Incredibly nosy TMI poll

[sholio]

So ... I made a comment elsewhere that got me thinking about sex in fanfic, and then I started having one of those "... am I the only one?" sort of ponderings, and so I made an extremely nosy TMI poll about it. If you don't read explicit fanfic, this will probably not be at all interesting to you.

The thing is, written sex doesn't turn me on. At all, really -- there are extremely rare instances where that's not the case, but as a general rule, no. But I know from reading comments elsewhere that this is definitely not true of everybody. So I'm curious ... am I a total fandom outlier, or not?

I've got "detailed results" turned off, so the only person who can see who answered what is me (though the graphs are visible to everyone). If you'd like to answer anonymously in the comments instead, so that even *I* can't see who you are, that's perfectly fine! I swear I'm not asking out of prurient curiosity; it's not like I'm sitting around wondering "Hey, does so & so on my f'list wank off to internet porn?" Like I said above, I'm just kinda curious how the numbers would stack up. Are there just a couple people who are, like me, unmoved by porn? Or the majority? Inquiring minds are very curious! (I thought about doing this f'locked, but total anonymity wouldn't be an option that way, and I wanted to leave that option available to people who wanted it.) And obviously, if you are not comfortable answering this poll, please don't!

[Poll #1521589]

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

While we're going with TMI. My taste in fanfic has evolved with my sexuality. At first I mostly liked mild h/c stories and didn't know enough to know that I was functionally turned on by them. I made some attempts a writing them but never posted. Then I started reading slash but didn't like NC17 parts and would skip them. Then I would write slash but not NC17 bits. Then I started reading and writing NC17 stuff. I still don't like PWPs and it takes a rare fic to turn me on, but when it does it can play a part in my private life.

For me the whole h/c thing is wired to sexuality, though at first I didn't admit it and deluded myself into thinking I was simply interested in the characters. But ultimately many of the h/c fics I liked the best weren't that well written, so I eventually admitted that some twisted part of me was just plain aroused by that and that it was in a way a safer fantasy life than physical descriptions of intimate acts. I was also a virgin when I started reading. The more I got in touch with my body and the more sex I had, the more turned on I became by the pornographic elements of fic and the more I've enjoyed them. Mostly I think I relate to the characters better with more sexual experience and find myself either writing my own sexual experiences into fic or borrowing elements I've read to try out in real life. I became much more interested in slash and now when I do read gen stories, I mostly scan them for the h/c elements or preslash elements that I find exciting.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I absolutely think h/c is wired in a sexual way -- or maybe, wired in a way that would be sexual in people who are more sexually attuned than I am? It's not really accurate to call me asexual, I think, because I'm in a long-term sexual relationship and I enjoy the activity, but I don't miss it when I don't get it, or fantasize about it. I think that for me, h/c satisfies a lot of whatever it is about porn that satisfies people.

There are also a lot of h/c elements in fannish porn, come to think of it -- not across the board, of course, but often. I think it's fair to say that it's a kink ...

Thanks for the answer; it's interesting!

[ratcreature]

Most explicit sex scenes in fanfic do nothing for me and I often skim them, however fanfic that hits my sexual kinks works as porn, but that does not have to be explicit or even sex. So while I do use some fanfic for porn it is not actually the explicit sex that gets me off. Generally my kinks are all power related, so it is really the relationship dynamic that matters, not at all how graphic or detailed the sex is. I've used gen stories for porn purposes and they worked fine.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

That makes a lot of sense to me. And a few other people have said similar things. It's interesting to find out how much more complicated it is than simply porn=porn, you know?

[(Anonymous)]

There is some NC-17 sex that turns me on (e.g., Cesperanza's). But generally sex isn't that interesting to me, narratively or as porn.

I have one specific kink that is an occasional element of h/c stories, ranging from G to adult. I don't write it, and, again, I rarely read it. I do find it on-line, but not usually in fanfic. Sometimes I think I should establish another identity and write the kink like crazy, just to see if I'm the only one with it.

One more thing - I have one lonely NC-17 story out there, under a one-shot username. I can barely stand that it exists, and sometimes consider taking it down. OTOH, it got some nice comments from people I suspect have never read anything else I've ever written.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't write it,

Though it does sneak in, I should add.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Thank you for posting this poll! I've been feeling odd woman out, and not quite defensive, but weird! (I've taken to telling people that I really like sex, and my husband will back me up on this (hmm . . .), but I don't enjoy reading about it.) I have no problem with non-explicit descriptions of sex (kristen_mara does this very well with Primeval.)

I do sometimes read NC-17. I read some a few times simply to see if I did react, because I was curious. . . . Now when I read it, it's almost always because I already know the author and I like her or his work, and I can often skip the sex scenes and miss nothing important to plot. When I comment, I don't comment on the sex itself but on other elements of the story.

I tend to avoid NC-17, but I have been very interested to find that while every NC-17 Stargate story I've read has been one I'd have given that rating, Primeval writers seem to be a lot quicker to give their stories an NC-17 or Adults Only rating, and some of theirs I would give an R—sex but really not explicit, or occasionally even just a mention that sex has occurred or that a couple has sex, but no actual sex in the story. Different fandoms seem to have different standards.

Oddly, though I'm heterosexual, it's het sex that I actively dislike reading more. I think there's some element of "Is that really how someone would describe what I do?" that isn't present when I read about gay sex.

[(Anonymous)]

Oddly, though I'm heterosexual, it's het sex that I actively dislike reading more. I think there's some element of "Is that really how someone would describe what I do?" that isn't present when I read about gay sex.

As a female asexual, I find the same is true for me. Reading m/f or f/f sex, I run into a wall of, "is this really what it's like?"...obviously I know that most women have functional and active sex drives, but I find it easier to imagine the male drive than to imagine the female. So while reading m/m sex doesn't "turn me on" in the literal sense, I can find it appealing/intriguing, while m/f and f/f tends to leave me scratching my head.

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

There are very, very few people who can write porn I might find hot. As in, I can think of maybe three. Otherwise I just skim it, or don't read a fic at all when it says PWP.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

The results of the poll make me feel much less alone. *g*

[astridv.livejournal.com]

I've gone through phases. When I got into fic I read nothing but gen for years, even avoiding PG romance of any kind. Then I branched out into ship and slash but still avoided the NC 17 stuff. Then branched out into that too, and when I first discovered slash I actually found it really damn hot. But I think it's just lost its novelty appeal, and now I'm back to skipping most sex scenes because they distract from the plot. I very rarely read PWP, when it has specific kinks I like. Het smut tends to leave me even colder than slash smut, but every once in a while I come across a writer who writes a really hot pr0n scene in an otherwise plotty fic (like startlet2367's Cordy/Angel fic, or one Kate/Angel story by girlpire, or that one Sam/Rodney PWP by eretria... but I can remember those so well because for me they're exceptions)./tmi

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

*nods* The novelty thing makes a great deal of sense to me. I think that h/c was very much that way for me in SGA fandom -- when I first got into the fandom, I was delighted by the wide variety of h/c that was available, and read everything I could get my hands on; these days, though, I'm sort of ... overstimulated by it, and tired of the tropes, and it just doesn't do much for me anymore unless it's a small part of a much larger and more complex plot.

Like I mentioned above, I have very rarely encountered sex scenes that I found genuinely "hot", I guess -- appealing, arousing, whatever, on more than a simply emotional level -- and they're pretty much always het, from the woman's POV. But most het sex scenes are alienating to me or simply don't fit with my own experiences enough for me to get into them. (Granted, I'm not usually trying. *g*) It's possible that there might be more sex scenes out there that would appeal to me, but I just don't give enough of them a try to find out.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

It is very hard to describe what I mean by what I am about to put but I shall try.

I find it very rare indeed for the depiction of sex in written fiction to be all that of an actual "turn on". I find that other things appeal to my predelictions but I don't actually get het up about the sex. I have seriously though about why, and my reasoning is this. When I read fiction (including professionally written mainstream fiction) whenever the scene turns to a sex scene, I find that the POV subtley shifts, you the reader become more of a 4th person passenger. The writer has a tendency to "Mary Sue" the scene (even if they don't mean to) and teh whole nature of that scene then becomes slanted to the personal bias of the writer and what they would do in that situation, not necesarily what the character might do. (This does not describe what I mean exactly but i really can't explain it any better) I have found that in many sex scenes the Writer will almost insinuate themselves into the place of one or more of the characters (as sex scenes are usually triggered by some degree of wish fulfillment anyway this is understandable) I pick up on this and immediately feel uncomfortable because I am not experiencing the scene as the myself-the character (i.e. I place myself into the shoes of the character) what I find is that I am experiencing the scene as the writer in the shoes of the character. So the feelings are not me-the characters feelings but me-the writer-the character, which makes you the reader sort of a 4th person vicarious voyeur.. which I find uncomfortable.

Which is why I prefer H/C over Slash. Well written H/C stays in the context and does not take you the reader out of the scene and the emotion of the situation. You the reader feel more engaged and a participant and less like the 4th person voyeur.

At least that's is what it is like for me. I can't speak for other readers

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

That's really fascinating! Now I'm going to have to look at some sex scenes from that point of view, and see if I also notice the viewpoint shift. It's definitely more likely for sex scenes to have the "any two characters" kind of feeling, where you could swap out names and still get basically the same scene.

What you say about the writer "Mary Sue-ing" the character in a sex scene also makes a lot of sense in context of some of the other comments, since it seems like it's common (and I've had this experience as well) for readers to feel alienated from a sex scene that doesn't match their personal experience and predelictions. Presumably this is also the case when one is writing it.

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

I've sometimes wondered about something similar, myself. For me, it's not the written medium that makes it not a "turn on". I seem to have some sort of mental line drawn between "fanfictional sex" and "original story sex", regardless of the medium.

I followed yaoi_daily religiously for a while, and I noticed that doujin with existing characters just did not have the same turn on factor for me. I could enjoy the art, and even admire how "hot" a particular scene was... but it was pretty rare that they took me into "I'll be in my bunk" territory. If I was specifically looking for titillation, the works with original characters always did a far, far better job.

I have less experience reading porny fanfic, but when I think about the ones that made a big impression, the depiction of the sex itself is pretty incidental (even in PWP's) to what the author is doing with the character dynamics. It's just a different headspace, I guess...

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I've sometimes wondered about something similar, myself. For me, it's not the written medium that makes it not a "turn on". I seem to have some sort of mental line drawn between "fanfictional sex" and "original story sex", regardless of the medium.

Interesting! I think I might be a little that way myself -- definitely for writing it; I find it much easier to write sex scenes with original characters than with fanfic characters, perhaps because I feel tighter ownership of them, so it's not as hard for me to strip away their inhibitions (and clothes *g*). I feel a bit voyeuristic writing sex scenes of other people's characters.

[patk.livejournal.com]

>>Does explicit sex in fanfic turn you on?<<

This depends entirely on how it's written. A explicit sex scene captures my attention if it's as well written as any other scene that would deserve the title "well written". The better an author commands and masters the art of writing, the handiwork of writing (which, of course, includes writing the given characters recognizable as themselves and not only because of the names and outward appearances), the more a sex scene works for me and might actually turn me on. There are things which I just don't like, no matter how good an author writes them, but basically it depends on the author's skills.

It's practically the same conditions that make me like a story regardless of the question whether it has sex in it or not. All the things that apply to a good scene/story generally also apply here. Which means, chances ar good that a sex scene turns me on if it's written by an author whose work I greatly enjoy and love anyway, no matter if there's sex involved or not.

Thing is, written sex only turns me on if I care for the characters, if it's about characters I like, which means, a sex scene or a PWP written by one of my favorite authors but revolving around a couple I don't care for or even original characters I don't know (yet) doesn't do much for me.

And the context has to be right. A wrong placed or superfluous sex scene can stick out like a sore thumb and usually does nothing for me. So, it's well written and well placed sex scenes revolving around characters I love who usually turn me on.

Which also means, the majority of sex scenes out there does nothing for me, but if the criterias are met - yes.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Very interesting! Thank you for the reply -- it's really fascinating, since written sex doesn't really do much for me, to see the various replies ... and the commonalities between them. The relationship between the characters seems to be critically important for a lot of people!

[(Anonymous)]

Porn in fanfic can and does turn me on, but most of it doesn't (ie: the vast majority of porn battle entries do nothing for me). It totally depends on how the porn is written (I find more realistic sex much hotter than fantasy sex) and how the characters are handled (specifically, are they treated respectfully?). But I also find certain not-specifically-sexual H/C tropes turn me on, which I admit sometimes makes me think I'm a freak of nature. And, while only a subset of porny fic turns me on, I do sometimes seek it out for that purpose. Also, I'm more likely to be turned on quicker/easier by porn with women involved, but I also find m/m slash porn is much more likely to contain whatever it is that hits my buttons, which is frustrating.

As for telling the author? Heck no. I'll comment about the fic sometimes and occasionally about the sex scene, but I find it really awkwardly inappropriate to tell the author "your story sent me to my bunk" and I hate when I've gotten comments of that nature. TMI!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I'll comment about the fic sometimes and occasionally about the sex scene, but I find it really awkwardly inappropriate to tell the author "your story sent me to my bunk" and I hate when I've gotten comments of that nature. TMI!

LOL! I always kinda did wonder about that -- how serious people are when they say that, and what it's like to get a comment of that nature. One thing I found interesting about the responses to the above poll is that it seems like the majority of those sorts of comments are more metaphorical/polite than serious, which was something that I hadn't realized.

Anyway, this is interesting -- thanks for the reply! FWIW, from hanging around in h/c circles, I don't think you're the only person to be turned on by non-sexual h/c by a long shot. *g*

[zelempa.livejournal.com]

Whether I find the sex hot depends a lot on the context of the story (the relationship and buildup needs to be right, I don't really read PWP) as well as the writing of the scene. Frequently I skim sex scenes. But, I definitely prefer R/NC-17 fic. There's a spectrum of hotness; even if the story doesn't actually turn me on, there's a warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing the two characters you wanted to got together in an interesting and satisfying way.

I try to write sex scenes that I think could conceivably be considered hot, but I'm definitely not insulted if they leave people cold or if people skim them. I just assume that there are readers like me who appreciate that the sex is there even if they don't read every word. I've never actually speculated about whether there are people who have literally gotten off because of my stories, but if so, that is kind of awesome. The power of the written word!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting -- I hadn't thought about sex (for some readers) being an integral component of the plot even if it's not specifically to that reader's tastes. The idea that the sex can be a satisfying part of the story without actually needing to be read, just that there's a sex scene in there intrigues me. Out of curiosity, do you think a fade-to-black would be equally satisfying, or does it need to be written out?

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Sex in fanfic absolutely turns me on but I'll be durned if I can describe the exact conditions under which it does so. LOL It depends on my mood and the quality of the writing and whether or not the scene pushes my narrative kink buttons or my sexy kink buttons. If there had been a radio button that just said Sometimes, I'd have chosen that one.

As a writer, I NEVER get turned on by what I'm writing. I'm subsumed in crafting the scene and that takes away from the sexy times. LOL

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

As a writer, I NEVER get turned on by what I'm writing. I'm subsumed in crafting the scene and that takes away from the sexy times. LOL

Heh, that was another thing I kinda wondered about -- does writing sex turn people on? (Though I'm sure the answers are fairly individual.) Though now this is making me contemplate a post about channeling characters' emotions in general: how much do we feel of the things our characters are feeling? Heh ... meta begets more meta ...

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I would never say something like "I'll be in my bunk". I have described sex as hot, but I didn't realise that meant a physical reaction. I mean, when I say a person is hot, it doesn't mean I am turned on or want to have sex with them, just that they're attractive. Similarly, I will call a sex scene hot if it's well-written and...haha, I can't think of another word besides hot! XD Appealing? Has things that I particularly like? But I don't really differentiate between sex scenes and other things I like in a story.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Well, the poll answers seem to indicate that it's not just you -- it seems like a lot of people use it in a metaphorical or polite-compliment sort of sense. Which is something that hadn't occurred to me; I'd assumed people meant it literally!

Though I'd always taken "hot" in the context of celebrities to mean that they are appealing in a specifically sexual way -- not merely attractive but sexually attractive to me (or the person who is using the term). I mean, there are a lot of cute little kids, but I'd never call any of them "hot"!

[(Anonymous)]

I take 'spells' of two or three days at a time when reading explicit sex-fic is a major turn-on. I keep a folder of guaranteed-to-arouse 'pure smut' stories, and may spend two or three hours in the evening just reading and masturbating. (If I had a SO, he would reap the benefits of this reading, but I don't, so...)

Other times, I can read the same stories, and my reaction is, "Oh, okay I guess."

I'm several years past menopause, so I can't blame 'time of the month' for my reactions. I haven't noticed a pattern of when it happens (but then, I haven't looked very hard). Sometimes I've spent all day waiting to get home and finish my chores so I can indulge. Other times, I'm quietly reading an ordinary story - even gen - then get restless and open my 'guaranteed' folder.

I may leave a "that's so hot" comment, meaning that the story actually made me horny, but usually not - embarrassing to let the wild world of fandom know that.

Most of the time, I actually prefer gen, although I'm comfortable with slash. But sometimes, the neurons just spark.

For completeness' sake, het works the same for me - sometimes yes, sometimes no - but I've found so much less het than slash that I don't have much of a collection.

[(Anonymous)]

*facepalm* Sorry, forgot to close italics after 'same stories', and anonymous can't edit. But I still don't want anyone to know who's being so frank. *slinks away*

[writinginct.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of full on explicit sex scenes (both slash/het) have gotten to be so formula written that I don't find them stimulating in the least. Tab A into Slot B kinda stuff is just boring and I scroll past it honestly.

I enjoy fade to black scenes a lot, mainly because my mind is a sewer and I am quite capable of envisioning the pairing doing filthy things to each other.

I don't read fanfic and "get off", but it does put me in the mood and mindset for sex/masturbation.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I enjoy fade to black scenes a lot, mainly because my mind is a sewer and I am quite capable of envisioning the pairing doing filthy things to each other.

See, that tends to be the direction that I go for a lot of things - not sex specifically, but I often find that scenes are more impactful (funnier, sadder, more intriguing, more suspenseful) with a minimum of detail or a cutaway at the critical moment. Fandom often tends to go for "showing it all" but I very often prefer to have a lot left to my imagination!

[rydra_wong]

Explicit sex in fanfic can definitely turn me on, if a) it's well-written, b) the character chemistry hits the spot for me, and c) I'm in a mood to be turned on at the time.

(If c), I have been known to return to fics I have bookmarked previously.)

Much fic sex doesn't hit the spot for me (and I'll start skim-reading if it feels like a sex scene is there just for the sake of having a sex scene there), but when it does, it really does.

If I comment saying a fic is hot, I do mean I found it sexy; I don't mean that I am necessarily heading bunkwards either then or later (because really, the author doesn't need -- or want -- to know that).

[perspi.livejournal.com]

I was going to comment and add all of these things, but you said it so very well that I'm just going to say, "What she said" and point up.

What she said. *points up*

(I would like to add, though: I find it pretty much impossible to write a sex scene that I don't find hot; I seem to need a confluence of character and situation chemistry and the right mood myownself to write sex in a fic. And I try very hard to avoid the Tab A, Slot B formula when writing. And now this comment is officially into the TMI category.)

[anitac588.livejournal.com]

It really does depend on the story. And if it does get me hot, I also say as much in the comment. Why not? I suppose author should know their stuff worked for the readers and it wasn't ass - dick - yawn.

But the story has never gotten me off, yet, ahm. Some stories have, however, inspired a strong need to seek the attention of Mr.C588 immediatelly after reading them. (Wish I'd bookmarked them.) Does that count?

I like NC-17 or R, but again -- it depends on the writer. I don't seek NC-17 for the sake of it. On the other hand, it does not need to be that explicit to have arousing effect. Sometimes it's an innocent enough line that gives me all sorts of ideas.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

And if it does get me hot, I also say as much in the comment.

Sure, that makes sense! If I'm writing for a particular effect, the very best comments are the ones that let me know I provoked the reaction that I wanted to get from my audience.

[antares04a.livejournal.com]

Not every explicit sex scene turns me on. It must be slash, it should be about characters I know and like (!) and it must be well written in the sense that I can sense the sparks, the attraction between the two men.
If there is kink involved it should be a kink I like, otherwise it's more like an experiment in writing/reading. But there may be surprises. *g*
I think I seek out fanfics for that purpose because if there are a lot of new stories I'll always start with the NC-17 and R-rated stories and only if I still have time I'll read other ratings.
I nearly never read gen because for me an important element is missing in the stories if there isn't a homoerotic element.
And this predeliction for higher rated slash stories never changed - I sort of started reading fanfics for this reason and I still do after ... eight, nine years. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

*nods* Based on slash fandom in general, I do gather that yours is a fairly mainstream way to read (must be two guys, must be high rated, etc). And obviously many people have fairly specific tastes in what they read; for me, regardless of whether there's a pairing or not, there needs to be a strong friendship element -- either between the main pair, or between one or both of them and other characters in the cast -- or I have the same sense of something missing.

[(Anonymous)]

Sex in fanfic turns me on, but ONLY for about one week per month, linked directly to my menstrual cycle. During that time I do actively seek it out. The rest of the time it does nothing for me, and I skim it to get to the emotional porn.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting! Usually the correlation isn't quite that ... direct. *g*

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

Explicit sex in fanfic turns me on if it's characters who I want to be having sex, and they're doing something that I find stimulating. If it's characters I love in a situation I find boring or unappealing (or even if I don't like their characterization), forget it; if it's characters I'm uninterested in, I'm probably skimming their parts to begin with!

Although every now and again, I'll read just about anything if it's filthy enough in the way I like, heh.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

...if it's characters I'm uninterested in, I'm probably skimming their parts to begin with

No pun intended? *g* (There is just something about a conversation of this nature that makes my brain go to the innuendo place...)

But, yes, that makes a lot of sense!

[reen212000.livejournal.com]

I don't get turned on by it too often. Mostly, it's a fun diversion. As you know, I do like to read slash. Just never been a fan of het stuff. I've read a few that didn't get on my nerves (seriously, why does everyone need to be married?) I don't what it is about the boy on boy action, but it's always been intriguing to me. I know that's not everyone's cuppa, and I'm okay with that. Not a fan of the PWPs either, or crack fic. I don't need graphic details; I've got a pretty good imagination. Also, there are some fics where it's just plain boinking for the sake of it, over and over and over. Not hot. And it gets boring after a while.

That being said, there is some hot sexy stuff out there. Xanthe, Keira Marcos, Wolfshark... my hat's off to those writers who bring it! Then there's the writers who balance out the sex with some old fashioned romance through friendship, and something more emotionally involved.

Gimme some well-written, slashy, angsty, h/c, and I'm all over it. *traipses off to find some*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

*nods* A lot of sex is pretty much formula (as is a lot of h/c, for that matter -- there's plenty of h/c where you could just swap out the names for Sam and Dean, or Jim and Blair, or whatever, and it wouldn't be noticeable). Bland writing is bland writing regardless of topic ...

[trobadora]

Hmmm. This is surprisingly difficult to answer. Let me go for the TMI - or was that tl;dr? :D

Fanfic can turn me on like nothing else. (Even my fantasies are basically fanfic, and have been for as long as I can remember. Original stuff only works for me if it plays very strongly to certain archetypes; otherwise it leaves me utterly cold. I nearly always skip sex scenes in original work for that reason.) But it needs to be very specifically tailored to my preferences: characters and pairings I'm strongly attracted to, the chemistry and dynamic between them described exactly as I prefer them. IN addition to that it's not the description of sex that does it for me; and certainly the level of explicitness has no part in it - it's the dynamic. Hence me reading (some) gen as porn and (some) porn as character study. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Porn-as-character-study is the kind that appeals to me (well, and funny porn; there really isn't enough funny porn out there). Obviously this does have a lot to do with the fact that I'm not really getting much out of it other than the character study part. But still -- I think one recurring theme in the answers I'm getting is that most readers aren't really aroused by a description of moving parts; it needs to have the emotional underpinnings and the connection between the characters. (Not to tar everyone with the same brush, of course; I'm sure there are readers for whom moving parts is what it takes, and that's fine too!)

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

It's complicated.

Most fic sex not only doesn't turn me on, a lot of it bores me (penultimate sex scenes in stories and books get skimmed more often than not, since they usually aren't building character, it's more like the writer thinks the sex scene in the pay off for reading the story), but now and then something will hit the right combination of buttons, and but I'm as lousy about commenting on something I thought was hot as I am about everything else. Err, and I sort of distinguish between thinking something was hot (that is it convinced me the characters were feeling what the writer wanted me to think) and that it got me hot.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Err, and I sort of distinguish between thinking something was hot (that is it convinced me the characters were feeling what the writer wanted me to think) and that it got me hot.

That distinction is one of the things I'm finding most interesting about the comments and the poll results, because I'd always assumed that when people say "That's hot!" they're speaking of sexual appeal, and while that's definitely true in some cases, it looks like it's not true in many (perhaps most) cases.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, hell yeah.

Written sex can elicit a much stronger reaction in me than, say, visual pornography, which I often find boring or baffling (and mind that the misogyny element is already subtracted because the only porn I watch is guy-on-guy).

But: it depends. On the organic whole AND the individual parts, parts meaning the individual elements of my reading pleasure.

First, there's the writing. Below a certain level of language and grammar skills to say nothing of punctuation, which unfortunately no one today seems to be able to master - nothing can turn me on, not Bulletproof Character #1 and not Bulletproof Kink #1. But the second element, the characterization in general and the dynamics of the pairing specifically can make up for a lot: I can forgive writers their uninspired style, their lack of settings & side characters, the occasional cliche or uninformed choice if only they get my darlings right - or right how I like them. Which is not the same as hitting my kink buttons, which are the third big one: I'll read only BDSM stories that are otherwise superior fanfic (I'm thinking Shaenie or Helen and naturally run screaming from Xanthe or whatserface, Keira?), but I will gladly read - uh, naming that kink is making it rather obvious who's writing this. Sha-la-la-la.

This is, I guess, is a (really) long-winded way of saying that my very physical reaction to stories reflects my my mental and emotional reaction to stories: If your story, mostly through characterization and all that entails, satisfies my brain and my heart AND contains a sex scene - I personally don't much mind if it's gratuitous - there's a good chance it will turn me right the fuck on. Resonant, PunkM aka runpunkrun, Cesperanza, and Purna are at the top of this list, and I strongly doubt it's a coincidence these are fantastic writers...

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

*nods* This all makes plenty of sense! I'm not sure if it's a perfect comparison, but the same is definitely true for me with h/c -- a random h/c scene out of nowhere doesn't do anything for me, but if it has a good emotional setup in the story, and the writer uses a deft hand with the characterizations, it can make me happy like nothing else. :)

[sheron]

I'd say if the sex scene is written well enough for me to actually read it, then it does turn me on. But many sex scenes I can't get into so I just skip them and read maybe the first line of every paragraph to get the general gist. I don't do it consciously, I just find after the fact that I have scrolled through all the description reading only the dialogue or some such.

But if the author is good and doesn't make me twitch, I'll keep reading. In which case it's hard not to get turned on because my imagination is engaged. :)

[sheron]

Having read through some of the responses above I'd like to add that I don't think these need to be characters I'm necessarily emotionally invested in for it to be hot. I can read pairings I don't care about (but not dislike) and still find them hot if the author uses a certain language and establishes a dynamic that works for me. But if the author is working with characters I love & really want to be together & the characterization is spot on, I don't need there to be explicit anything to be turned on sexually, since I'm already turned on emotionally and very little physical interaction works.