Thread by @cicerfics

So, modern a/b/o with O!LWJ and A!WWX.

I feel like WWX would be...how do I put this delicately...the WORST?

He's one of Those Alphas who is very loud-and-proud about how he is an ALLY, he RESPECTS OMEGAS, etc.

He unironically has a water bottle labeled "respect omega juice".

And he has lots of omega friends, and he gets VERY HUFFY if anyone implies something untoward is going on.

Like, HELLO. Obviously alphas and omegas can be friends! Why are you ASSUMING they're sleeping together?! Are you a SEXIST?! Do you see omegas as SEX OBJECTS?!

Come join us in the 21st century, JIANG CHENG. 🙄

...WWX is, of course, passionately in love AND in lust with LWJ.

But he also genuinely RESPECTS LWJ. He would NEVER make a move on him. Partly because he sincerely believes that would be inappropriate and creepy!

And partly because he has low self-esteem and sincerely believes that LWJ can do way better than him. :(

But anyway, WWX is very aggressive about shutting down any implications that there's anything between him and LWJ.

There is NOT. They are PLATONIC FRIENDS ONLY.

That is POSSIBLE, we live in MODERN TIMES, educate yourselves, etc.

Which, of course, is quietly crushing for LWJ every time. Because he's also in love and in lust with WWX. But WWX is sending out a loud-and-clear message that he doesn't see LWJ that way.

But LWJ tries to Stiff Upper Lip his way through it. WWX only wants to be friends, and LWJ must Accept His Choice.

So they're both in love with each other.

Both of them doing this thing where they're like, "Look at me, respecting his boundaries and not making any unwanted romantic overtures. This is great and sustainable and I can be totally happy like this. [this-is-fine-fire-dog.jpeg]"

I feel like they probably move in together after college. And they're super domestic and absolutely behave like a married couple. Literally everyone who meets them thinks they're romantically involved.

And every time, WWX panics and does the thing: "Haha, NO, we're not together! Just platonic besties! Just two dudes being pals! Platonic and mutually respectful friends with healthy boundaries, that's us! Right, Lan Zhan?!"

LWJ, dying inside: Mm.

...Okay, I don't know how they make the jump from basically-married-but-committed-to-being-'platonic'-friends to actually-married-for-realsies.

There's the classic A/B/O trope of an unexpected heat that leads to banging each other's brains out. And that could be fun!

Particularly if both of them feel hideously guilty afterward!

WWX thinks he took advantage and did the ONE THING he always swore he'd never do to any omega. LWJ thinks he ~lured~ WWX with his pheromones and made him do something he now regrets.

So they're both like, "I am a villain. :( I have violated this beautiful friendship with my own vulgar desires. :( I took advantage of my friend. :( I'm gross and bad and deserve to be cancelled. :("

I'm also quite fond of the "misplaced jealousy" trope. You know, where WWX or LWJ sees somebody hitting (unsuccessfully, of course) on the object of their affection.

Rationally, they know that they have no right to interfere. But at some point, they just SNAP and try desperately to stake a claim.

They just march over to the interloper like >:( >:( >:( He's MY husband. You GO AWAY.

Which, of course, leads to the same guilt spiral described above!

I'm also extremely fond of them just casually tiptoeing through every single landmark couple's event, while insisting they're only friends.

They buy a house together, and decorate it, and adopt pets, and plant a vegetable garden. They're each other's plus-one to every single important event. They help each other prepare for job interviews.

Heck, at some point, maybe they decide to have a baby together!

They tell everyone they're doing the QPR thing.

And then someday, they snap like a dried out twig.

They wind up banging like a screen door in a hurricane, dramatically confessing their love, and sheepishly admitting that the whole QPR was never very "platonic" for them.

Either way, everyone they know is absolutely MERCILESS with their I-told-you-so's.

All their friends and family are extremely smug, and they rub it in for the next ten years.

"Hey, remember that time when you were basically married to Lan Wangji and kept telling everyone you didn't like him like that?"

"Hey, remember that time you bought a house with Wei Wuxian and insisted it was merely a joint financial investment with no feelings attached?"

Meanwhile, all their coworkers and loose acquaintances are like, "What do you MEAN, you just got married? I thought you two had already been married for a DECADE?!"

They get roasted for the rest of their lives. 😔

But they're happy and Officially Together, so they can bear it.