Hi there! I'm new, and I hope it's okay if I come in here with a question about my current WIP. (Let me preface this by saying that I'm bi, and write queer erotic historical romance, so I'm starting from a position of some awareness.)
The setup is a gentleman trying to court two women secretly, only to discover that they've been in a relationship with each other long before he arrived on the scene. The HEA is a stable triad: the ladies are bi, he's het, the trouble with the getting there are internalized assumptions, trying to form a triad with no models of behaviour, and so forth.
The scene I'm having trouble with is the moment when he discovers they're on to his two-timing - the ladies punish him by tying him up and having their way with each other, instead.
Now there are so, SO many issues with F/F as performed solely for the male gaze (see every mainstream "lesbian" x-rated flick ever, etc). So I currently have the POV for that scene resting with one of the women, so that the scene focus is on the pleasure the ladies are having with each other.
On the other hand, F/F explicit doesn't sell nearly as well as anything involving dick, alas!
There's also the question of whether the scene would be more powerful if it were written from his perspective, fully engaging him in the triad in a way he currently isn't, as a neutralized observer.
tl;dr: If my HEA is a triad, should the non-participant be the POV for this scene, so that his emotions are engaged for the reader?
- Would I have a property that appeals more to my (majority) straight female market if I include peener in every sex scene? (all the following ones will involve dick applied directly).
- Or am I stepping in muddy water by having a male observer for a F/F scene at all, as that plays into every stereotype of requiring a male presence to 'legitimize' F/F passion?
(If it makes any difference, the first erotic scene in the book is an interrupted makeout session with just the ladies.)
Or am I overthinking everything and need to write the dratted book, and let my beta team argue about it after the fact?
The setup is a gentleman trying to court two women secretly, only to discover that they've been in a relationship with each other long before he arrived on the scene. The HEA is a stable triad: the ladies are bi, he's het, the trouble with the getting there are internalized assumptions, trying to form a triad with no models of behaviour, and so forth.
The scene I'm having trouble with is the moment when he discovers they're on to his two-timing - the ladies punish him by tying him up and having their way with each other, instead.
Now there are so, SO many issues with F/F as performed solely for the male gaze (see every mainstream "lesbian" x-rated flick ever, etc). So I currently have the POV for that scene resting with one of the women, so that the scene focus is on the pleasure the ladies are having with each other.
On the other hand, F/F explicit doesn't sell nearly as well as anything involving dick, alas!
There's also the question of whether the scene would be more powerful if it were written from his perspective, fully engaging him in the triad in a way he currently isn't, as a neutralized observer.
tl;dr: If my HEA is a triad, should the non-participant be the POV for this scene, so that his emotions are engaged for the reader?
- Would I have a property that appeals more to my (majority) straight female market if I include peener in every sex scene? (all the following ones will involve dick applied directly).
- Or am I stepping in muddy water by having a male observer for a F/F scene at all, as that plays into every stereotype of requiring a male presence to 'legitimize' F/F passion?
(If it makes any difference, the first erotic scene in the book is an interrupted makeout session with just the ladies.)
Or am I overthinking everything and need to write the dratted book, and let my beta team argue about it after the fact?