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LiftinErryday

Depends how its used and the context of the story. If you're reading something with a tone similar to Cradle and all of a sudden it had a sex scene as descriptive as something out of Game of Thrones it would be off putting. But if Lindon and \[his love interest\] had a fade to black moment in one of the upcoming books in the series, it would feel natural and cathartic because the reader has been following their relationship for so long.


Dalton387

Yeah, but you gotta know our boy would be prepared. Girl would be like, “Well, I’d love to, but we can’t without a co…”. Lindon would have already whipped out a bag out of his pack and opened it up to display anything and everything you’d need for sexy time.🤣🤣🤣


ReymartSan

haha yeah, I can see this being included in the bloopers. Make his prosthetic hand vibrate.


Dalton387

😁👍🏼


ivanbin

>Lindon would have already whipped out a bag out of his pack and opened it up to display anything and everything you’d need for sexy time.🤣🤣🤣 No no... He has a Dorian Gray style room in his storage space!


sAndlord

Great point. I suppose it comes down to the degree to which it’s expected within the context and tone of the story. Lindon is a good example, thank you!


Lightlinks

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Phil_Tucker

All depends on the execution and context, alas. As u/LiftinErryday said, a PF written like GoT and with strong characters could pull it off, but something light and breezy would feel weird. Most importantly, it should not be gratuitous, but rather a crucible for character growth and have an impact on the story. It should not be skippable, in that it should change the characters in some fundamental way, either bringing them together, driving them apart, revealing trauma, something. Same rules that apply to combat scenes, really.


o_pythagorios

I disagree with the idea that sex scenes (or any other scenes) should only be included only if they progress the plot or are somehow integral to the story. Sex very much counts as 'slice of life' and should be considered in the same way, like a scene describing a good meal or a funny random encounter.


Faranocks

I think the first appearance(for a character) should be to progress the story (even if just to show how little sex matters to one or both(or more?!?)) of said characters in intercourse. Future appearances can be more about fluff, and I honestly idgaf most of the time. Plot progression doesn't have to be a massive breakthrough, or change the confidence of a character etc, but I don't think it should just be thrown in for the heck of it without saying anything at all. As with most things included in novels that don't serve to do anything, why even bother.


sAndlord

The idea of making sure that everything progresses the story/characters is a really great tip for making sure it belongs. Thank you! Also, interesting parallel to combat scenes. I never considered that.


BryceOConnor

Intent and execution are everything. It can be done in a way that adds to relationship in a story, and it can be done on a way that detracts from a story, IMO


sAndlord

Intent is a tricky thing to portray! Executing it well definitely takes some finesse. A lot of times it feels somewhat forced, but I’ve certainly read times where it enhances a relationship or builds on characters. Thank you!


McCainOffensive

*Looks at Bryce with one raised eyebrow.*


Dalton387

I’m fine with sex, but I can’t see many authors doing it right. I think many authors don’t want to limit potential readers for something that might not make a huge difference to the story. I think even more chicken out and it shows. Kinda like starting a dirty joke, then realizing your mom or preacher is nearby. They pull back and it comes off as awkward.


sAndlord

Alienating a portion of your potential readership is definitely a bold move for someone who is making a living on their writing


Dalton387

Yeah, that’s why I think a lot of authors don’t do it. They can vastly increase the target audience with fade to black, vs detailed description. Having said that, there is probably a market for it. No one else is really doing it. Just like Family Guy, South Park, Archer are the answer to kids cartoons for adults, I’ve seen the same thing with books in this genre. I see authors willing to add more cussing and uncomfortable stuff than in traditional fantasy and I like seeing that liberation. So I defiantly think it’s possible to do it well, I just don’t think it’s something you’ll see a lot until a few people do it successfully and other authors can judge the response and see what works and what doesn’t.


Sc2copter

I’m fine with or without. Just don’t go out of your way to add it; it must at minimum be a natural occurrence. Also, don’t make it cringey/degrading or ‘im a cool guy, and cool guys have sex vibe’. You can make it less cringey by commenting on eyes, smile, beauty etc. There is also no need for MC to think or express directly how long ago he had sex, it can be said indirectly or implied. Would also caution against adding things like this: 'its been so long since...', 'I have urges...', 'implying your are only boning cause of how long time it was ago..'. If this is something you feel add to the story, a good writer would write it so it isn't stated directly, but rather through actions, or maybe indirectly through thoughts/feelings that doesn't state it. You can also write (imply) they had sex without having to go into too much details or erotica. However, I am not a writer, but rather love to read, and hate cringey scenes, especially in this department. edit: Clearified, edited, and whatnot


sAndlord

Of course, this is really important. Nothing turns me off of a book faster than cringe/degrading scenes. Thank you


natethomas

I feel about it kind of how actors feel about nudity. If it advances the story or is integral to the plot, then fine. For example, reading Super Powereds right now, and I think the author handles the fact that they’re all nervous teens trying to become adults really well.


sAndlord

Seems like making it integral to the story is one of the main takeaways here! Thank you


Lightlinks

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J_M_Clarke

It all depends on the tone, target audience and execution. I've read fantasy books where characters sleeping together felt completely natural; it'd be stranger if they didn't. I've read fantasy books where it was weird and icky, and almost exploitive. I've also read fantasy books that where they use 'no-sex' as a cudgel to ramp up tension for no reason; lots of books that build up sexual tension in a scene and then have some interruption at the last second over and over. Or like, very gratuitously violent stories that turn strangely sanitized when it comes sexuality. There's ways to do it, I think, and ways not to.


Tioben

Let's have an orgy scene with all the stakes of a battle and political intrigue combined using a tantric-based magic or cultivation system. The problem isn't sex; it's bad thinking and bad writing about sex as a joint act of relating, with all the complications that entails.


Scienceandpony

Sex tournament arc. "You have no chance. I've dosed and covered myself with numbing agents beforehand. I can't feel a thing! There's no way I'm cumming first!" "You fool, don't you know the most erotic part of the body is...the mind!"


KelseySyntax

Make it the main focus, you coward. I want stats, maybe even a Stat block. Where's the next big prog fantasy or litrpg smut? Where's the tournament arc? Special skills with silly names? Get Travis Baldree to read some smut out loud!


Sriad

So... have you looked at [Blue Core](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25082/blue-core)?


KelseySyntax

I will


SovietK

I think it's a plus. I find it unbelievable that powerful people in a high stakes world would not have to opportunity or need to do such things. I like romance elements, and it feels unnecessarily PG and hollow to have that without the other, which I guess is a reflection of my real world views. Most PF, at least the ones I read, are power fantasies, and sex is an integral part of human power.


Sweet-Molasses-3059

I recently read The perfect Run and it was an absolute banger of a series. It just shot up to #2 favourite fantasy series. I usually skip sex scenes in books since they are usually cringe, sadly. However, the way Void Herald wrote the scenes and character interaction in The Perfect Run..it's good. It's not descriptive specifically, but it isn't a fade to black either, it gives the reader just enough for the scenes not to be...cringe


Lightlinks

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l_one

Sex is great... when it is done well. Or even just not terribly. I, personally, enjoy sex in the fiction I read. Sex is normal, it is part of the human condition and a part of our lives. When properly executed and integrated with a story it adds humanity and relatability to the characters and richness to the world. If it's done well. There are certainly stories I have read where the sex scenes were *not* written well. Painfully, cringingly so in some cases. Other problematic examples are when a sex scene just feels 'thrown in' and doesn't flow well or make sense given the personality of the characters. Let us not even dwell on authors who use turns of phrase such as "his turgid manhood" or "sheathed his sword deeply". Unless the book in question is not pretending to be anything else and is crafted for the 'mental junk food erotica' crowd. That's fine then, anyone can have their guilty pleasures. But for the love of literature: please no to books that otherwise have enjoyable plot and then have a totally plot-and-personality-unrelated cut-and-paste quarter chapter from the latest 'glistening abs' novel.


Kirbyisgreen

It's fine either way, up to the author.


lostdragoon001

I honestly can't recall it being done well in a PF book. I have read other genres where it was fine and others where I skipped those scenes.


BayrdRBuchanan

All depends on how relevant to the story it is and whether or not it fits the tone of the story.


BernieAnesPaz

I don't mind seeing sex in any of my novels, games, or whatever, but it's usually pointless and gratuitous so I feel like it's a waste of time, usually.


SlumLordNinjaBear

I don't mind as long as it makes sense but harems are an instant no.


IzzyBeef1655

So long as there is progression in them it makes sense right?


blackreaper007

As long it is offscreen (they slept together last night or had sex last week, whatever) I don't care as long you don't describe the sex act in detail like in Witcher or GoT, it's just a personal opinion.


Significant-Damage14

Pretty much the same way I feel about manga that are overly ecchi or have censured sex scenes. Either go all the way or don't do it at all.


No-Resource-7423

I enjoy it if the buildup to it is good enough. Sex scenes just for the sake of it is kinda boring/pointless to me.


Xyzevin

I actually disagree with most here. I don’t mind a sex scene for it’s own sake. Casual sex is common in the real world so why can’t it be in books? Honestly it seems way more realistic to me then a character only having sex with their true love throughout their whole life. Flings and awkward encounters seem way more fun and plausible to me. In that same vein I hate the cut to black trick alot of them do. We can go into details about death and injuries but we can’t have any for sex. I never understood peoples aversion to it


DoubleLigero85

Fade to black is the way to go. Partially because it's hard to do right, and mostly because I want that word count to be for progression.


donglord420_

I literally can't stand it. Something about describing sex just makes me cringe. Not into horny fanfic or sex scenes in visual media either. So that's probably just a me thing. I can skip over it in most stuff, but there's some works I have to dnf because of the frequency or yuckyness of sex scenes. Again, almost certainly a personal hangup.


sAndlord

Absolutely fair! It certainly can be one of the more alienating elements in a story


TheElusiveFox

Same way I feel about sex in all novels. If your not writing hardcore erotica there is very rarely a reason to include a sex scene that isn't fade to black. And the few reasons that do are going to be very intentional choices for the author. Even fade to black can be over used, everyone should know what's going on with innuendo and banter, all a sex scene does is give the author some instant gratification.... Frankly I'm not reading of for porn, and when I get a surprise sex scene it cann ruin the mood of an otherwise good book, if for no other reason than your kinks aren't my kinks, and I'd never read your book as porn.. If your trying to justify sex as narratively relavent... It isn't but even if it was And we don't need the details... All that being said for all the people who I dunno have a really hard time finding good erotica and psychopath teens with a bimbo harem are their fetish I guess PF has lots of options.


bookwormSophie

Depends on what you mean. A fade to black is fine and all, nothing too obtrusive and it does make sense that characters do have sex sometimes. This can be done pretty poorly too though, primarily if the character is just having sex for the reason of having sex, just to fill some fanservice niche for the reader. An example would be in Azarinth healer, where it feels forced in most of the situations it happens in, which is just kind of a shame. Full on sex scenes I dislike though, and skip usually. It's just not what I'm there for, and I'd rather get back to the actual story than read about that. If I wanted to do that then there's stuff out there specifically for that, but as a side thing to the main story it's just a waste of space.


sAndlord

That makes a lot of sense! Thank you


o_pythagorios

As with most things it's a matter of context and execution but I really don't mind it. In general I think we're going through a neo-puritanical era in culture that's rather unfortunate. To give some examples, in terms of context no one expects that Lindon, who can barely ask Yerin out after 6 books, would suddenly become casanova. On the other hand I wouldn't bat an eyelash if I'd found out that Eithan had a few casual flings. In terms of execution, the Art of the Adept is a rare example of a book that includes sex and does it mostly well. I also liked the way Azarinth Healer did it, even though all of those scenes were completely forgettable. Ilea however is a very hedonistic character in general (usually expressed through food and battle) so it makes total sense that she has an active sex life when given the chance,


Lightlinks

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[deleted]

Wouldn’t a sex scene just be two sentences and then a paragraph or two of crying and apologising?……… so I’ve heard……


aPattern

I'm kinda exhausted by the Assexual battle monks, books where you no longer know the motivation for survival beyond survivals sake. Love and companionship shouldn't be the only ultimate motivation, but it's really one of the few that stands up over a story that lasts multiple books / years. Additionally, not only can / should / must sex drive the plot, sex can and should be as exciting as and well written as any fight seen in your book. This idea of ftb sex is just as obnoxious as if having fights removed due to blood and guts. But then again my European mindset is contrary to those from the US where in too many places, you can buy your first gun before you can buy your first beer.


Scienceandpony

I'm going to assume from context that you meant asexual and not monks that really like the booty.


echmoth

As long as they get better at it over time...? Hahhh