eliot-centric OT3 fic set soon after the end of season 5, with Eliot pining like an idiot. The 'spanner in the works' comes in the form of a young man who claims to be Eliot's biological brother - and, of course, bringing more drama on his heels than intended.

I've got 5 complete chapters so far with about 20k words, and I'm thinking I miiight be half way through (I find it hard to judge as I tend to write long novels). This has been an easy writing fic for me so far. It's easy to pick up, easy to put down, so I'm planning to complete it before posting - I'm paranoid that if I start posting too soon, I'll never complete it.

But here's a little snippet just to whet your appetite 😉

Eliot wasn't ready for Parker to see too deeply into his heart right now. It would expose too much, leave him too vulnerable. And it would run the risk of ruining everything. Eliot couldn't bear it if he ruined everything.

Bonus:

"Wow. I never expected it to go down like this, least of all that our first meetin' would be …" His voice trailed off and he winced a little – and Eliot felt the familiarity of that ricochet through his bones – before he started again. "Let's take this back a step. Hi, I'm Jesse. I think I'm your brother."

[leverage-ot3]

okay but the parallel between hardison using eliot as an example of redemption to harry in the panamanian monkey job and eliot saying he could never be redeemed (and he’s made peace with that) to sophie in the finale