Every time an author reassures readers that the smut is skippable I sigh a disappointed sigh. This is not a reassurance. Why would anybody who likes smut want to read smut that was only included as an afterthought and has no impact on the narrative? Insulting. Just don't write it at all if you're not going to make it matter.
I started to write a reblog response to this and then noticed the OP's user pic and laughed - fitting for the content!
Anyway, I agree with this post on a base level (initially just nodded and scrolled on), but it made me think about my own experiences as both a fic reader and writer. There's a lot of nuance in fandom.
As a reader, I've gotta be honest...I get booooored when a fic has large amounts of sex scenes that really add nothing to the narrative.
I don't mean PWP; in that case, the sex IS the plot, so skipping those scenes would mean...skipping the entire fic. And usually those fics are tagged clearly, so if you're reading them, you know what to expect.
What I mean is a long fic where it's pretty clear that the sex just got crammed in. There's no real dialogue during the scenes...nothing that moves the relationship along in an important way...nothing particularly plot relevant. Just smut where, like the OP said, it feels like it was included as an afterthought.
[Insert sex here] then move back to the actual story.
That's pretty common in fics. It's common in professionally published books, too! There's a popular queer series I read recently and didn't particularly like because the characters kept interrupting the plot to have sex, in kind of frustrating ways. You're in the middle of hunting down a murderous magician! Why are you suddenly having aggressive sex for a full chapter while not even speaking to each other??
I don't skip the sex scenes and read the rest, because that's simply not how I read...like the surge of booktok people who say they only read dialogue and skip the descriptive paragraphs. It baffles me. How are you reading a book if you're only reading parts of it?
So if a story is too sex-heavy for me in a way that doesn't appeal to me at the time, or doesn't feel like it's contributing to the story and the characters, I'll just move on and find something else to read.
No big deal. There's always something else out there, and not everything is written for everyone.
But once I started writing and saw the other side of the fandom world, I got a different perspective.
I felt so much pressure to include sex in my fics.
It wasn't even necessarily what people said to me directly. Mostly, it was being able to track what got popular and what didn't. People would look at the ratings and skip anything that wasn't at least marked Mature.
BNFs would even have arguments or write long tumblr posts (like this one, heh) about how fics SHOULD be rated and how too many Mature fics weren't smutty enough to qualify.
How dare you use a Mature rating if it's only blowjobs or handjobs! You've gotta at least include some detailed descriptions of dicks! You're tricking your readers if it's too tame; it's terrible for people to promise smut and not deliver a satisfactory product.
I don't know if there's as much discussion like that now, but back then (2014/2015), it felt like people were really judging the level of sex in stories, and it made me insecure and anxious. Was I making a mistake by leaving it out? But if I wrote it in, would people get mad that I did it wrong?
More importantly, I didn't feel comfortable writing sex scenes. Nor did I feel that they were necessary for the stories I was posting.
But I did have quite a few points where I hesitated in the middle of a fic and thought "should I put a sex scene here so more people will read it?"
I can't speak for other writers, but I wonder if that's why there are so many fics that have sex scenes that feel like afterthoughts. Because they were.
They don't add to the story because they were inserted mostly due to a sense that more sex = more readers. Regardless of what anyone says, if you're posting a fic you want people to read and like it!
So as a writer, I get the impulse to add disclaimers and "you can skip this if you want" notes to find a way to keep readers around who aren't sold on every aspect of your story. Personally, I feel that's what tags are for, but I understand going the "choose your own adventure" route and encouraging people to read just the parts they're interested in or okay with.
Eventually (~2020), I started to include sex scenes in my fics, and sometimes I still wonder if that was a natural development or just me giving into the: "well, this is what romance writing requires." I have kind of shifted now into the mentality that I can't write a fic past a specific word count without some actual smut in it. But why? It should only be included if it adds something, not just to squeeze it in as a default.
I do think it was important/relevant for the characters' dynamics in my more recent fics...Trevorcard has that spicy vibe, it was key to the Xanatowen plotline, and very crucial relationship moments happened for Edaurent when they were in bed together.
I don't see the sex scenes as skippable - I can't put a note telling readers they can skip from point A to point B, because they would miss a big emotional shift that's key to the rest of the story. Or at least that's the intent...whether I'm always successful, who knows. And people do read things differently.
Someone left a comment on one of my fics recently saying they really liked it, except for the sex scenes, which they weren't into. They weren't criticizing it at all or saying the scenes shouldn't have been included or that I should've warned differently for it. They just don't really like spicy scenes in general but were still able to relate to and enjoy the rest.
I appreciate that! I'm really glad they didn't see the rating and the tags and click away because it had things they weren't interested in.
So this is just a long ramble to say...I don't know!
I think it's great that sex positivity is such a big thing in fandom culture. I also think sex isn't always necessary for a good narrative. If it is included, I think it should be written well - specific to the characters and their emotional state and what's happening around them - and be a crucial part of the story, rather than something you could've cut out entirely without changing the fic's (or book's) impact at all.
But all of that might be different to different people. I'm sure I'm still not nearly spicy enough for some readers' tastes, and too spicy for others. So as a writer, I need to really focus on writing what I believe is right for the characters. And as a reader...hey, it's awesome there are lots of options out there. My biggest issue is that I don't have enough time to read all the things I want....
the most essential part of a fandom are those people who immediately tell you to write it, draw it, make it when you share your ideas, you have no idea how many fanworks are born just because someone encouraged it
hello does anyone care does anyone care can they come back Hello Hello can anyone hearme @ grepre please release the season of edaurent havign toxic yaoi but eventually fix it at the end
This is a commission I asked @furiarossa a couple of years ago featuring David Xanatos and Owen Burnett as salmon mermen, with Xanatos trying to attract the attention of a female, redhead fox shark 😏
You can find more info about this species along with more art here:
Being crazy about a piece of media for any amount of time will leave a weird mark on you forever because years later you’ll see someone posting something about it like “can we talk about this frame” and you’ll be like “ah that frame. i know all about that frame. I was once a scholar of that frame.”
yousharknotpass
origamiaround
pixelskylines
ellievsbear
