#tmc polycule

[unproduciblesmackdown]

always intermittently thought about the magic of like "potluck cooking lesson gatherings at ben's" like, always hand over my heart imagining the one-on-one benston date concepts, winston & ben & tuk stemming off of being work friends....but now even if we never really have a chance to see the actual canon manifestation of [winston & rian taylor's quants duo + ben & tuk duo = Quartet] via like further scenes really, &/or at least that's not about basking in the character dynamic potential there....canon won't tell you this but after Day One of being kind and sharing the desks zone and hitting it off we get that quartet cooking with ben hangout that evening. taylor & philip pull a "oh we wanted to talk about something but yknow what we'll come to you" and join in, bonus

[vacantgodling]

Random Dynamics Game!

yeah rose ( @void-botanist ) i’m stealing your tag bc i realized how Good this would be to talk about celestial weddings OR tmc but…. polycule so celestial weddings 👁️👁️

Rules: choose a group of your characters. Number them. People will send you asks with the number of characters they want to hear about (2-4 is probably ideal), you generate the list of them, and then you ramble about their dynamics!

Dagmar (he/they/she) (*mc beloved)

Lilliabet (she/they)

Izul (they/them)

Vigustav (he/him)

Muu (they/he/she)

Zhujen (she/her)

Almine (he/she)

Rhohanen (they/he)

Aenlin (he/they/she)

as an aside tho, this story is very much in lala plotting land about it OOF so yeahhHhHhH

and then i’ll randomize it etc etc :3

[drinksglue]

I ship a lot of things in TMC but my favs are:

Sarah x Adam

Cesar x Mark

Ruth x Evelin

Jonah x Adam x Sarah

Mark x Sarah (platonic. Besties)

Jonah x Adam (platonic) (idk why but if they’re not in the polycule they’re not good by themselves as a ship IMHO 😔 they’re too best friend coded /HJ) (also no hate towards the shippers obvs ship and let ship— but…the ship is a bit bland IMHO I’m so sorry Joadam shippers 😭)

I also ship canon x oc/self insert stuff but that’s between me and God 🔫

obvs my main thing is Mark x Cesar but to be real for a second I'm finding Jonah x Evelin very funny in this particular moment and I want to write something for it hehehe

[nothingunrealistic]

Collections of ficlets based on prompts and originally posted on Tumblr. Each entry in the series centers on a relationship or character from Billions.

can i interest anyone in twenty thousand words of assorted billions fic? featuring:

ben/winston

Ben and Winston have so much in common… including, sometimes, their bosses trying to destroy each other.

taylor/winston

Taylor hired Winston for a number of reasons, and compatibility was one of them.

tmc polycule

Taylor, Winston, and the people who love them.

taylor/lauren

Taylor and Lauren don’t get much time alone together, so they make the best of what they get.

rian/winston

Rian and Winston are a pair, and they get along great. Mostly. Sometimes. If Winston’s lucky.

taylor (solo)

Taylor won’t let anyone stop them from moving forward.

taylor & mafee

Taylor and Mafee have something that’s rare on the Street: a lasting friendship.

taylor/philip

Taylor and Philip make that effort to get to know each other better.

[decaydanceredacted]

the decaydance polycule is so fucking funny to me because william gabe and travie are so much taller than pete. the height difference is insane the amount of shit they could do to him is wild

.

[landscaping-your-mind]

any thoughts on basira and daisy for the ask game?

[ID in alt: @isnt-loving-lovely’s ship bingo. The title is “ship bingo.” From left to right, top to bottom, the spots are: “I’d read a fic,” “sure i can see it,” “otp x 1000,” “the angst. the drama,” “t4t,” “qpr,” “unhealthy in a good way,” “been married for 30 years,” “unhealthy in a BAD way,” “best in a certain part of canon,” “canon no, fanon yes,” “they sure do exist,” “free space,” “I didn’t know about that one,” “rotating in my brain like a microwave,” “theyre exes,” “i can see the appeal,” “I have So Many Headcanons,” “awwe I love them :),” “I used to like them a lot more;” “no,” “part of a bigger polycule,” “fandom doesn’t know them like I do,” “canon did them Wrong,” “wlw/mlm solidarity.” Crossed out in purple is: “unhealthy in a BAD way,” “free space,” “i can see the appeal,” “no,” and “fandom doesn’t know them like I do.” “i can see the appeal” is only crossed out a little. “no” is crossed out a lot. /End ID]

(CW vague mention of TMA canon-typical police stuff)

Alright, I have Feelings about Dasira, but I’m mostly going to be talking about it in an aromantic way, because I am not the person who knows enough to talk about TMA and cops. (But I will say that if one more person headcanons Daisy with BPD I am going to Die, please Stop.)

So, as an aromantic person, I appreciate that canon!Dasira is completely platonic. They absolutely suck ✨ platonically ✨. They’re a toxic ✨ platonic ✨ relationship. Basira has double standards about Daisy killing people versus Jon taking people’s statements, but her feelings for Daisy are completely platonic.

Yes, queer romantic relationships are important in fiction, I acknowledge this and I’m not going to say it doesn’t give me warm fuzzy feelings to have queer romance be a thing, I love it as much as the next person, but as an aromantic person, I absolutely adore how Daisy and Basira can be so devoted to each other — to the point of it being harmful to the people around them, don’t think I have forgotten — and have the relationship still be completely platonic.

I have a problem with the TMA fandom and how a lot of people just sort of… assume romantic!Dasira is canon, when it’s not. Some of my favourite fic authors are guilty of this (I will not name names because. No. They’re lovely. I don’t know if I have the power to make people do anon hate and I don’t want to find out), and it’s just… hhh. It makes me annoyed. Ship and Let Ship, yeah yeah, but also, aaa, just. It doesn’t sit well with me, personally.

Also, not the right person to be talking on this, but while I really like Daisy’s redemption (?) arc and the message of forgiveness not being necessary but trying to do better being necessary, I… hm. Idk. I just don’t want to say something wrong, so I tend to just stay away from Daisy and Basira as characters. Don’t have much experience with it and have not done enough reading on it.

Anyway, thank you for the ask, you’re v snazzy, and if anyone else wants to… uh you can send stuff for:

MCYT (specifically Hermitcraft and adjacent, but I can do any MCYT, I’ve absorbed some stuff via osmosis), BNHA/MHA (I had a phase), PJO (and related fandoms), TMA, Malevolent, WTNV, RQG, TMC, and any other fandoms you fancy but those are the main ones.

[nothingunrealistic]

1st sentence fic thing: Something like this was supposed to be impossible.

a variation: Something like this was never supposed to happen.

Winston was never supposed to be the guy who got that storybook-perfect ending surrounded by people who adored him. That was reserved for people capable of being adored. 

So it’s as much a mystery to him as to anyone else — maybe more — that he’s crammed into the corner booth of this diner with Ben at his right, knee and shoulder touching Winston’s as he peruses the menu, and Taylor at his left, checking their phone one-handed and rubbing his palm with their thumb. And Lauren is on Taylor’s other side, leaning over the table to earnestly ask him about the bars that post-math meetup drinks have taken him to. (She’s always scouting out new spots to party with potential investors, and even she can’t go everywhere in the city at once.) 

(Send me an ask with the first sentence of a fanfic and I’ll write the next five.)

[nothingunrealistic]

sits down in your ask box. so tell me about the relationship between the people in the Polycule:tm: who aren't dating. :eyes:

i sure will!!! but first, a primer for anyone who may be unfamiliar: the Polycule™ in question comprises ben, winston, taylor, and lauren. ben and winston are dating, taylor and lauren are dating, and taylor and winston have an Intimate Relationship that grew out of their fwb arrangement and that could be reasonably described as “dating” even if / though they don’t refer to it as such. (taylor and lauren’s relationship is canonical; winston’s relationships are just wishful thinking on our part. we’re still right tho.) so, the remaining relationships:

taylor & ben: they’ve known each other the longest out of any of the people involved, having met well before winston or lauren ever came on the scene, and worked together at axe cap for two seasons (approximately two years... maybe... we never really know) and they’re good friends already. ben can be a little intimidated by taylor at times (see: them inadvertently making him cry during a performance review) but he trusts them, generally, and sure doesn’t have any hard feelings toward them for leaving axe cap. (see: “hi taylor! hi mafee!”) taylor trusts ben as well and thinks he’s one of the best and smartest people at axe cap, hence them trying to hire him for mase cap. among other things (e.g., their shared history, what’s going on at work now, how much axe sucks), they bond over how woefully underappreciated winston is, like seriously, how are they the only two people who get this?

winston & lauren: though they’re coworkers, their specific roles don’t bring them together all that much, and winston kind of thinks of lauren as just being Good at existing in all the ways he isn’t. she’s cool and likable and well-liked, so much so that her whole job is to win people over with her personality and her friends and her willingness to party so that they’ll give her (well, her company) tons of money. meanwhile, winston is the guy who (in many people’s minds) just sits at his desk and does math on his computer, except for when he’s saying weird things that make people dislike him. (and, depending on what you’re assuming the timeline of winston’s various relationships is like, it’s entirely possible that taylor and lauren getting together prompted taylor to sit down with winston and tell him “hey, i’m Dating someone now, and i sure don’t wanna be cheating on them, so, we probably shouldn’t be friends with benefits anymore,” which does not do wonders for his self-esteem.) in short: winston doesn’t dislike lauren, but he sure expects her to dislike him. that isn’t necessarily true / universal (see: her returning his first attempt at a high five during fight night though she rebuffed the second, her being on the Same Wavelength about the injustice of compensation via asphyxiation though she was later insisting that it was Not his money in any sense), and certainly once they try to have a more Personal relationship given that they’re both involved with taylor it goes just fine. winston’s directness and sometimes unusual turns of phrase don’t really faze lauren, since interacting with a wide range of people is her Thing and since “direct and unusual” is also how taylor communicates, and obviously lauren’s just fine with it coming from them.

ben & lauren: their first real meeting (in a personal context, rather than in the context of “oh joy, we here at mase cap have been shoved into the axe cap building, can’t wait to see how we all get along”) is most likely during the process of taylor and winston discussing their Relationship History and negotiating what kind of a relationship they’d like to have going forward, which of course they’ve both told lauren and ben about respectively. like, why not hang out and get to know one another while both your significant others are talking about whether or not they want to Date Officially Or Whatever, you might as well... and lauren and ben are both likable and Easy To Like people if you aren’t terrible (see: everyone at axe cap continually dunking on ben for daring to care about human lives) so they get on + become friends easily enough, and can sort of swap lore about winston and taylor and what they each know of the relationship between those two. they’re most likely to be the two who are actually Going Out to a bar or a party together just for fun.

[nothingunrealistic]

thinkin about tayston and specifically about the distinct but related concepts of 1) the two of them spending enough time going out to eat together / hanging out in public that they are occasionally mistaken for a couple and don’t always feel the need to clarify No We’re Not Actually Dating* 2) them returning to the diner / bar / whatever where taylor made the initial Proposal for special occasions / particular milestones, or just because they feel like it sometimes... the people who work at that particular Dining Establishment might well come to regard taylor and winston as regulars, and be among the first to wonder Hmm Are They Together, It Sure Seems Like It... could definitely cause some consternation among the employees if winston & ben and/or taylor & lauren showed up one day, acting just as couple-y as winston & taylor had sometimes, but significant relief (and maybe still a little confusion, but far less worry) if the four of them arrived together and selected a circular table and sat so close and laughed so much that there’s no clear delineation whatsoever of Who’s A Couple and Who’s Just Friends

*a related concept: taylor and winston being mistaken for a couple at a restaurant, and deciding to lean into it in hopes of getting a free dessert for it. sometimes it works and it’s a fun and not-too-deep excuse to be a little more affectionate than they might feel free to be otherwise

[nothingunrealistic]

you kno what: the P in OTP questions stands for polycule. 2, 6, and 13. since like, mathematically there's now like, 6 to 12 possible pairs wrt these questions, plus Trios and The Wholeass Quartet, feel free to approach them flexibly and Not address every possible combo lol. obviously. but just wanted to still say so

now THAT is wisdom. okay let’s get cracking

2. How do they wake up next to each other? Ex - Tangled in each other’s arms? Is one falling off the bed?

great opportunity to invoke the massively multiplayer bed sharing scenario, wherein all four of them decide to stay the night at someone’s apartment for the first time (most likely taylor’s since it’s almost certainly the Swankiest) and originally pair off, intending for one pair to take the Main Bed and for the other to take over a sofa bed or a futon or the guest bedroom or something, even just sleep on the floor if it’s too crowded… but it’s november in new york, and it’s cold even with the Swanky central heat and a space heater or two around, and when whoever’s on the sofa/futon/floor shows up to the main bed to say “hey can we just squeeze in with you actually” they’re welcomed with open arms. they wake up pretty squeezed together indeed (even a king size bed is a bit small for four adults) and at least one person probably has someone else’s hair in their mouth but no one minds too much.

6. When one of them gets a new outfit, how does the other react?

lauren dresses the most Stylishly out of all of the four, so she’s most likely to both get new outfits and to show them off to the others, to general approval… walk walk fashion baby. ben & taylor both go for fairly generic Conservative Business Apparel, so they don’t really get / show off New Outfits but occasionally winston or lauren will notice and say “hey is that a new shirt / sweater / suit? it suits you ;)”. and winston is normally dressing for maximum comfort, but there eventually comes a day when he both needs to buy + wear a suit and can afford to get one that’s nicely tailored - and when ben sees the result he’s absolutely flabbergasted, in an Oh No He Was Already Hot But Now He’s Even Hotter way. taylor’s reaction is a bit more restrained but they’re still very impressed. 

13. What small quirks do they love about each other?

listing each person by their Beloved Quirk(s):

lauren: on some nights when she’s not out partying For The Fund, she’ll be up at one in the morning in someone’s apartment having a bowl of cereal. they’ll walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water or turn off the light and she’ll just be at the counter placidly munching some frosted flakes. they all have spare keys to each other’s places so it’s fine really.

ben: sometimes while leading the group in Cooking, or just handling it himself while everyone is chilling / clearing and setting the table, he’ll hum / sing / dance along to whatever song someone’s playing from their phone, or just to whatever song is stuck in his head.

taylor: they do the silverware-stacking thing (the thing initiated by their d*d) to pass the time while everyone’s out together and waiting for dinner sometimes, and eventually lauren asks about it, and soon enough everyone’s stacking silverware. the waiters are only slightly perplexed.

winston: he insists on wearing mase cap-branded clothes whenever he has to physically enter axe cap. it puts a smile on taylor and lauren’s faces in the elevator ride up every time, and on ben’s face when they all stroll into the conference room.

[decaydanceredacted]

want to watch bilvy fuck pete over a counter while travie and gabe watch

.

[decaydanceredacted]

i wanna watch gabe and william and pete and travie fuck so bad

.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

mad about the person out here where the first thing they say about meringue is they can “just skip the sugar”

[unproduciblesmackdown]

moodboard for the mase cap polycule concept from me and @nothingunrealistic (ben is an honorary tmc member because axe cap so obviously does not deserve him). honestly if this cute background mase cap employee who looks over and laughs warmly at winston’s “q is for quantitative, baby” wants to get in on it, he can feel free:

[unproduciblesmackdown]

billions post: 

threesomes

/text

[unproduciblesmackdown]

beset by the thought of tayston.......and benston and riawin and tmc polycule and