the delphic expanse

Now that my semester is over, I have some time to address those things that have made me go "hmmmm...." and this was something I'm curious about.

Many readers shy away from anything they consider too kinky, and threesomes have typically fit that bill. However, I see that Mistress Euclid gets a lot of readers, even people who preface their remarks with something to the tune of "I don't normally read this kind of thing, but..."

So if you didn't read this kind of thing before, why do you now? Is it the sex that happens in any combination between three partners? Is it because you feel it promotes the philosophy of IDIC and Gene's vision of the future, that people will be able to do what makes them happy so long as they're not hurting anyone else? Is it because the emotion trumps the sex? What?

Discuss.

Your question made me stop and think. I have been reading Enterprise fic pretty much since it started. I don't know if I remember any A/T/T before Mistress Euclid wrote Equilateral. If I'm not mistaken, that was my first exposure to that ship. I know that since then Pauline and Koken have written it, and written it well.

I guess that is the key for me. I was totally drawn in to the ship by very good writing. Once you make me buy into the ship with a great story and well written sex...well, I'm hooked.

I don't 'shy away' from much as far as pairings go. However, I am discriminating. It has to be a really good story and convince me of the validity of the ship. One thing though, I don't think I could believe that Jon and Trip just share T'Pol and do not have a loving relationship of their own. That is a key to making this work for me. It has to be love in all the various permutations if you get my drift.

Simply put, you have to write it well enough and exciting enough to make me believe it.

I'm going to get a little personal...

I've always been fascinated with polyamorous relationships that work. Once upon a time, Hubs and I were involved in a three-way relationship with another guy. It didn't work out for a multitudes of reasons, and it's not something that we would ever do again. But while it lasted, it was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about myself from it.

So, I suppose for me, a well-written AT&T (or any polyamorous fanfic, really) story is a glimpse into something that I've wanted to do but could never make work in reality. In a roundabout way, it's an outlet.

I'm like bluetiger. I don't really shy away from any particular 'ship so long as it's a well-written, convincing story. Many of the AT&T stories that I've written have been very well written (Equilateral comes to mind).

That's a great story, Kylah618. I know there were a few stories, such as Koken's prior to Equilateral, but that remains my favorite, too! It's good writing and the grounding of a plausible scenario. I can enjoy pretty much any permutation of anything (Het, slash, poly) as long as the writer lays a proper foundation.

I also think that in the future Gene envisioned, there is room for lots of different kinds of relationships, and people are free to just pursue whatever makes them happy. I think it's also natural to be curious about what other people do that maybe you don't, and here we have a judgement-free environment where people can share and explore. I had such a hard time getting along with just one person in a relationship, I'm afraid me in a polyamorous relationship would just mean that I leave TWO men disappointed and angry.

Any more, though, I find that while I have my fave (TnT), I will read ANY 'ship that's well-written. A skilled author makes me care when I might not ordinarily. If it's one thing I know for sure, it's this: since opening this site, I've seen that I might've missed out on a lot of gems simply because I wouldn't normally read this or that 'ship. It's about the author, and not always who they're writing about.

Oh, what a touching thread! I didn't invent AT&T, several writers including Koken, came before me. I loved all of those stories, and I love writing smut, but what drew me to the idea was the psychological complexity of poly-romances. It's way more than about sex. It took me a long time to come up with a scenario where I believe this could happen. Once I laid that foundation, I felt pretty good moving forward.