Throuple
A surprise not-quite-true-to-fit menage hit
"Throuple" is another story that came out of my Medium challenge of April 2023, to publish a story a day. There were actually three stories, under the titles "Dave and Katie and Me" parts 1 through 3, that were part of the original Medium series. The complete story has two additional chapters — a masturbation scene mostly between Dave and Jim, and a foursome with Dave, Katie, Jim, and their new playmate Susie — that didn't appear on Medium.
I had seen a few "roommates get it on" stories doing well on Medium, and this was originally my climb-on-the-sexy-roommates-bandwagon story. I found the character of Katie interesting, though — she's sexually insatiable, hence the need to pull Jim into the bed she shares with Dave; she's not afraid to demand what she wants; but she's also very supportive of both Jim and Dave and their different approaches to sex, and seems interested in making a threeway relationship work in more than just the bedroom. Building out the characters in this story, who started off as insufferable hipsters (another bandwagon I wanted to ride after reading some of the Hannah Wilde Hipster Gangbang stories), was a lot of fun, and I hope in the end they're at least sufferable, and possibly even charming in their concern for each other and their interest in exploring polyamory.
This story has been my surprise bestseller, I think because I accidentally stumbled into a niche that I didn't even know existed when I was writing it: the "why choose" MMF menage romance.
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"Throuple" doesn't really hit all the beats of the usual MMF menage. There's a pre-existing relationship between the woman and one of the men (most of the stories I've read since have a pre-existing relationship between the men, which the woman is invited to join). The introduction of a fourth partner is definitely unusual, at least in my exploration of the niche. And it certainly doesn't follow a normal romance arc, whether poly or traditional. But it appears to be just close enough that readers of menage who stumble on it are happy to give it a shot.
Since discovering the niche, it's become one of my favorites for both personal and professional reading. My particular favorites have tended to be the bisexual MMF rather than the strictly heterosexual MFM stories — if you've read my gangbang stories (in particular "The Pinball Queen's Debauch" and "Crossing Swords With the Fencing Club"), or more recently "The Night of the Storm," you know that I'm not afraid to depict a little back and forth between the men. I mean, if everyone's there and naked, why not increase the pairing opportunities?
While I was writing "Throuple," though, I was a little nervous about any sexual activity between Dave and Jim, because I'd seen some reviews on other threesome and poly stories where readers expressed dissatisfaction and even disgust that swords were crossed. I definitely pulled some punches in the chapter between Dave and Jim, and if I wrote that scene now, it would be a lot hotter. Having read some really hot MMF and poly stories featuring bisexuality — "Lost and Found" by Dierdre Winter, "Shared Bi the Lifeguards" by Melanie Udall, and "Three Way Split" by Elia Winters are standouts for me — I've resolved that swords will cross in my stories, readers beware.
Another aspect of "Throuple" that was fun to write was food. Jim takes a strong interest in making sure everyone is well-nourished for all of the escapades they get up to, and takes his smoothies very seriously. When posed with the challenge of feeding Susie, who's a vegan, he finds nutritious options to make sure she's fueled for fun, too. This is perhaps the most fantastical part of the story: I'm mostly vegetarian myself (I will make exceptions for seafood, so I supposed I'm a pescatarian), and I mostly cook at home, and I have yet to find a veggie burger recipe that results in anything remotely burger-like — they always fall apart on me. Maybe I should invite Jim and the gang over to show me how it's done.
I don't know that there's any more to tell in the saga of Dave and Katie and Jim, such as it is — they seem to have found a nice balance, even with the addition of Susie, and there's not a lot of drama to drive further stories. But I do have a list of about a dozen menage stories (mostly MMF, a couple FFM) that I plan to start telling in the fall and winter of 2023, after I've worked through my current backlog. And I have Dave and Katie and Jim (and Susie) to thank for introducing me to a niche where they kind of fit.