Since I did my various posts about the tropes/dynamics I tend to go for in my mlm, wlw and het ships, I’ve been trying to identify a pattern in my poly ships, but honestly I can’t really find one. So, I’ve decided to simply rank my favourite poly ships in order of how feral I am about them ❤️
1) 3zun - mannnnn this sequence of events is just so tragically, toxically compelling: underdog falls in love with his much more powerful boss -> boss kicks him out in the angstiest break up ever -> underdog saves the life of his boss’s equally powerful long term partner -> they fall in love but war forces them apart -> post war the ex-boss’s partner convinces both his boyfriends to all get unhappily married together -> murder and betrayal and probably some absolutely bomb hate sex. Phenomenal. One of my current WIPs is about these three and it’s the longest fic I’ve ever written because there is SO MUCH to be said about this absolute shitshow.
2) Polymarine - I do NOT want to talk about s3. In s1/2 this beautiful, blessedly canon polycule was an absolute DELIGHT. I can’t stress how lovely it is, as a poly person, to see actual textual representation in media. Plus, the characters and story were amazing! And best of all… MERMAIDS. My favourite. I love Ben and Maddie’s established relationship and what a solid team they are, I love Ryn just happily claiming a spot in said relationship with zero qualms, and I love Ben and Maddie exchanging one (1) questioning glance about it before just going ‘fuck yeah’ and getting with the poly program. Also, most of my poly ships are male dominated so I love that this one is not.
3) Meljayvik - for a while earlier this year I was OBSESSED with mjv and I’m still very fond of them. My personal reading is romantic jayvik, romantic meljay, and qpr melvik; this is mostly because I hc viktor as gay. But honestly Melvik is the dynamic I find the most fascinating, and it’s one of my only qpr ‘ships’. Regardless of how it’s shipped, though, mjv is imo the best possible interpretation of whatever the hell they were going for with the repeated paralleling of Mel and Viktor throughout the show. Let’s face it, Jayce has a type (strikingly pretty and articulate intellectuals who boss him around and then turn into terrifying gold -accented mages) and you know what else he has? Two hands.
4) Cyrano/Roxane/Christian - I polyship this in every version but I’m particularly taken with the 2021 movie musical. The story is already fantastic: Cyrano is a brilliant but insecure man pining for his radiant friend Roxane, whose head is turned by a pretty boy, only for the pretty boy (Christian) to turn out to be a sweet himbo who befriends Cyrano, who is put in a helplessly angsty situation when both Roxane and Christian beg for his help as wingman. But the story is EVEN BETTER when you add in Cyrano and Christian accidentally falling for each other too. In the 2021 version they spend half the film wistfully telling each other ‘bro I’m serious Roxane would be crazy not to fall in love with you bro you’re so amazing bro’, all while Roxane is canonically in love with them both. So. Yeah.
Sadly these three have never shared a scene but I found this incredible art by captainamateur-artistt which can be found here
5) Mizu/Taigen/Akemi - I honestly have no idea what dynamic these three would have, I just know that I ship them all. However, I do ship Akemi/Taigen the least so I’d be open to ‘Mizu has two hands’. I’m actually really intrigued by the idea of Akemi having a thing with Taigen in s2, but she’s obsessed with accumulating power and he’s pining for Mizu… only for Mizu to return from England and stroll right in and start affairs with them both, with them lowkey competing for Mizu’s attention. But… I do want a threesome. Or for Taigen to be in the cuck chair. In any case, I just love these three and I especially love that Mizu’s gender being ???? makes it kinda gay no matter who they’re with.
6) Geraskefer - ok look I mostly ship yennskier, but both Jaskier and Yennefer are so obviously in love with Geralt that I guess he may as well join. My interpretation of these three is that Geralt was casually fucking both Jaskier and Yen for all of s1, but with Jaskier it was FWB and with Yen it was more of a mutual pining situationship (as is canon). I reckon it was only after he broke up with Jaskier that Geralt realised he loved him too. As for yennskier… come onnn we all saw that delicious enemies to lovers chemistry in s2! I wish it was canon mostly just cause I’d love to see the look on Geralt’s face when he realises that his exes have been having better sex with each other than with him ever since he dumped them both.
7) Kala/Wolfgang/Rajan - ahhhh sense8 my beloved! What an iconic piece of queer media. Look ngl I felt like this relationship was kinda fumbled and rushed in the end, but I was rooting for a poly resolution to this love triangle for quite some time, so even with the speedrunning, I was thrilled when it actually happened! I would have loved to have seen it play out as more of a storyline though. In my ideal rewrite Rajan and Wolfgang would come to a tension-filled agreement to put Kala’s happiness first, then kinda begrudgingly get to know and like each other, then warily agree to a threesome… only to accidentally spend most of it passionately making love to each other (while Kala is screaming YEAAAHHH BOIIIIII into a pillow). But either way I’m glad they all got a happy ending!
8) Dani/Lito/Hernando - yes Sense8 made it onto this list twice because it’s just THAT GOOD at queer rep!! This polyship is particularly interesting and cool because it’s kinda undefined, since it’s two men in love and their female best friend/housemate they treat as an equal life partner. They include her in their sex life but although they kiss and touch her somewhat, mostly it’s her touching herself while they fuck. They all unabashedly adore each other. I interpret it as a form of qpr; I think Lito and Hernando are both gay, but open to sharing sexual pleasure with Dani because they are bonded with her in a way that runs just as deep as their romantic love for each other, while Dani is aro and maybe sleeps with other people. But in any case, it’s love, and if there’s one thing polyships show us it’s that love can take countless forms which transcend labels.
