woe is me

[xparrot]

I am just not cut out to be a slash writer. I can't write smut! I want to write smut. But the chars, they want to talk. For 8 pages! The hell, Lex? You want Clark. He wants you. What is the problem here? Just get down on your knees, boy. Geeze. It's not that difficult.

For some reason I can only write smut very late at night. Four in the morning when I'm supposed to be asleep, then I'll have all manner of sexy bodies in my head, writhing together under the sheets/against the wall/over the desk/in the mud/what-have-you. The rest of the time, might as well be a lost cause. Talking, though. I can write endless discussion anytime. I ought to stick to gen. But I like slash, too, darn it! If only it weren't haaaard...(and not in the good way.)

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I am quite possibly the worst slash fan ever, in that half the time I don't even read the smut; I skim the sex to get to the juicy bits, which for me is the...talking. And angst. And cuteness. And basically all the relationshipping that happens in between. This is probably why I can be both a slash and a gen fan without much mental dissonance. Though it doesn't explain why I have pairings like Clark/Lex which I simply cannot see as gen (even when I don't always read and can't hardly write the slashy bits.)

Comments

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

On one hand, when I have less time on the internet (esp. when I had been fic-reading on multiple fandoms), I don't read the smut parts either. I usually skip to the next paragraph with quotations marks around substantial dialogue.

On the other hand, I like descriptive sex scenes, mainly because they contain a wealth of information. I used to consider the slash in fics as reference for info on gay sex in the context of a story (because I learn best through stories, even if they're not always responsibly written explicit sex), but now I find it fun to discover any fic writer's take on how it could be done and how it could be told on a particular point of view or writing style. Also, it gives me awareness of the imagined sensory inputs the characters are getting, and since sex is mostly in the mind, I find the different perceptions of it entertaining (feast for the imagination) and educational (in terms of writing).

And after megabytes of SV fics, I've yet to tire of reading descriptions of Lex and Clark's physical appearances in whatever conditions. What can I say, MR and TW are really gorgeous men. :D

Writing about it, though, is a more complicated matter--
1. Dirty talk: While I have no problem imagining the actor's voices speaking such dialogue in fics, I have a problem composing it in my head. I fail at inventing come-ons that are deliberate and not accidental, because apparently my imagination is limited to subtext.
2. I can't even draw het!kissing, and I can't type "Lex's cock" without giggling madly like a twelve-y.o. girl and lose my porny train of thought. My creative mental blocks permit suggestive imagery and lots of touching but no graphic or written sexual action. -_-;;; (I would probably overuse "And then they had sex, and it was fun/hot/scandalously kinky/literally groundbreaking.")
3. Sex culture differences: I could claim to infer ideas about the difference between American sex culture through references and American sex culture professed in/described through fictional universes between humans and metahumans/aliens, but SV blurred the lines as it has both the sci-fi element and the 21st century setting, so you have to reconcile the fact that Clark doesn't need a supercondom and the fact that he may not even stop to think about details like that. Because I'm neurotic about those sort of things, I won't assume enough about any character's thoughts on sex enough to write them, unless canon gives me enough hints. I'd gladly read other writer's fanon about their sex lives, though. :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a well-written and/or imaginative sex scene can be very, mmm, educational! And entertaining for the sensory experience. But for me, I ted to burn out quickly; a lot of sex just reads the same to me, after a while. The rich sensuality will draw me into slash fic for a time, and then I'll want to stop experiencing and start seeing things happen. I suspect this is largely personal taste...

Writing it is something of a matter of practice, at least in part; I was very proud to use 'cock' for the first time in a story a few months back XD As far as canon characterizations go, American family shows like SV are mum enough on the issue that I don't have that much trouble extrapolating, though I tend to go with mainstream slash fanon more often than not (Lex as experienced bisexual, Clark as innocent but intrigued) probably because I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Other aspects of their characters I'll analyze at great length and develop my own theories, but the sexual doesn't interest me enough to consider it much (there are reasons personal to me for this, but I'll spare you!)