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Threesome Subtext

Sometimes, Betty and Veronica stop fighting over Archie and simply enjoy him together.

Subtextual implications in the story, about the possibility of a shared sexual relationship between three characters.

Like most other Ship Tease tropes, it might be caused by the author fooling around, with the expectation that no one will consider this a serious romantic resolution, or by teasing the fans of that particular kink to stay tuned.

Three-Way Sex is the textual version of this, where threesomes actually happen.

Twin Threesome Fantasy is a subtrope.

Compare One True Threesome, the Shipping Goggles-induced counterpart. See also Homoerotic Subtext and Incest Subtext.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

In Tenchi Muyo!, Ryoko x Tenchi x Ayeka, and Ayeka and Ryoko hate each other, but plenty Foe Yay occurs in universe.
Aoba/Mairu/Kururi gets a bunch of this in Durarara!!. Mairu and Kururi thank Aoba with a kiss for turning in a group of bullies; Aoba has a They Are Not My Girlfriends moment when his Blue Square members refer to them as such, but turns right around and explicitly orders them not to involve the twins in the gang wars because he's taken a particular liking to them. And then there's all the Mairu/Kururi Twincest. Worth noting that they've all kissed at some point.
Star Driver is made of this trope: implying it so freaking hard between the three protagonists (Takuto, Wako, and Sugata) while never actually resolving it.
Mahou Sensei Negima!: "Sai-shou-dou-kin!?" To clarify: when one character is trying to figure out a solution to the Love Triangle she's in, her subconscious suggests a threeway.
- Going by Cosmo Entelechia, we have Nodoka/Negi/Yue, Chachamaru/Negi/Evangeline, and Fate/Shiori/Negi
In School Rumble Eri and Yakumo are both in love with Harima. There has also been quite a bit of Les Yay / Foe Yay between the two of them, culminating in a episode where they both end up dancing with each other. Before the original manga suddenly stopped, Harima was also apparently engaged to Eri while living with Yakumo, with all three apparently content with the arrangement.
In Rosario + Vampire, similar to the Negima example, Yukari Sendou is a Shipper on Deck for two people she's attracted to, because if they get together, it'll be easier for her to score a threesome.
In Death Note during the first arc: Misa-Light-L and Second arc: Misa-Light-Takada / Light-Takada-Mikami and in the prequel novel Another Note Raye Penber-Naomi Misora-Ryuuzaki
Ranka/Alto/Sheryl in Macross Frontier. At the end of the series, Alto says "You are both my wings."
Carrot/Tira/Chocolat in the Sorcerer Hunters anime. It's strongly implied the sisters would not mind sharing the man they love.
In Otome Youkai Zakuro, there is a canon Twin Threesome Fantasy with Ganryuu and twins Bonbori and Hozuki.
Happens in Anatolia Story, also overlapping with Twin Threesome Fantasy. Kail's servant Kikkuri can't distinguish between the twins Ryuhi and Shala, Yuri's ladies-in-waiting, and they're both in love with him. He then gets both girls pregnant... and ends up marrying them both. At the end of the story, the three and their kids (twin boys mothered by Ryuhi and twin girls mothered by Shala) are seen living happily ever after.
Gets pretty heavy in the second season of Rinne No Lagrange. When the three leads are re-united after several months the argument between Lan and Muginami is settled when Madoka pushes them together and forces them to kiss. Later on Muginami returns the favour with Madoka and Lan. After that Lan pushes Madoka and Muginami together... and winds knocking their foreheads together. Though Madoka does confirm several episodes later that she and Muginami did kiss at some point.
In Pok�mon Special, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is as canon as you can get with a bunch of twelve year olds, with it repeatedly being stated how the three of them together represent the perfect human spirit, them crying when they had to separate for the first time since they had traveled together, and them eventually ending up as parents for two baby Pokemon.
In the manga version of Magic Knight Rayearth, Hikaru says she wants to marry both Lantis and Eagle. Then she says she loves everyone and her feelings remain ambiguous... but those two are the only ones she mentions wanting to marry, so there's that.
In xxxHOLiC, there's the trio of Doumeki/Watanuki/Himawari, which has plot enforced implications: Watanuki is head-over-heels for Himawari, but Himawari's Doom Magnet status renders her dangerous to be around Watanuki... except when Doumeki's around, because Doumeki is a living Protective Charm. There's also a moment where Doumeki agrees to give Himawari a "date" with Watanuki alone, but insists that they will later "have lunch together, the three of us".
Yuyushiki runs on this. Sometimes the subtext goes dangerously close to actual-text.

Comics

In Empowered, this is implied between the three main characters, Emp, Thug Boy and Ninjette. Emp and Thug Boy are in a very happy relationship with Ninjette as Emp's best friend. But not only are Thug Boy and Ninjette attracted to each other (he even accidently felt her up when the three of them were sharing a bed after Ninjette underwent a traumatic experience), but it's implied that Ninjette is attracted to Emp, and Emp has described herself as a "three drink bisexual." The possibility is even acknowledged during a conversation between Ninjette and The Caged Demonwolf, though Ninjette refuses to divulge her fantasies.

Film

Johnny, Lisa, and Denny from The Room
Denny: I just like to watch you guys.
TRON has to set a minor record, despite being a Disney flick. First, Alan and Lora show up at Flynn's arcade. Flynn acts a little overly familiar to them both (even if Lora's his ex), snarking that "nothing classes up the joint like a clean-cut young couple." Once they're upstairs, he casually changes his shirt in front of them, remarks Lora isn't one for small talk, and asks Alan if she still leaves clothing on the floor. The end of the scene is Lora brandishing a set of car keys and asking "Shall we dance?".
- Once Flynn's in cyberspace, there's buckets of Ho Yay when he allies himself with Ram and Tron. The scene at the Power Pool? Three pretty men in skintight, neon-lit spandex gasping and giggling over how good power from a "pure source" is.
- And after Ram dies and Flynn's found Tron and Yori? Well, see the arcade scene above. Tron and Yori are doppelgangers of Alan and Lora and in an established relationship already. Doesn't slow down any of the Ho Yay from earlier, nor does it stop Flynn from giving Yori a very passionate Last Kiss before making what he believes to be a Heroic Sacrifice to save them all.
Ben, Chon and O in Savages.

Literature

Since Troy Denning started writing the Star Wars Expanded Universe, he's put a lot of this between Jaina, Zekk, and Jag. When Zekk and Jaina are part of a hive mind, Zekk finds Jag attractive. Then in Invincible, after one fight, Jaina invites both of them to bed with her at the same time.
In Isabel Allende's Eva Luna, Intrepid Reporter Rolf's first romantic/sexual experiences were with his two cute cousins. The two sisters are very close and have the same taste in boys, so they see nothing wrong with sharing the lover as long as the three agree; then, they pretty much glomp-attack Rolf as he works up the nerve to decide which one he likes the best, and one thing leads to another.
Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere in The Once And Future King. Canonically, it's a Love Triangle, but the text makes it explicit that all three of the individuals involved love each other in some fashion.

Live Action TV

Rory/Amy/The Doctor have a lot. Amy has on occasion called them her "boys," and they don't disagree. And earlier on, there's a bit of Jack, Rose and The Doctor.
- In the latter case, all three kiss over the course of one episode.
- In fact, Jack is canonically attracted to both Rose and the Doctor, and Rose to both Jack and the Doctor.
Glee: In the episode "Prom Queen" Rachel and Mercedes both ask Sam to the prom together. They go as a group of three (and are later joined by Jesse).
In the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angelus/Spike/Drusilla is all but canon. Both the guys lust after her but also have massive Foe Yay with eachother. There is an infamous line in later seasons where Spike claims to have not been intimate with Angelus except for "that one time" (implications confirmed by Joss Whedon himself) which probably happened when Spike was still with Dru. And, of course, when Angelus first shows up (after being de-souled) he kisses Spike passionately on the forehead, prompting Drusilla to gleefully squeal "We're a family again!" Dude, was that even supposed to be subtext?
- Before Spike came along, Angel, Darla, and Drusilla traveled together for quite a while...
  Drusilla: I'm full and warm, yet all alone.
  Angelus: That's not true, precious. You've got us.
  Drusilla: Not in the least. You won't even hurt me just a little bit.
  Darla: All you have to do is ask.
The joyful Abby/Becker/Connor reunion hug in the Primeval series 4 opener is bookended near the end of the series 5 finale: Our heroes walking off into the sunset: Matt/Emily in their own tight little pair, followed by our trio: Abby with an arm around Becker's waist, and holding hands with Connor. Becker also has an arm around Abby, and at the last second, he reaches over to put it around Connor, too. Awwww. Made all the more amusing by the fact that Becker once refused to answer a direct question about his orientation.
Happens a lot in How I Met Your Mother, in almost every permutation of the the five main characters, but most often and explicitly Ted/Marshall/Lily, where Ted is treated like an extra spouse in many, many gags. Marshall and Lily even once say "If we get married, we have to marry Ted!", when Lily gets pregnant, Ted keeps referring to it as "our" baby, and a montage in one episodes features Ted as the third factor in various famous couples (eg. Lady and the Tramp and the Bowl Of Spaghetti).
Happens between Cory, Shawn and Topanga on Boy Meets World:
Shawn: I think the three of us could be very happy together.
In one Frasier episode, a case of misinterpretation leads Roz to believe that Niles and Daphne are asking her to have a threesome with them. The ensuing conversation is hilarious, and the fact that Roz doesn't seem too averse to the idea cause Niles and Daphne to mercilessly tease her after the miscommunication is cleared up.
In Degrassi, Holly J starts dating a boy named Declan. Unfortunately, Declan's sister, Fiona, is very...possessive of him, and constantly tries to sabotage their relationship. One especially blatant attempt at this ends with Fiona kissing Declan. Voluntarily. This wouldn't count as an example of the trope, except for the part in the next season where Fiona goes through character development, realizes she is bisexual, and kisses Holly J. Again, voluntarily. And Holly implies she is still in love with Declan, who, before their breakup, told both girls they had to make up because he wanted to spend the summer with both of them. Ahh, soap operas.
Leverage features this somewhat with Hardison/Eliot/Parker. It's not like they weren't already teased like crazy, but in the series Grand Finale, they died holding hands. Faked, of course, since Nate is a lying bastard of a narrator. However, when Nate and Sophie leave at the end of the episode, Parker, Hardison and Eliot go on by themselves.
- It's implied at least twice that the relationship between the three of them is meant to be permanent. When Sophie asks Eliot about his future he states that he wanted to open his own restaurant but now he's going to get stuck making sure Hardison's doesn't go out of business. In the finale when Sophie asks him to protect them, he says 'until my dying day'.

Video Games

Skies Of Arcadia has so much of this between Vyse, Aika and Fina in-universe that Ship-to-Ship Combat among the three of them in fandom is nearly nonexistent.
- One of their boss fight opponents remarks on it!
Laharl, Etna and Flonne in Disgaea. Each one has incredible chemistry with the other two. It's so obvious, it's painful.
The Ar tonelico series lets you double date (and later triple date) the Reyvateil heroines in your party. While you still can settle with only one girl in the end, almost no one in the game's going to call the protagonists out for diving into multiple girls' minds at once. The subject is even more awkward since "diving" is given the same intimacy level as sex.
In Katawa Shoujo, all of the heroines come in pairs of friends, so there's plenty of potential for this. The high point is probably Hanako and Lilly's routes, as the two are extremely close Heterosexual Life Partners and both of their routes feature the other to a great extent. Befriending the other is actually required to get either of them, and their routes in Act 1 don't diverge until the very end. It's repeatedly made obvious how much closer than normal friends they are, with Hanako even saying that she loves Lilly in her route. To cap it all off, at one point in Lilly's route during one of their pyjama party/tea party get-togethers, Akira mentions that plenty of guys would be very pleased to see Lilly in such skimpy clothing. As they're already together, Hisao privately agrees. Akira goes on to add that he even gets to see cute Hanako in her nightie as well. Hisao deflects, but Hanako haltingly says that if it's Hisao, she doesn't mind. She doesn't seem to realise what she's implying, but everyone else sure does, and quickly change the subject.
- Early in Emi's route, Misha teases Hisao about having lunch with both Emi and Rin, and mentions that the three of them are cute together.
- Shizune's route also features Misha very heavily, and Misha canonically is in love with Shizune, though it isn't requited. In fact, the route arguably focuses more on the friendship between the three of them than on Hisao and Shizune's relationship specifically.
Sora/Riku/Kairi. Sora/Kairi is (probably) the Official Couple and the first KH game strongly implied that Riku also had a crush on Kairi (jury's out on whether he still feels this way about her), while Sora/Riku spend a lot of Kingdom Hearts 2 and Dream Drop Distance being pretty darn hoyaytastic to each other. When it comes to the dynamics of the three of them together, Kairi even comments to Riku in Kingdom Hearts 2 that Sora is completely hopeless without them and holds Sora and Riku's hands between her own in order to let Sora see that what looks like Ansem Seeker of Darkness is, in fact, actually Riku. The opening FMV of Kingdom Hearts 2 even briefly shows a scene of the three of them lying on a beach together, holding hands.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, possibly. Celice and Yuria will rule Bahara together...along with whoever you paired Celice with (with the exception of Tinny or Patty unless you pair Tiltyu or Briggid, respectively, with a common dude)). The most obvious example would be Celice/Rana/Yuria; Rana and Yuria are quite close and in her lover convo with Celice in the final chapter, she tells him she loves him but feels terrible about Yuria, implying she both ships Celice/Yuria and has special feelings for the girl herself.

Webcomics

In Drowtales, since both bisexuality and polyamory are the norm in drow culture:
- Snadhya x Mel x Zhor is canon, but Snadhya and Zhor are not romantic toward each other, they both know about the other side of the triangle and are happy for Mel. It's suggested Quain and Ash are involved in a similar relationship.
- Fourth Wall Observer Kiel ships herself with Nau ("Remember that I bid on you first when you're a tall handsome prince.") his sister Chrys ("Just so you know, in my great generosity I'm letting you have first dibs on her, but afterwards it's open contest!) and Naal ("Oh and add a princess to the lot just for fun's sake!"). Naal doesn't seem to mind, but Nau objects to Kiel describing him as "manly and tiny" and Chrys hasn't expressed an opinion either way.
- And Faen apparently ships Ariel x Sarnel and says they would "make cute babies", even though she has (very obvious) romantic feelings towards Ariel. Ariel for her part doesn't seem all that interested n Sarnel, but it's hinted she might return Faen's feelings, while Sarnel doesn't seem to have an opinion on the matter all and actually stormed out in protest when he realized that his sister was trying to set him up with Ariel.
Girl Genius: Agatha/Gil/Tarvek, outright suggested by Moloch, Zeetha, Lucrezia, the Castle, Agatha's Animated Actor in a side story, the trio themselves on an opiate high, and most recently by Gil and Tarvek themselves, perfectly sober and in canon. Probably best exemplified in the aforementioned side story.
Phil: Who thought having two boyfriends was a good idea?! *Cue Agatha, Zeetha, and Katja breaking into Cheshire Grins
In Schlock Mercenary, uplifted ape McGruger explains to Nick that eating breakfast termites out of a girl's hair is romantic ("Hey, don't look at me like it's my fault. The uplift congress left that bit in."). Then Nick finds a termite in Kathryn's hair.
McGruger: Don't look at me, Nick. You groomed her, you get to eat the bug. If I eat it then things start to get a little kinky.
Homestuck: Trickster Mode makes Jake and Jane insanely plan to get married and have a ZILLION BABIES... with each other and with the "co-bride," Roxy. With Roxy coming along on the Trickster ride despite her attempts to escape, this OT 3 then goes after Dirk, who rebuffs their advances. Otherwise it would the creepiest OT4 ever.

Western Animation

In The Spectacular Spider Man, Harry Osborn makes a rather...interesting comment about himself, his girlfriend Gwen, his best friend Peter and Peter's date Liz.
- Harry: "Then it's settled! This Saturday, we're a foursome!"
  - This was supposedly innocent, but based on the comics, where Peter and Gwen were a couple, Peter and Harry had a sizable amount of Ho Yay, and Harry did at one point marry Liz, it could be a little nod by the writer's to the secret fan speculations on the subject.

There Are No Girls on the Internet

Gender and Sexuality Tropes

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alternative title(s): Three Yay

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