#smut discourse

[resevilconfessional]

Not a confession more of an observation. How fandoms usually work ~ is that all the best fics get the most likes/reblogs or kudos/comments. In the Leon fandom it's generally the complete reverse. The better fics that are more original, with a deeper story and better characterization of Leon get little to no engagement or support on here or Ao3/Wattpad. I cannot make it make any sense! Other than to say the fandom has become brain rotted by smut and they don't actually give a shit about Leon beyond making him fap material or some weird way to live out their trad wife fantasies. Sad times to love Leon, bro!

Thank you for your confession!

[ic-napology]

Tiny rant on smut scenes

I've noticed that smut scenes (about straight couples) in fanfiction heavily tend to be focused on what he does to her body, thus focusing on the female's body as a consequence.

And I'm like.

What's the point of being obsessed with buff, complex, masculine, battle-hardened, statuesque fictional men, if I cannot read extensively about their abs and pecs being caressed as well, or their glistening skin being breathed upon with reverence and hunger?

Why are women made so passive even in fanfiction when your male love interest is the most extraordinary being imaginable. Like I don't want to care ONLY for ministrations on her boobs when there's a fully naked warrior or fae or Saiyan or monster to explore as well.

Please dare to portray female desire and agency more, at least in fanfics.

Especially if you are featuring female characters who are canonically proactive, fiery and passionate already, girls that would definitely be dominant and daring even in the bed.

[loverboy1717]

I don’t want to call some of the new romantasy books “bad” literally anywhere on the internet anymore cus inevitably somebody will pop out of the ceiling and tell me I’m an elitist snob or a prude and like…how did we get here?

How did we get to a place where me calling books with formulaic (and sometimes straight up stolen) plots and FMCs who are vague and generic specifically so they appeal to the widest market possible “bad” is such a wild thing?

I like romantasy a lot. I think done well, romantasy is one of the best genres out there. The problem is people don’t consider anything but like sexual tension and fucking to be “romantic.” Romance is not only sex. Romance is slow building a relationship. It’s pining. Its awkward moments and feeling vulnerable and self doubt and risks.

I’m sorry I want good dialogue and world building and a complex and compelling plot and well written characters to be the focus of a book? Like I’m here for the smut too, but why is it eating the entire narrative? Why is it so poorly woven into the rest of the plot?

You’re telling me that a girl who is the chosen one and “not like other girls” cus she’s so smart and tough is also dumb enough to have super rough/experimental sex all night the night before a battle??? Babe, how is she gonna walk let alone swing her sword? Please be so for real.

People are not elitist cus they don’t like the trending smutty faerie book of the week. People are not prudes cus they think the romance in a fantasy should be a garnish and not the whole meal. Or that the smut should fit into the plot in a way that makes some damn sense.

People are allowed to critique popular things. I’m allowed to say I think most of the trending books these days are derivative, spend way too much time describing outfits, and have some of the cringiest white feminism girl power I’ve ever read. I’m allowed to say that. If you don’t like that take, find one you do like? Idk what else to suggest.

But we are not going to do is throw words like snob and prude around as a gotcha cus somebody doesn’t like Sara J Fuckin Maas. I’m so tired of these pseudo-intellectual Ted talks online talking about how not liking smut it a stepping stone to conservative Christian nationalism or fascism or what the fuck ever.

I have read and still regularly read filthy god damned smut. I have found some books who do it well, but mostly I read it on ao3 where they say things like “cock” and “balls” and “pussy” and “clit.” Not cute little filler words. Jesus wept, save me from having to read the words “manhood” or “apex of her thighs” or “core” ever again.

So yes, you can like/love smut, and still have standards for the books you read. And if wanting exposition and world building and plot makes me a snob then I guess I’m a fucking snob. My question is, why aren’t you?

And while I’m fucking raging, if we are gonna throw around words like fascism let’s talk about how anti-intellectualism is a huge god damn strategy of fascist movements? How people who are curious and have standards and want to think about things complexly are less likely to fall down a fascist rabbit hole? And speaking of, how many of the characters in these books you’re defending with your whole chests are queer? How many are people of color? How many are disabled? Don’t come to me about how I’m the one with rigid thinking until y’all read smut that isn’t just penetrative straight sex between two boring ass generic white people.

And that’s how I feel about that.

[swaloskie]

idk maybe it’s just me but like… I’ll read smut sure, but if it’s not deeply emotionally charged I feel like a perv reading someone else’s weird gym fantasy. like give me love. give me soft forehead touches and 'I need you’ whispered like a prayer. if the smut doesn’t feel like a natural, devastating consequence of unbearable love I’m out. rage sex? bar hookups?? no. I want eye contact and repressed devotion. I want them to nearly cry when they touch each other. I want it to be love disguised as desperation, not just two gremlins bumping uglies behind a dive bar.

[jeyuwuso]

It's so funny to me when people act like aesthetics have absolutely nothing to do with smut. "You only like this because it's hot!" I mean... yes? It's porn?

This is true of so much ship-related discourse. If you have a specific reason for liking a particular ship or dynamic, then that's really cool! I like having deeper reasons for those things too. Smut that acts as character analysis is my personal favorite.

But damn, sometimes things are just hot. So what if two characters have never interacted? So what if most people perceive your ship differently? So what if you wanna watch a dark-haired twink get railed by a big daddy dom?

Aesthetics are a big part of sexuality. It's okay if your smut is entirely driven by things you personally find hot. Frankly, I'll always prefer that to smut that tries too hard to be a sex ed lesson or a morality play.

[daydreamstew]

just casual convos with @00gangfriend00

[crypticbananagrams]

Sometimes I really wonder how many people on this hellsite realize that over exposure to smut/sexual content can fuck with your brain chemistry?

Like I see more and more writers I follow are gradually getting into some more extreme kink/taboo subject matter, which in and of itself isn't harmful, I think fandom can be a great safe space to explore those desires. Especially for older/more experienced people who already have healthy sexual boundaries and know how to identify and protect themselves from risky real life behavior. There is nothing wrong with having 'darker' fantasies. I got 'em too!

But I think it can be a slippery slope for some people, and it can also be a hallmark of pr0n addiction, when those who are constantly reading and engaging in smut content start seeking more extreme content because they've gradually become numb to the more 'vanilla' stuff that used to turn them on. Like that's actual real sexual disfunction.

I don't know, just maybe this is a conversation that should at least be had?? I'm nowhere near popular enough to start it, no delusions there, but I had to get it out of my head.

[dameafterdark]

i feel u Apollo,,,,,, i was really attached to that hole too