i genuinely think some of you need to learn that not everyone has to engage with fandom the same way you do.. post what you want, ship what you want, don't ship what you want but the constant insults, slurs, harassment, and policing of other people's accounts is exhausting
I saw someone doing tips for smut writing and as an avid smut writer who loves this kinda discussion, here’s some from me (I have no credentials btw take it for what u will):
1. Active, possessive phrasing is often hotter.
Example: “Ilya’s hands slide down to Shane’s ass and squeeze.”
Better version: “Ilya slides his hands down to Shane’s ass and squeezes.”
This way, the focus becomes that it’s Ilya doing something to Shane (or insert other characters), rather than watering down the agency.
Not always applicable, obviously.
2. Overuse of names is always better than ‘the other man’ or ‘the older boy’ etc, if you’re using third person limited narration style. The reason for this is that ‘the other man’ is a meta description, natural in an omniscient fly-on-the-wall narration style, but not in a POV limited to one character at a time.
3. Write what turns you on. It helps tremendously if you’re actually turned on by the smut you decide to write.
4. Aside from sensory details, you can also flesh out with lustful thoughts. What would your character want to do, looking at their partner? Not necessarily something they’re going to do in the moment, but just throw away thoughts.
Example: “Shane stretches on the bed, ass arching up toward Ilya. Ilya grabs him by the hips and grinds into him.”
Adding lustful thoughts: “Shane stretches on the bed, ass arching up toward Ilya. Ilya grabs him by the hips and grinds into him. He watches his fingers dig into the soft flesh of Shane’s asscheek and wonders what sound Shane would make if he whacked it, if he’d gasp or try to bite it back.”
4. Don’t be afraid to be a little bit mean, or dark, or even slightly gross. Sex can be loving and romantic, but spiced up ever so slightly by little hints of degradation or someone having a sadistic streak.
5. Don’t feel pressured to add smut if you don’t actually enjoy writing it. Some of the most beautiful fics don’t have smut in it and it shouldn’t be a prerequisite for writing fanfic that it absolutely must contain explicit smut.
6. Consistency in dynamic and characterisation. By this I mean that by the time we get to the smut, we’ve often built our way up to it; fallen for the characters, fallen for the dynamic, turned on by the tension between these two specific characters etc. Try to hold onto that dynamic once the scene shifts into graphic smut, rather than be too concerned with writing a generically perfect sex scene. Perfection is so unhot anyways 😜
my biggest tip for writing smut is
establish the action happening. then, rotate thru all 5 senses: how does it feel, how do they look, how do they sound, how do they taste (kissing), and how do they smell (perfume/if applicable)
break paragraph for dialogue or action
repeat
Once a fic finishes, the couple is safe. They will never break up. They will never experience hardship again. Their life and relationship will be sunshine and rainbows and they will be in love forever