Monday is for shitpollsting about sex in fanfic

[lunabee34]

I was just commenting in china_shop's journal that I don't write much explicit fanfic anymore and that I don't really read it much now either. When I first got into fanfic, the porn aspect was novel for me, and almost everything I read was explicit. Now if I do read explicit fanfic, I'm just as likely to skip all the sex scenes so I can get to the good parts: Draco crying in the bathroom because Harry hates him or Tony crying in the workshop because Steve hates him or, you know, some other people crying and misunderstanding each other egregiously (like in ways that stretch the limits of credulity).

And that got me to wondering about what the rest of you think about sex in fanfic. Please discuss any and all points in comments! Tangents welcome.

Poll #22479 And then the taller man licked into the tallest man's mouth

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 36

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I often skip the sex scenes in explicit fanfic.

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yes, and I'm going to tell you why in comments
9 (25.7%)

no
12 (34.3%)

how much is often?
14 (40.0%)

Never thought I'd be reading fic that features __________, but here I am. Reading it.

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OT3's

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do not solve love triangles, sheesh.
8 (25.0%)

are the best way to resolve love triangles, sheesh.
24 (75.0%)

Effective sex scenes are really hard to write.

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yes; I mean you can't just write, "she tasted like strawberries, and sugar, and something uniquely her," TWO times in a single fic
14 (42.4%)

no; you get the right combo of elements (say, spanking, some egg custard, and a little light bondage) and *somebody* out there's going to find it hot
5 (15.2%)

sometimes
14 (42.4%)

Comments

[slightweasel]

I happily read sex scenes, but in longer fics I need it to seem like THIS version of the characters doing the dirty (and even in pwp, the characters should sound like themselves). The kind of sex scene that makes me roll my eyes the most is the scene in any longfic where the characters stop seeming like the version of themselves the author has been writing this whole time, and instead seem to have been cast in PWP #4729462. Just, no. The sex scene should be tailored to the fic and the characters, and should both be informed by what came before, and add to what comes next. And sometimes, frankly, there are fics (chiefly on the plottier side, as opposed to the kind where the UST is the main event and the plot, if any, is more backgrounded) where any sex scene really is going to feel shoehorned in.

ETA: I also think the sex scenes in some plotty fics are TOO LONG. If what came before is 60k of UST, then maybe you need a 10k sex scene. If it's a longish PWP, then sure, make it any length you want. But if the romance has heretofore been the B plot, do things really need to screech to a halt for 10k? Probably not!

[musesfool]

Yes to all of this! Also sometimes I read long plotty fic that features a pairing I don't care about in the background, and if I don't ship them, I'll skip the sex because I don't really care and it's getting in the way of plot or character interactions I do care about. I find it rare that the sex scenes in these long stories really move the story forward or do much to illumine character, which are 2 of the main reasons for a sex scene to appear in a longer story.

(I admit, I also skim long paragraphs of description and introspection, and sometimes lengthy action scenes, because I only really care about characters talking to each other, so unless there's dialogue, I get bored easily.)

I don't write long plotty stories, so I don't generally have this particular issue, but I do find sex scenes difficult to write because there's the logistical angle (how many hands and where are they all???) and the emotional angle and the "I've written this pairing 20 times, how can I make this sound new and interesting?" angle. I find that nowadays, I write a lot less sex, but sometimes will still bang out (pun intended) a PWP when the imagery or words strike me.

[lunabee34]

Dialogue is my favorite part to read and right as well. That's often what comes to me first, and then the rest of the story hangs itself on those bones.

I agree with the new and interesting aspect of sex scenes. It's really hard to find new ways to describe sex. I find myself writing the same beats and phrases over and over. LOL

[lunabee34]

This is a really good point. I haven't come across this much lately, but when I first got into fandom, I read lots of fics that had sex scenes, sometimes multiple sex scenes, that were just pages and pages long. There's definitely too much of a good thing possible. LOL