1. thiefacrobat286

    thiefacrobat286 Member

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    Sex Scenes in Fantasy and Science Fiction

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by thiefacrobat286, Jun 16, 2019.

    I have no idea if I should do it or not, it's just an idea. If I'm writing Fantasy and Science Fiction and there's a sex scene or two--for whatever reason--does that make it erotica or is it still SF and Fantasy? This is more of a publishing question ATM I guess.
     
  2. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Still SF and Fantasy.
     
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  3. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    yep - you need a lot more than an occasional sex scene to make a book erotica.
     
  4. thiefacrobat286

    thiefacrobat286 Member

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    OK, that's all I needed to know, thanks. It was just a publishing question, that's all.
     
  5. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I think there is more than one way to write a sex scene. You want to make sure your approach is appropriate for the story and for the genre.
     
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  6. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    You need spice!
     
  7. Gary Wed

    Gary Wed Active Member

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    Regardless of genre, one does well to consider audience. Who do you imagine reading the work? The book without sexual content or graphic language will have a wider appeal, but if you have a mature subject and tone to the work, you push the whole project along in the same vein.

    I write lots of book, in many genres and for several different audiences. This is a constant consideration. For example, the book I am currently working on has a handful of explicit words along the way, references to sex and my MC losing her blouse. This puts it beyond the reach of most YA, and yet much of the content and characterization might, in fact, appeal to that demographic. This will present me with a problem, and a possible purge.

    But, back to sex. That comes in lots of shades of grey. You might reference it as part of a character's concern or interest or experience. At the next level, you can have two characters kissing, petting, and then break off or you might break off, cutting to the next scene. A little deeper, you could go all the way to the sex scene, itself, to include what one actor feels or sees, but not beyond those things that are relevant to the plot and characterization. By now we're to an R rating, and upping the audience. A bit further, you are being graphic and not necessarily stopping at what is necessary. Finally, you get kinky and are doing pure porn.

    Audience matters, and there is some room there, if you take care.
     
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  8. Nellie Mea Dixon

    Nellie Mea Dixon New Member

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    Mad love for the Fantasy/Sci Fi authors that leave in some of the naughty bits! :cheerleader:
     
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  9. sunnydewbae

    sunnydewbae New Member

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    I was recently listening to the Dresden files and one graphic sex scene involving a vampire being chained to ceiling came about rather suddenly. I listen to audio books on a blue tooth speaker and I work for my dad and just as the scene became more intense and descriptive my dad and my mom walked in office after coming back from lunch.
     
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  10. GraceLikePain

    GraceLikePain Senior Member

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    To be honest, I come to SF/F for weird concepts, science, and literary experimentation. A sex scene would be very likely to get me to put the book down, as usually when the story includes these, it brings the story to places other genres are capable of going. The story starts to lack the real appeal of what SF/F is for. Not saying this necessarily has to happen, but for some reason it generally does.
     
  11. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    SF and F are just like any other genre in this regard. Lots of books have sex scenes and do not become erotica. To me, erotica is focused primarily on sex and arousal. It doesn't have to be limited to that, but it's the primary focus of the work.

    SF and F doesn't become erotica because there are sex scenes any more than a thriller, drama, or any other work would.
     
  12. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    With all the War Sci-fi, we could use a little more Sci-Rotica. :p
    It exercises more of the imagination, than laser guns and such.

    (Oh no the Paranormal people are going to steal or hate on the
    new subgenre I just made up: Sci-Rotica). :D
     
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  13. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Quick, let's confuse them by making up more—how 'bout Robo-Rotica? Space Sex Opera? Titillating Time Travel! Sexy Swords and Sorcery. Um... Elves in Bondage? Ok, running out of ideas here.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2020
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  14. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    There's tons, bruh. Tons. In the M/M realms, you find no end of Super Soldier™ types and also Conan the Barbarian™ types. Lots and lots and lots of shockingly violent foreplay. Most of this is written by women, mind you, so I have no explanation.

    Also, the universe is apparently filled with alien species sporting not one but two dongs. The double-dong trope is everywhere. :wtf:
     
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  15. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Really? o_O

    And here I thought I was weird when I cooked up a species that
    had 7 digit hands and got extreme pleasure from touching things.
    Though to function in society, they invented nerve deadening gloves
    so they could do things in the normal day to day without getting off. :p
     
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  16. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    That actually made sense in John Varley's Titan, because the creatures were centaurs. One for the human part, one for the horse part (I *THINK* It was in Titan, it was a book in that series anyway).
     
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  17. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Dude, I love those books, and yes, Titan, Wizard, and Demon. The complexities of titanide reproduction and all the bewildering permutations named after music pieces (like the Aeolian Solo where the titanide fertilizes itself in all phases) was pretty fascinating.
     
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  18. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I barely remember reading it, and unfortunately don't have the books anymore. Mostly I just remember what I wrote above, plus a chick named Cirrocco, and that I really liked the stories. Some vague stuff—didn't they need to climb up the inside of the spokes of the gigantic space station, inward, so against the pull of artificial gravity? Toward the central hub. I think the first book might be the only one I read.
     
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  19. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Telemachus Sneezed
    From Iain M. Banks' The Hydrogen Sonata:

     
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  20. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Methinks your example man looks like a stretched-out version of the Covid-19 virus photos.
     
  21. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    I love the last line: His head, feet and hands looked normal :superlaugh:The understatement lol.
     
  22. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, you remember correctly. The structure they are in, Gaea, is a kind of biological torus. They climb the central spoke trying to get to the central brain where Gaea technically resides. There are secondary sub-brains housed in sections of the torus over which Gaea has quite variable levels of control or influence. It appears there was a war at some point in the past between Gaea and her sub-brains, a war she partially lost. Scirocco Jones and her sometimes-yes-sometimes-no lover Gaby are initially pulled into a section of the torus in opposition to Gaea and it tries to keep them, hence the crew gets scattered throughout sections of Gaea's body at the start of the narrative. Two of the crew, sisters, get turned into angels that inhabit the central spoke, if you recall, where gravity is much reduced and allows for the flight of winged hominids stripped down to the bare essentials. One of the other mains presented later in the series is slowly in the process of turning into a titanide.
     
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  23. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, really. It even made it into an episode of Drawn Together. ;)

    (Just a mention, not the actual thing.)

     
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  24. Jan Karlsson

    Jan Karlsson Member

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    I tend to lead up to the sex scene and then move on. It’s just a personal thing. Full on sex scenes hold no interest for me.
     
  25. Dogberry's Watch

    Dogberry's Watch Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    One of the things Ive noticed recently in science fiction in particular, the sex is prevalent. It seems to me, in sci fi especially, sex is one of the things that ramps up in the future. Sex bots and virtual reality abound, and there's always some kind of hub for sexual gratification. A spot where one can go simply for the enjoyment of their body.

    This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but as a reader I find it difficult to believe everyone's boinking so much in the future. I'm not an innocent tater tot here by any means, but it feels like once a story introduces a sexy moment, it becomes a tension builder instead of the actual plot building tension. I've done this myself, but I've been working on that.

    I'm not sure I know exactly what the answer is here, for myself, because I feel like there's a market for just about any kind of story being told. Someone somewhere is waiting to read the story of a journey, but there's a lot of sex mixed in. Maybe it's your target, but hey! A new challenge makes it interesting. Right?
     

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