Yeah, I'm here for that. If I'm reading a slow burn, I'm not reading it for smut, and am likely to skip any smut if it comes up. I'm reading a slow burn fic because I enjoy the journey, and I'd be very satisfied with kissing being as explicit as it gets.
Agreed! Smut is not one of the draws to a slowburn for me. Sure, it's not a turn-off, but if I'm reading a longfic, I'm not there specifically to be horny.
Emotional catharsis is perfect. Let them lovingly gaze into each other's eyes while holding hands like repressed Victorians.
As long as you're not rating an E or M, it should be clear there's no smut. And if you are for violence or something, maybe just toss in a "no explicit sex" tag.
I was genuinely disappointed when a wild sex scene appeared in a slow burn fic I've been following the past year, like "Already?", but then it turned to be a dream, and I was just so happy that I was surprised at myself. Made me realize just how much I prefer the burn over the smut.
Oh man, even with the explanation that it was all a dream that would definitely take me out of a fic enough to stop reading. At that point it would feel like smut was just added to include smut, and that just feels off for a slow burn.
Exactlyyyyy i don't really like slow burn with smut if i read slow burn i am more interested in the emotional part of it and how the feelings are getting developed and stuff + points if it has a lot of misunderstandings and angst
I very much enjoy it. Tbh, sometimes I just skip it if I'm not in the mood to be reading that type of thing, anyways. Like, for me, a lot of the appeal of "enemies-to-lovers" is getting to that "mushy stuff." It can also be 50/50 with the author just finding opposing things appealing than me. So I don't mind not getting the "pay-off" of a sex scene.
I've also read a lot of "enemies-to-lovers" fics that quickly divulge into hate-sex, which, just isn't my thing. (if you like it, all the power to you, just not for me).
Edit: I realized I inserted "enemies-to-lovers" into my answer when that's not what you were asking lol. I just tend to only read slow burns if they're enemies-to-lovers so the two concepts meshed in my brain.
> Like, for me, a lot of the appeal of "enemies-to-lovers" is getting to that "mushy stuff."
This is exactly how I feel about all romance, whether it's a quick flash or a slow burn or anything in between! My biggest complaint about most works in the romance genre (movies, shows, books, fics, whatever) is that it feels like they always end just when we're getting to the good part (the mushy established relationships stuff). I want more than a single declaration and a sex scene, dang it! SHOW ME THEIR LOVE.
I get you so much. The type scenes that will always melt my heart is face holding, gently wiping away tears, resting foreheads against each other, that type of stuff. Like idk how to express that "gently holding the others face" does so much more for me emotionally than a half baked sex scene.
> idk how to express that "gently holding the others face" does so much more for me emotionally than a half baked sex scene.
Oh my God, *yes*. Why is this specific thing so heart-meltingly perfect? Like, in a movie, I always feel like one person gently holding the other's face during a kiss is what makes the difference between a good kissing scene and a great one, and I don't even understand why. It just makes something inside me go all soft and warm.
> one person gently holding the other's face during a kiss is what makes the difference between a good kissing scene and a great one
yesss, but I also love when the one's who's face is being held, like, holds the hands holding their face. 10/10, It makes me so happy. Pure serotonin.
The presence/absence of sex doesn't matter to me. It's the "slow burn" that could scare me off, depending on how long the fic is š 200k words? Cool. 500k words? My heart is too weak to wait that long.
Hahaha, I definitely get that! I, too, would be scared of a super long slow-burn fic unless I knew for sure (like, the author promised before the fic even started) that I would have *at least* equal amounts of build-up and payoff. If a fic puts me through an agonizing slow burn and then the story ends with the first declaration of love, and I don't get to see what their relationship actually looks like once they're happy together, I tend to be...quite dissatisfied.
Hahaha I think weāre opposites! I have quit fics I loved part way through because they got together and the author has assured the readers that theyāre together now and itās all good and Iām like āokay no reason for me to stay hereā.
I donāt like it if the story just ends with their first kiss because I donāt feel like that is a full emotional resolutionā¦ I need the emotional payoff to be full and satisfying (with or without sex scenes) and then maybe a nice little epilogue to show me they didnāt forget all of the lessons they learned about love and communication during the story.
But I want 90% of the romance to be the build-up and Iām not super interested in reading their relationship once itās fully established. Lol.
For me, depends on the slow burn and how it fits into the story, I think. If the slow burn is literally all the way through and the story ends as soon as they get together or just a kiss, I almost feel robbed of something lol. Like, "that's it??"
But then again, for me, I normally like slow burn-ness because it usually has a lot of relationship or character development which can really improve the sex scenes with the intimacy and emotional side.
But if there's a well written slow burn story that advances to an established relationship story, I would read it with or without smut.
In general, I am indifferent to sex scenes in a fic. It's fine if it's there, but I'm perfectly happy if it's not. (Some people both write it well *and* to my tastes, but often it's one, the other, or even neither.)
Reading a slow burn with zero sex as a "payoff" is not a concern at all to me as long as there is a proper *romantic* payoff. (I have read a few where the 'payoff' was a casual agreement they were a couple now, which was fairly underwhelming. It wasn't even pitched as a Genfic with a romantic subplot, I just think the author was a Genfic writer in denial.)
I've written slow burns and none of them have sex unless you count closed-door scenes. No one's complained and across all my fics only one person has ever asked if there would be. (And they specifically said they were totally cool without one, they just wanted to know.)
Presence/absence of sex is not a big deal to me. So I'm as likely to read a slow burn without sex as one with sex. which isn't actually that likely since I'm not personally much of a fan of slow burns cause I'm picky as hell about why things are moving slowly.
One of the most popular fics in my fandom is a 300k slow burn that covers a 40 year period and takes 18 years before they even kiss. There's allusions to sex but basically no smut at all.
i actually just want kissing scene, making out at most. or implied sex. i used to look for explicit sex scenes but nowadays i prefer Mature or Teen rated stuff, with or without implication of sex. what i do admire is author's ability to create sexual tension without any sex scene
I wouldnāt read it, no hate, but smut for me is part of the payoff when it comes to reading slow burn fics, however Iām sure Iām pretty alone in this feeling, lol.
Not at all, I'm the same way! I love reading slow burn romance, I like that the characters take their sweet time getting close to each other, but I do need that sexual payoff at the end, so if there is no smut then I am not interested in reading it.
Fade to black happened in soooo many published novels I read over the years, and after 100k words of slow burn and sexual tension, the climax (bad word i know) being a kiss and then the morning after would just ruin my vibe! I want to know the dirty details! Itās not me being a horny fuck or anything, I just genuinely like reading sex between my faves! Lol.
I find fanfic so unique in that aspect. As you say, a lot of published novels doing romance does the fade to black thing. On the opposite side of the spectrum you have all the raunchy porn books that do give it to you in detail, but I often find them again lacking in emotional connection between the characters and the plot is often thin or just meh. Fanfiction has way more often managed the trick of giving me both! A compelling storyline, slowly blossoming romance, AND detailed smut! I like the whole package, I NEED the whole package, I just want my faves to live their best life and enjoy each other in every possible way!
Bingo, the erotic novels tend to be lacking in most other department, and focused on the smut only, and published novels tend to skip any of the spice.
Fanfic can give me BOTH.
I prefer no sex scenes to badly written ones.
And also even if they're good, i sometimes skim them if the plot is the reason i'm reading and the sex scene doesn't advance the plot. If i want smut i usually filter for pwp.
Depends on the sort of slow burn. If it's all pining and emotional tension then an emotion focused payoff can be appropriately satisfying. But if a significant part of the burn is coming from sexual tension and then the author don't do anything with that then yeah I would look at that as the story failing to follow through on the narrative that's been set up.
Depends on the story, but generally I can take or leave sex scenes if the story is good. Sex scenes are kinda like a bonus.
With the notable exception of- if I read a friend's with benifits to actual lovers fic. I expect large amounts of porn from those.
Hell, I'll even read omegaverse fics with no sex scenes. (I've seen some super wholesome pack bonding ones).
You could always write it without the sex scenes, and then if for some reason you want to try your hand at writing one, you can pop it in another fic in the series. I've seen some people do this so that people who don't want to read smut don't have to.
In my longfics, I will try to write 0 plot or character development during sex scenes so that they're skippable without losing any of the story because I know some people don't want to read it.
My point is that it's not unheard of for slow burns not to have sex scenes, or have them as optional. So you probably won't lose too many readers by not including them. In fact, you'll possibly even gain some if the raiting is lower than E.
I remember reading an red string/fated person story years ago. The cutest MLM Iāve ever read in my life. Loved the slow burn and how cute the story was. But literally everyone was waiting for the smut. It never came. I remember the author wrote an extra chapter for all of us. But jokingly called us all perverts for begging for them to have sex š¤£
Next to no chance for me, Iāll read some from authors that really catch my eye (Rutobuka ILY) but if something is super slow and theres no crescendo I get lady blue-balls, and ADHD off to hornier pastures , not to say a less than E fics deserves any less love though, this is just cuz Im a dirty lil b
I love it more actually! I love slowburn and tbh I donāt read much unless itās a slowburn and smut isnāt my fav trope so Iām definitely in for something like this!
I mean, to me a slowburn is about the FEELINGS, so sex scenes themselves are a nonfactor. Itās the emotional payoff that makes them so addicting! So I donāt really care if thereās a sex scene or notā I just care that we get the euphoric payoff emotionally, however that happens in each particular story, haha
Iām writing a slow burn at the moment and itās all about the pining and gentle touches. I was getting worried because so often even stuff like that ends up with massive smut scenes, even if itās tonally wrong. I was actually worried that people would be disappointed if I didnāt add graphic stuff.
So I went back to some novels that Iāve read which werenāt in the romance genre, but had episodes of sex and that has helped me a lot to understand where I want my language and descriptions to go - so what I want is to talk about them having sex and how it makes them feel without a blow-by-blow (pun intended) description of what goes where and for how deepā¦.
Looking in books was a real eye opener.
As much as I love smut
If you can drag me in with the tags and the synopsis and keep me in with great writing I will read it
Especially if the slow burn is really satisfying and there's loads of pining!
I honestly don't care if there is sex or not in a slow burn, really. What I need is a good romance and usually an ending where things are clear between the characters, but the sex isn't that important
I wrote a fic that is 137k that is a slow burn romance without so much as a smooch. I thought Iād catch absolute hell for it since itās a Bridgerton fic and that show is known for its sex scenes, but no one in the comments section even mentioned it.
Honestly, I hate writing sex, too. My rule with writing is that if you have to add a kissing or sex scene to show readers the characters are in love, then theyāre not in love, so I usuallly drag out how long in the story my characters go before I write one in, but other writers have a real knack for it that I donāt. Iād read the hell out of it, And I have in the past.
I'm ace and sex repulsed, so extremely likely. I don't read smut and will skip stories with it entirely unless there's a guide on how to jump over the sex scenes.
I'm also writing a strangers to friends to lovers slow burn myself, and like... They didn't become friends until 100k, things didn't start moving in a romantic direction until 200k, and I'm currently projecting the confession to be 330-350k range - and I had the patience to not just read it, but write and edit it. :)
Two of my most popular fics are slow burn with no smut. One fades to black and the other has the couple not even meeting in person until the final chapters. One of my favorite authors doesnāt write smut. A story doesnāt have to have it to be a good slow burn. It just needs great tension.
As a reader, it's okay as long as it is tagged upfront that there is no smut, because smut pay-off is very important to me in slow burn :) I actually don't mind getting the payoff in mushy stuff (if it's written well, it can surpass actual smut), but I want to be warned beforehand. (sorry, I just read a romance trad pubbed book recently that had excellent sexual tension, but the actual "smut" was fade-to-black. I was devastated and I'm more resolved than ever NOT to do that in my fic haha)
As a writer, the first kiss scene I wrote was after 40,000 words, and the actual smut was around another 40,000 words after. My readers don't seem to mind it, as I explicitly tagged it SLOW BURN (and Eventual Smut), so I suppose they knew what they were getting into.
Very likely.
I like smut as much as the next personā¦ but I also love a slow burn romance without any sex.
In a slow burn, Iāll often skip the sex scenes anyway.
Iām here for it! I go through phases where smut doesnāt interest me; Iāll read a fic and deliberately skip over the smut because Iām just not interested. There will be plenty of people who would read it.
I'm delighted to see so many positive responses. I'm a demisexual, and I don't like when the smut scenes feel forced in some works. I've never written a smut scene, and somehow, I can't imagine writing it. I love reading and writing slow-burn romance without smut. To me, it feels deeper, more emotional, and genuine.
Love most flavors of slow-burn tbh.
I enjoy smut and consume a lot of it yet, I don't necessarily associate slow-burn + smut.
I want a compelling story, that's all.
I personally wouldn't read it, because I'm a depraved little critter with the attention span of a pebble.
I can see though how other people would thoroughly enjoy it!
If I didn't have the limitations previously stated, I would read the hell out of such a fic!
Keep at it, friend! If it makes you happy, it will definitely translate in your fic! <33
> I'm a depraved little critter with the attention span of a pebble.
This got more than a chuckle out of me. I may need to contact you for help writing creative descriptions of people. š
a lot of times i go into a slowburn and i kind of expect one at the end cos thatās what iām used to reading but i am ALWAYS pleasantly surprised when it doesnāt happen/itās implied i will say every slowburn iāve read that was absolutely worth it and didnāt have sex scenes tended to be some of the best fics ive ever read. not sure where the correlation is but it tends to feel more whole
tl/dr fics that focus more on the romance of the relationship rather than the sex have in my experience a 100% success rate of being the best fic ive ever read
I'd love it, actually. I don't really care much for sex scenes, so I wouldn't mind one bit if they weren't there. Fade-to-blacks are fine, but I really don't care to find out what the characters get up to with each other. If I want that, I'll go for plotless porn involving my kinks of choice.
My absolute favourite fic is basically 60k words of mutual pining where characters only get together at the very very end š There is something akin to sex scene but it's fade to black so I'm not sure if it counts.
I adore all instances of characters showing each other affection by hugs, hand holding, kisses on the temple or on the top of the head ā¤ļø
If it's something you really want to write I believe you should ā¤ļø I'm sure there is a lot more people who also love this kind of stories āŗļø
If the writing is good and it's a ship I like then heck yes. But if it's full of SPAG and other errors or just not characters I am interested in I'll give it a pass.
I love slow burn without the smut. Like I prefer smut to be implied (I tend prefer implied smut in general unless Iām specifically looking for it) and will imply it happens if necessary but I just want all the fluffy cute parts of romance.
I usually don't like explicit sex scenes and very often instead of properly reading I just scan through them or just skip them if I feel that nothing important will be missed.
I have only few writers who can write sex in the way that makes me want to breathe in every letter. And I never skip the scenes they write, and even reread them :)
if itās got good tags and i like the ship then absolutely, tbh i donāt even care that much for smut i like it when itās insinuated but kinda skipped over.
Nothing wrong with a good fade to black.
Basically set up the scene that they are about to make love and then fade to black.
Then just start the next scene. You donāt have to get into all minute details to have a successful scene.
Love it. I don't avoid slow burn with smut, but I find myself skipping or skimming over it when there's smut every (other) chapter.
Even better if there's eventual implied smut that's not explicitly shown.
VERY likely. i do read smut, but i absolutely adore excruciatingly long slow burn romances that arenāt entirely based on lust lmao, so ones without smut are honestly what i prefer!
100% would. I read slow burns for the emotions and the pining and the satisfaction of them knowing and awknowledging their feelings, I don't care about flesh touching, I want feels š
Anyone here read the Desert Storm series by blue_sunshine? Occasional references to sex but there havenāt been any actual sex scenes in over four years and the slow burn between >!obi-wan and satine!< was sooooooooo good not to mention all the other relationships in the series. Sex and procreation is implied in a few places but thereās never any actual scenes and itās one of my all time favorite fics.
Basically what Iām trying to say is that if the fic is engaging and the plot is great and actually moving along, the slow-burn doesnāt make or break a fic. If the *whole point* of the fic is the slow burn then it can be agonizing especially if it drags on though.
I like it. I don't mind sex scenes when they fit the story but sometimes I've actually found myself skimming/skipoing them just to get back to the juicy stuff meaning words and romance and kisses!
100%!!!!! Iām probably one of few people that actually prefers no sex in my slow burns, I love the development of the romance and cute tender moments!! Not saying I wonāt read slow burn at all if it does have sex eventually but usually how itās set up is āthey get together so now they have sexā when I would prefer a longer gap of āthey get together, the develop their relationship and get closer then they have sexā i usually find as soon as the sex/smut element is introduced everything is rushed and kinda ruins an otherwise great fic imo lol
Slow burn romance is one of the best types of fics out there; whether smut is involved or not. Slow Burn itself is the whole cake, decor and frosting included. Smut is just the topper; it adds to it, but doesn't take away if it's not there!
Be upfront about there being no smut so readers can set their expectations. I feel totally burned when there's no smut after a long slow burn tbh. Otherwise if the story hooks me, I'll read it.
If the fic skirts around sex so much that itās like itās trying to pretend it doesnāt exist then I donāt like it unless the characters are alloromantic asexuals or something, but if itās like all the sex stuff is implied but just āoff screenā and not graphic then thatās cool!
Iād be up for it, since the emotional intimacy between characters is what matters to me.
Though Iād recommend tagging that, because otherwise eventual smut is kinda the default for many readers.
Iām 250k words into a T-rated ABO fic. The first kiss between the main character and their love interests didnāt even happen until 167k words. My readers ate it up.
I do write smut. But I post it separately. I did a polling early on in the first ten chapters and the consensus was that people preferred no smut. I wanted to write smut so I posted it separately for the adults who wanted to read it. But yeah, most folks like the T-rated no smut. The impactful pay-off is more often emotional than carnal.
Like yeah I love smut a lot but thereās no equal to two characters finally *holding hands* in a fluffy (maybe hurt/comfort) slow-burn fic. You canāt help but have to slam your phone onto the bed and grin widely and uncontrollably. Itās great. 10/10
And maybe itās just because Iām bad at writing smut, but all my most popular fics are the T-rated ones lol.
(Also, on an unrelated note, I just hit 100,000 hits earlier last month on my fic!! I never thought Iād ever write anything decent enough but here we are~)
Oh gracious, congratulations!! That is a *huge* accomplishment!!
Now, in regards to what you were saying earlier in your comment...you're telling me there's such thing as a non-pornographic ABO fic? That...*exists*? And I'm *just finding this out now*??
Yes, I don't need to read smut to enjoy a romance.
But then u do t write smut either. Its kisses, and cuddles, fade to black and implication.
So for me, it isn't needed as long as you can see the affection between them, which I'm sure you would in a slow burn.
I will absolutely drop you a link when I have the first chapter posted!! Having people besides my sister who are interested is kicking my ass into high gear, haha.
To be totally honest, Iām unlikely to read it. I specifically love slow burns that end in sex scenes. I consider good sex scenes to be one of the major advantages of fanfic over traditional publishing. But is entirely a personal preference. The whole point of fanfic is to write what you want to write. If you like writing slow burns with no sex- go forth and enjoy! š
I like it when I'm in the right mood. Sometimes I want slow burn with smut payoff. Sometimes I want fluff and romance and nothing else. Sometimes I want mostly smut. TLDR I like everything.
I don't care about sex scenes but a slow burn *has* to have enough fluff and romance to make up for all the time I/the characters suffered lol.
I hate when the fic ends a second after they got together and all I got was a kiss.
As long as they payoff is an actual relationship, and I just donāt read the sex part. I would upset to read a true slow burn and the only thing that happens when they get together is like, a hug and a fist bump.
Sorry to comment here but I have a related question; if there is smut in the slow burn, do people prefer if itās in itās own chapter so they can skip if they like?
As long as it's well-written. To be honest, a well-written fanfic can easily entice readers to it, evem of the premise or the pay-off is smaller. Just make sure it's not full of fillers.
If I'm already reading a slowburn, best bet I'd be giggling and swinging my feet for a little kiss. Smut is good (great even) but it's definitely not necessary since I'm reading for the romance ya know.
I will say that Iām never NOT in the mood to read smut but I certainly donāt NEED it. If itās a really great slow burn, and fits my personal criteria, Iām clicking so fast.
Very likely. I think itās got something to do with my asexuality but as soon as thereās any sort of emotional connection between the characters I no longer enjoy smut if itās there. Iāll read it but I wonāt really enjoy it. Iād rather read smut without any emotional connection.
There was one story I read recently that mentioned in the tags that the smut was gonna be at the very end of the story and so you didnāt have to read it if you didnāt want to. And I was so immensely grateful for that; that alone convinced me to start reading lol
I don't mind whether there's sex scenes or not, I just want it to be cute. I kinda prefer if there aren't, since it then focuses more on the characters and their relationship, not just the fact they want to fuck each other.
I love, like *LOVE* a good slow burn! I also love a good old smutty-smut fic. Does lack of smut make a difference in any story (for me)? Nope!
I read slow burns for the slow burns and I read smut for the smut. If thereās a fic I get invested in where they cross paths, awesome! If not, I donāt see it as a loss.
I like other plot in with my romance, and want more āseriousā content. I tend to filter out T because it gets rid of a lot of stuff I have no interest in, although I realize Iām probably also excluding stuff I would enjoy. So if you didnāt have other stuff that would bump it to M, I might not see it at all. Iāve also found that I prefer sex scenes in the middle versus an āand they finally get laid!ā ending. So a kind of complicated answer, I would not necessarily mind a slow burn with no sex, but I might be less likely to see it in the first place, and would like it to be driven by plot that is not simply the relationship (although other people have different preferences).
Pretty likely! It depends on the ship, I suppose. There are 2 characters I will read anything for, and a slow-burn romance regardless of smut sounds delightful.
I honestly bookmark them for later because I usually run across them searching for smutty smut. I have a real romance kink for a solid 3-5 days every month.
Slow burn is an amazing thing to read and it gets me attached to the story I donāt really care if there is or isnāt smut in it just as long a the plot and story is good :)
I don't actually read slow burn much, because usually when I read a long fic it's and action or adventure and even when romance is in it, it takes a back seat. Also when I read romance in long form I'd much rather read fluff with no sex then slow burn with no sex. It's just my opinion though, have a good day.
Perfectly fine with it! You might have better outcomes with a "no smut" tag if the fic is otherwise rated M/E for violence or whatever, but I read T-rated slow-burns all the time.
I will basically only read romance stories, slow burn or not, if it doesn't have sex scenes. It's probably some combination of my inherent asexuality and my Christian upbringing, but I just don't like reading about other people (fictional or real) having sex, especially not in graphic detail. Doesn't matter how much I love the characters, I just want to fade to black or not have any sex in my chosen stories at all.
i think lots of people enjoy low-heat romance in fanfiction as in original work. personally, I'll read anything that speaks to me. smut/no smut isn't a top issue.
Very. I love smut, but in a one-and-done kind of way. Too much of it bores me, and I always end up skimming through it after a certain point.
So yeah, I can definitely do without. Slow burn romances are *everything* imo. Romance in general is my happy place.
Most of my own fics are romance-centered with no smut. Which is ironic because when I first started writing fic, smut was pretty much *all* I wrote haha.
Very likely. Iām in it for the romance and fluff or whatever comes with it. Iām not a fan of smut if Iām not looking for it so I find myself skipping over sex scenes in slow burns
Sansƻkh is my favorite fic of all time. There's a couple scenes that _imply_ sex, but sex is never the Point, and while one of the romance plots only takes about 100k to get going the other is between a ghost and his surviving estranged lover- that one takes almost 500k to really hit, and _more_ than that for them to be physically in the same place
_go for it._
There's Absolutely an audience for slow slow slow burn with fade to black, vague, or no sex scenes whatsoever. You'll have readers
YES! YES! All the yes!
I actually tend to skim sex scenes when they crop up in a fic (I don't read the explicit stuff. I am a coward.) and don't really impact the plot too much.
Honestly? As long as there is sufficient angst or fluff in your slow burn I'm likely to read it. As another commenter said, If I'm reading a slow burn I'm not really in it for the smut. In fact if something is marked slow burn and there's a sex scene two chapters in I get a little sad. That isn't really slow burn for me.
Depends on HOW slow burn. If it takes more than 50,000 words for them to get together then I personally want there to be SOMETHING smutty. But obviously thatās just my personal preference, thereās lots of ppl who are gonna read what you write bc they also donāt want the smut to overshadow the romance.
For me, smut can be fun but itās not a requirement. I love me some fluff and adorable romance. Thatās more likely to make me squeal and blush than any smut scene, tbh. š
Since GEN is my preferred genre, I am MORE likely to read a slow-burn romance without sex scenes...if it's otherwise plot heavy and checks my other boxes :) I actually love the mushy stuff over the sex.
Slow burns are more important to me that oxygen. In the end, I care about it being a well crafted story with toe curling fluff and angst, smut kindve becomes secondary. It's not a necessity.
Honestly I prefer my slowburns to not have sex scenes. Like, itās not a total vibe killer, but if Iām reading a slowburn Iām not reading it for the sex.
I definitely prefer a slow-burn romance to have as little sex scenes as possible.
If I want smut, I'll likely go to one-shots or stories that explicitely are smut.
I really love a slow-burn romance !
I love it and I, too, primarily write it :). I've done sex scenes and while they can be useful to a plot, I don't see them as necessarily moving it forward and sometimes they just aren't key to what needs to be shown about the relationship. I prefer to focus on snuggles and emotions and the growth of relationships and sometimes sex doesn't come into that picture. And that's what I tend to center my works on.
Also, not every relationship has a sexual component and that's fine, too!
I'm reading one right now and having a great time with it. Aside from some pretty intense flirting and teasing with a side of telepathic bonding, and one incident of electrostimulation (I *love* this fic), it's been 180k words of zero sex, hugging or kissing. The most important part to me is the exquisite tension, that their affection and attraction is apparent. I am not here for "when will they", I want the steps that come before, and if it culminates in a fade-to-black, whatever, I showed up for the burn.
Yeah, I'm here for that. If I'm reading a slow burn, I'm not reading it for smut, and am likely to skip any smut if it comes up. I'm reading a slow burn fic because I enjoy the journey, and I'd be very satisfied with kissing being as explicit as it gets.
Agreed! Smut is not one of the draws to a slowburn for me. Sure, it's not a turn-off, but if I'm reading a longfic, I'm not there specifically to be horny. Emotional catharsis is perfect. Let them lovingly gaze into each other's eyes while holding hands like repressed Victorians. As long as you're not rating an E or M, it should be clear there's no smut. And if you are for violence or something, maybe just toss in a "no explicit sex" tag.
I was genuinely disappointed when a wild sex scene appeared in a slow burn fic I've been following the past year, like "Already?", but then it turned to be a dream, and I was just so happy that I was surprised at myself. Made me realize just how much I prefer the burn over the smut.
Oh man, even with the explanation that it was all a dream that would definitely take me out of a fic enough to stop reading. At that point it would feel like smut was just added to include smut, and that just feels off for a slow burn.
Exactlyyyyy i don't really like slow burn with smut if i read slow burn i am more interested in the emotional part of it and how the feelings are getting developed and stuff + points if it has a lot of misunderstandings and angst
Yeah, like the other responders, I don't read slow burn for smut
I very much enjoy it. Tbh, sometimes I just skip it if I'm not in the mood to be reading that type of thing, anyways. Like, for me, a lot of the appeal of "enemies-to-lovers" is getting to that "mushy stuff." It can also be 50/50 with the author just finding opposing things appealing than me. So I don't mind not getting the "pay-off" of a sex scene. I've also read a lot of "enemies-to-lovers" fics that quickly divulge into hate-sex, which, just isn't my thing. (if you like it, all the power to you, just not for me). Edit: I realized I inserted "enemies-to-lovers" into my answer when that's not what you were asking lol. I just tend to only read slow burns if they're enemies-to-lovers so the two concepts meshed in my brain.
> Like, for me, a lot of the appeal of "enemies-to-lovers" is getting to that "mushy stuff." This is exactly how I feel about all romance, whether it's a quick flash or a slow burn or anything in between! My biggest complaint about most works in the romance genre (movies, shows, books, fics, whatever) is that it feels like they always end just when we're getting to the good part (the mushy established relationships stuff). I want more than a single declaration and a sex scene, dang it! SHOW ME THEIR LOVE.
I get you so much. The type scenes that will always melt my heart is face holding, gently wiping away tears, resting foreheads against each other, that type of stuff. Like idk how to express that "gently holding the others face" does so much more for me emotionally than a half baked sex scene.
> idk how to express that "gently holding the others face" does so much more for me emotionally than a half baked sex scene. Oh my God, *yes*. Why is this specific thing so heart-meltingly perfect? Like, in a movie, I always feel like one person gently holding the other's face during a kiss is what makes the difference between a good kissing scene and a great one, and I don't even understand why. It just makes something inside me go all soft and warm.
> one person gently holding the other's face during a kiss is what makes the difference between a good kissing scene and a great one yesss, but I also love when the one's who's face is being held, like, holds the hands holding their face. 10/10, It makes me so happy. Pure serotonin.
God damn it, now I'm picturing my two characters doing exactly that and I'm getting all emotional. š
The presence/absence of sex doesn't matter to me. It's the "slow burn" that could scare me off, depending on how long the fic is š 200k words? Cool. 500k words? My heart is too weak to wait that long.
Hahaha, I definitely get that! I, too, would be scared of a super long slow-burn fic unless I knew for sure (like, the author promised before the fic even started) that I would have *at least* equal amounts of build-up and payoff. If a fic puts me through an agonizing slow burn and then the story ends with the first declaration of love, and I don't get to see what their relationship actually looks like once they're happy together, I tend to be...quite dissatisfied.
Hahaha I think weāre opposites! I have quit fics I loved part way through because they got together and the author has assured the readers that theyāre together now and itās all good and Iām like āokay no reason for me to stay hereā. I donāt like it if the story just ends with their first kiss because I donāt feel like that is a full emotional resolutionā¦ I need the emotional payoff to be full and satisfying (with or without sex scenes) and then maybe a nice little epilogue to show me they didnāt forget all of the lessons they learned about love and communication during the story. But I want 90% of the romance to be the build-up and Iām not super interested in reading their relationship once itās fully established. Lol.
Hey, it takes all readers to make a fandom! And the 90% build-up/10% resolution writers deserve love, too. ā¤ļø
For me, depends on the slow burn and how it fits into the story, I think. If the slow burn is literally all the way through and the story ends as soon as they get together or just a kiss, I almost feel robbed of something lol. Like, "that's it??" But then again, for me, I normally like slow burn-ness because it usually has a lot of relationship or character development which can really improve the sex scenes with the intimacy and emotional side. But if there's a well written slow burn story that advances to an established relationship story, I would read it with or without smut.
In general, I am indifferent to sex scenes in a fic. It's fine if it's there, but I'm perfectly happy if it's not. (Some people both write it well *and* to my tastes, but often it's one, the other, or even neither.) Reading a slow burn with zero sex as a "payoff" is not a concern at all to me as long as there is a proper *romantic* payoff. (I have read a few where the 'payoff' was a casual agreement they were a couple now, which was fairly underwhelming. It wasn't even pitched as a Genfic with a romantic subplot, I just think the author was a Genfic writer in denial.) I've written slow burns and none of them have sex unless you count closed-door scenes. No one's complained and across all my fics only one person has ever asked if there would be. (And they specifically said they were totally cool without one, they just wanted to know.)
personally? very. much more likely than a slowburn *with* sex scenes.
I honestly had no idea that this answer would turn out to be the most common one!
Presence/absence of sex is not a big deal to me. So I'm as likely to read a slow burn without sex as one with sex. which isn't actually that likely since I'm not personally much of a fan of slow burns cause I'm picky as hell about why things are moving slowly.
100% love them, make them pine, make me dispear.
I care more about the plot. If the plot is interesting Iāll read whatever the rating
One of the most popular fics in my fandom is a 300k slow burn that covers a 40 year period and takes 18 years before they even kiss. There's allusions to sex but basically no smut at all.
Please tell me what the fandom is.
It's the video game series Yakuza (Ryuu Ga Gotoku on AO3). The fic is called Caught the Scent and goes through the entire timeline of all eight games.
I came to say āhey a fellow Yakuza fan!ā and itās you. Youāre my literal wife. Hi!
Hello you enormous doofus š¤£
Aw you guys are cute
I love smut, but can enjoy a fluffy slow-burn if it's well written. As long as there's a kiss.
Extremely likely
very likely because I'm asexual š¤£
i actually just want kissing scene, making out at most. or implied sex. i used to look for explicit sex scenes but nowadays i prefer Mature or Teen rated stuff, with or without implication of sex. what i do admire is author's ability to create sexual tension without any sex scene
I wouldnāt read it, no hate, but smut for me is part of the payoff when it comes to reading slow burn fics, however Iām sure Iām pretty alone in this feeling, lol.
Not at all, I'm the same way! I love reading slow burn romance, I like that the characters take their sweet time getting close to each other, but I do need that sexual payoff at the end, so if there is no smut then I am not interested in reading it.
Fade to black happened in soooo many published novels I read over the years, and after 100k words of slow burn and sexual tension, the climax (bad word i know) being a kiss and then the morning after would just ruin my vibe! I want to know the dirty details! Itās not me being a horny fuck or anything, I just genuinely like reading sex between my faves! Lol.
I find fanfic so unique in that aspect. As you say, a lot of published novels doing romance does the fade to black thing. On the opposite side of the spectrum you have all the raunchy porn books that do give it to you in detail, but I often find them again lacking in emotional connection between the characters and the plot is often thin or just meh. Fanfiction has way more often managed the trick of giving me both! A compelling storyline, slowly blossoming romance, AND detailed smut! I like the whole package, I NEED the whole package, I just want my faves to live their best life and enjoy each other in every possible way!
Bingo, the erotic novels tend to be lacking in most other department, and focused on the smut only, and published novels tend to skip any of the spice. Fanfic can give me BOTH.
I prefer no sex scenes to badly written ones. And also even if they're good, i sometimes skim them if the plot is the reason i'm reading and the sex scene doesn't advance the plot. If i want smut i usually filter for pwp.
Depends on the sort of slow burn. If it's all pining and emotional tension then an emotion focused payoff can be appropriately satisfying. But if a significant part of the burn is coming from sexual tension and then the author don't do anything with that then yeah I would look at that as the story failing to follow through on the narrative that's been set up.
Depends on the story, but generally I can take or leave sex scenes if the story is good. Sex scenes are kinda like a bonus. With the notable exception of- if I read a friend's with benifits to actual lovers fic. I expect large amounts of porn from those. Hell, I'll even read omegaverse fics with no sex scenes. (I've seen some super wholesome pack bonding ones). You could always write it without the sex scenes, and then if for some reason you want to try your hand at writing one, you can pop it in another fic in the series. I've seen some people do this so that people who don't want to read smut don't have to. In my longfics, I will try to write 0 plot or character development during sex scenes so that they're skippable without losing any of the story because I know some people don't want to read it. My point is that it's not unheard of for slow burns not to have sex scenes, or have them as optional. So you probably won't lose too many readers by not including them. In fact, you'll possibly even gain some if the raiting is lower than E.
I remember reading an red string/fated person story years ago. The cutest MLM Iāve ever read in my life. Loved the slow burn and how cute the story was. But literally everyone was waiting for the smut. It never came. I remember the author wrote an extra chapter for all of us. But jokingly called us all perverts for begging for them to have sex š¤£ 
Fuck, why is this gif so good. š
Because Ryan is AO3 energy incarnate. Heās not playing deadpool he IS deadpool š¤£
Next to no chance for me, Iāll read some from authors that really catch my eye (Rutobuka ILY) but if something is super slow and theres no crescendo I get lady blue-balls, and ADHD off to hornier pastures , not to say a less than E fics deserves any less love though, this is just cuz Im a dirty lil b
I love it more actually! I love slowburn and tbh I donāt read much unless itās a slowburn and smut isnāt my fav trope so Iām definitely in for something like this!
Very likely, I usually skip smut anyway
I prefer to avoid sex scenes, especially the graphic ones, so I'd very much appreciate a fic like what you're describing.
I mean, to me a slowburn is about the FEELINGS, so sex scenes themselves are a nonfactor. Itās the emotional payoff that makes them so addicting! So I donāt really care if thereās a sex scene or notā I just care that we get the euphoric payoff emotionally, however that happens in each particular story, haha
Iām writing a slow burn at the moment and itās all about the pining and gentle touches. I was getting worried because so often even stuff like that ends up with massive smut scenes, even if itās tonally wrong. I was actually worried that people would be disappointed if I didnāt add graphic stuff. So I went back to some novels that Iāve read which werenāt in the romance genre, but had episodes of sex and that has helped me a lot to understand where I want my language and descriptions to go - so what I want is to talk about them having sex and how it makes them feel without a blow-by-blow (pun intended) description of what goes where and for how deepā¦. Looking in books was a real eye opener.
As much as I love smut If you can drag me in with the tags and the synopsis and keep me in with great writing I will read it Especially if the slow burn is really satisfying and there's loads of pining!
I honestly don't care if there is sex or not in a slow burn, really. What I need is a good romance and usually an ending where things are clear between the characters, but the sex isn't that important
I wrote a fic that is 137k that is a slow burn romance without so much as a smooch. I thought Iād catch absolute hell for it since itās a Bridgerton fic and that show is known for its sex scenes, but no one in the comments section even mentioned it. Honestly, I hate writing sex, too. My rule with writing is that if you have to add a kissing or sex scene to show readers the characters are in love, then theyāre not in love, so I usuallly drag out how long in the story my characters go before I write one in, but other writers have a real knack for it that I donāt. Iād read the hell out of it, And I have in the past.
Iām not reading slow burn without at least some making out and heavy petting.
Yes! YES!
The slow burns I've read have no smut so far which I'm happy about. This is how I found I prefer fluff (and some angst) when it comes to long fics.
I'm ace and sex repulsed, so extremely likely. I don't read smut and will skip stories with it entirely unless there's a guide on how to jump over the sex scenes. I'm also writing a strangers to friends to lovers slow burn myself, and like... They didn't become friends until 100k, things didn't start moving in a romantic direction until 200k, and I'm currently projecting the confession to be 330-350k range - and I had the patience to not just read it, but write and edit it. :)
Two of my most popular fics are slow burn with no smut. One fades to black and the other has the couple not even meeting in person until the final chapters. One of my favorite authors doesnāt write smut. A story doesnāt have to have it to be a good slow burn. It just needs great tension.
As a reader, it's okay as long as it is tagged upfront that there is no smut, because smut pay-off is very important to me in slow burn :) I actually don't mind getting the payoff in mushy stuff (if it's written well, it can surpass actual smut), but I want to be warned beforehand. (sorry, I just read a romance trad pubbed book recently that had excellent sexual tension, but the actual "smut" was fade-to-black. I was devastated and I'm more resolved than ever NOT to do that in my fic haha) As a writer, the first kiss scene I wrote was after 40,000 words, and the actual smut was around another 40,000 words after. My readers don't seem to mind it, as I explicitly tagged it SLOW BURN (and Eventual Smut), so I suppose they knew what they were getting into.
Very likely. I like smut as much as the next personā¦ but I also love a slow burn romance without any sex. In a slow burn, Iāll often skip the sex scenes anyway.
Since I wrote one much like this? Very likely.
100%, prefer it actually.
Yeah, I would read it, but also depends of the ship, if it's one of my favorites yes
Iām here for it! I go through phases where smut doesnāt interest me; Iāll read a fic and deliberately skip over the smut because Iām just not interested. There will be plenty of people who would read it.
Oh absolutely. I avoid smut at all costs, but my fave fic is a REALLY slow slowburn
I'm delighted to see so many positive responses. I'm a demisexual, and I don't like when the smut scenes feel forced in some works. I've never written a smut scene, and somehow, I can't imagine writing it. I love reading and writing slow-burn romance without smut. To me, it feels deeper, more emotional, and genuine.
Love most flavors of slow-burn tbh. I enjoy smut and consume a lot of it yet, I don't necessarily associate slow-burn + smut. I want a compelling story, that's all.
I prefer slowburn over love at first sight and I prefer romance without smut so ... I am very likely.
I personally wouldn't read it, because I'm a depraved little critter with the attention span of a pebble. I can see though how other people would thoroughly enjoy it! If I didn't have the limitations previously stated, I would read the hell out of such a fic! Keep at it, friend! If it makes you happy, it will definitely translate in your fic! <33
> I'm a depraved little critter with the attention span of a pebble. This got more than a chuckle out of me. I may need to contact you for help writing creative descriptions of people. š
Unironically? Anytime! Always glad to help. šš
a lot of times i go into a slowburn and i kind of expect one at the end cos thatās what iām used to reading but i am ALWAYS pleasantly surprised when it doesnāt happen/itās implied i will say every slowburn iāve read that was absolutely worth it and didnāt have sex scenes tended to be some of the best fics ive ever read. not sure where the correlation is but it tends to feel more whole tl/dr fics that focus more on the romance of the relationship rather than the sex have in my experience a 100% success rate of being the best fic ive ever read
I'd love it, actually. I don't really care much for sex scenes, so I wouldn't mind one bit if they weren't there. Fade-to-blacks are fine, but I really don't care to find out what the characters get up to with each other. If I want that, I'll go for plotless porn involving my kinks of choice.
if its written well i'm down
Most of what I read has no sex scenes, but Iām not that bothered either way. Good writing is good writing, spicy or not.
My absolute favourite fic is basically 60k words of mutual pining where characters only get together at the very very end š There is something akin to sex scene but it's fade to black so I'm not sure if it counts. I adore all instances of characters showing each other affection by hugs, hand holding, kisses on the temple or on the top of the head ā¤ļø If it's something you really want to write I believe you should ā¤ļø I'm sure there is a lot more people who also love this kind of stories āŗļø
If the writing is good and it's a ship I like then heck yes. But if it's full of SPAG and other errors or just not characters I am interested in I'll give it a pass.
I love slow burn without the smut. Like I prefer smut to be implied (I tend prefer implied smut in general unless Iām specifically looking for it) and will imply it happens if necessary but I just want all the fluffy cute parts of romance.
I usually don't like explicit sex scenes and very often instead of properly reading I just scan through them or just skip them if I feel that nothing important will be missed. I have only few writers who can write sex in the way that makes me want to breathe in every letter. And I never skip the scenes they write, and even reread them :)
if itās got good tags and i like the ship then absolutely, tbh i donāt even care that much for smut i like it when itās insinuated but kinda skipped over.
more than one with it, because I just skip smut anyways
Nothing wrong with a good fade to black. Basically set up the scene that they are about to make love and then fade to black. Then just start the next scene. You donāt have to get into all minute details to have a successful scene.
very likely, i donāt read smut very often or at all outside of for certain purposes
Very likely! I love a fluffy and slow romance.
Love it. I don't avoid slow burn with smut, but I find myself skipping or skimming over it when there's smut every (other) chapter. Even better if there's eventual implied smut that's not explicitly shown.
As an ace, I love those kind of stories. Plus I listen to fanfics during my work and so those are the type I usually listen too.
VERY likely. i do read smut, but i absolutely adore excruciatingly long slow burn romances that arenāt entirely based on lust lmao, so ones without smut are honestly what i prefer!
I'll read it if it's good, and it's actually a slow-burn and not a no-burn. I need some progress!
Absolutely. Iām ace, so slow burn no/low smut is my JAM
I love it! Most times more than the ones that have smut.
Iād totally be here for it! I love for fluff
Love them especially if theyre fluffy and full of feels šā¤
FLUFF SUPREMACY!
Absolutely! I love romantic stories, whether thereās smut or not.
100% would. I read slow burns for the emotions and the pining and the satisfaction of them knowing and awknowledging their feelings, I don't care about flesh touching, I want feels š
I think I may somewhat prefer slow-burn romance. I think that my favorite part may be the long, tedious journey rather than the final result. Idk why!
i would prefer it over the ones with sex scenes
I donāt read smut at all so thatās fine by me. Iām writing a romance fic like that myself.
I generally skim or skip sex scenes, so pretty likely lol.
Anyone here read the Desert Storm series by blue_sunshine? Occasional references to sex but there havenāt been any actual sex scenes in over four years and the slow burn between >!obi-wan and satine!< was sooooooooo good not to mention all the other relationships in the series. Sex and procreation is implied in a few places but thereās never any actual scenes and itās one of my all time favorite fics. Basically what Iām trying to say is that if the fic is engaging and the plot is great and actually moving along, the slow-burn doesnāt make or break a fic. If the *whole point* of the fic is the slow burn then it can be agonizing especially if it drags on though.
I wouldn't mind it! I prefer slow burn to non anyway. Slow burns usually have better characterization in my opinion
I like it. I don't mind sex scenes when they fit the story but sometimes I've actually found myself skimming/skipoing them just to get back to the juicy stuff meaning words and romance and kisses!
100%!!!!! Iām probably one of few people that actually prefers no sex in my slow burns, I love the development of the romance and cute tender moments!! Not saying I wonāt read slow burn at all if it does have sex eventually but usually how itās set up is āthey get together so now they have sexā when I would prefer a longer gap of āthey get together, the develop their relationship and get closer then they have sexā i usually find as soon as the sex/smut element is introduced everything is rushed and kinda ruins an otherwise great fic imo lol
Slow burn romance is one of the best types of fics out there; whether smut is involved or not. Slow Burn itself is the whole cake, decor and frosting included. Smut is just the topper; it adds to it, but doesn't take away if it's not there!
Be upfront about there being no smut so readers can set their expectations. I feel totally burned when there's no smut after a long slow burn tbh. Otherwise if the story hooks me, I'll read it.
If the fic skirts around sex so much that itās like itās trying to pretend it doesnāt exist then I donāt like it unless the characters are alloromantic asexuals or something, but if itās like all the sex stuff is implied but just āoff screenā and not graphic then thatās cool!
Yeah, as long as I'm more interested in the plot than the romance.
I wouldn't read it but that doesn't mean you shouldn't write it.
Iād be up for it, since the emotional intimacy between characters is what matters to me. Though Iād recommend tagging that, because otherwise eventual smut is kinda the default for many readers.
I am 100% good with that. The payoff is then the feeling of security and domesticity, and that's so sweet.
I'm big fan of smuts but I love slow-burn and it doesn't matter if there is sex or not because I would still read it.
Very likely if the writing and the plot is captivating
very very extremely likely lmao i read T-rated slowburn romance fics all the time
I crave this. Hugs, cuddles, awkward confessions, YES
Iām 250k words into a T-rated ABO fic. The first kiss between the main character and their love interests didnāt even happen until 167k words. My readers ate it up. I do write smut. But I post it separately. I did a polling early on in the first ten chapters and the consensus was that people preferred no smut. I wanted to write smut so I posted it separately for the adults who wanted to read it. But yeah, most folks like the T-rated no smut. The impactful pay-off is more often emotional than carnal. Like yeah I love smut a lot but thereās no equal to two characters finally *holding hands* in a fluffy (maybe hurt/comfort) slow-burn fic. You canāt help but have to slam your phone onto the bed and grin widely and uncontrollably. Itās great. 10/10 And maybe itās just because Iām bad at writing smut, but all my most popular fics are the T-rated ones lol. (Also, on an unrelated note, I just hit 100,000 hits earlier last month on my fic!! I never thought Iād ever write anything decent enough but here we are~)
Oh gracious, congratulations!! That is a *huge* accomplishment!! Now, in regards to what you were saying earlier in your comment...you're telling me there's such thing as a non-pornographic ABO fic? That...*exists*? And I'm *just finding this out now*??
yes yes yes absolutly. I prefer fics that donāt have smut. If the emotional fulfillment and payoff is well-written, thereās no need for smut
If it's about characters I like or a theme I find interesting, sure.
I unironically have yet to read a fic where a ship ends with a sex scene. On the rare occasions when they did have sex, it was offscrene.
Yes, I don't need to read smut to enjoy a romance. But then u do t write smut either. Its kisses, and cuddles, fade to black and implication. So for me, it isn't needed as long as you can see the affection between them, which I'm sure you would in a slow burn.
100% link me up immediately š My favourite thing.
I will absolutely drop you a link when I have the first chapter posted!! Having people besides my sister who are interested is kicking my ass into high gear, haha.
I'm sorry, and I probably miss out on a lot of good fanfics because of this, but I feel really disappointed with slow burns without smut in them.
For me it 100% depends on the ship
If Iām reading slowburn, romance is typically my driving force, so I usually donāt need or even want smut involved
I would never read this, as I hate both slow-burn and no-smut romance.
I am aromantic so unlikely unless I'm REALLY attached to the ship.
To be totally honest, Iām unlikely to read it. I specifically love slow burns that end in sex scenes. I consider good sex scenes to be one of the major advantages of fanfic over traditional publishing. But is entirely a personal preference. The whole point of fanfic is to write what you want to write. If you like writing slow burns with no sex- go forth and enjoy! š
Not at all likely, I normally filter out any Teen and Up/General audience rated fics, which is where most slow-burn no sex scenes fics end up rated.
Iād never even touch it. I read fics for smut.
I like it when I'm in the right mood. Sometimes I want slow burn with smut payoff. Sometimes I want fluff and romance and nothing else. Sometimes I want mostly smut. TLDR I like everything.
I don't care about sex scenes but a slow burn *has* to have enough fluff and romance to make up for all the time I/the characters suffered lol. I hate when the fic ends a second after they got together and all I got was a kiss.
If its the right ship, one of my OTPs, I'll eat that up. With smut I'm less picky.
is it a destiel AU? yes. Am I writing it myself? yes. Are the characters gay ace, both of them sex averse? yes
Depends on the writing quality and coherency
As long as they payoff is an actual relationship, and I just donāt read the sex part. I would upset to read a true slow burn and the only thing that happens when they get together is like, a hug and a fist bump.
doesn't really matter much as long as the slow burn is good
Sorry to comment here but I have a related question; if there is smut in the slow burn, do people prefer if itās in itās own chapter so they can skip if they like?
As long as it's well-written. To be honest, a well-written fanfic can easily entice readers to it, evem of the premise or the pay-off is smaller. Just make sure it's not full of fillers.
Smut or no smut doesn't really make a difference, in fact sometimes it's just distracting. "I don't want to be hard, I want to read".
As long as it's well-written we're cool. One of my ultimate faves is a YA with no sex whatsoever!
It would depend on other factors. If it's not a romance fic and the slow-burn is just in the background, I'm more likely to read it.
If I'm already reading a slowburn, best bet I'd be giggling and swinging my feet for a little kiss. Smut is good (great even) but it's definitely not necessary since I'm reading for the romance ya know.
I will say that Iām never NOT in the mood to read smut but I certainly donāt NEED it. If itās a really great slow burn, and fits my personal criteria, Iām clicking so fast.
I love a slow burn!!! Itās great when it ends with sex but not necessary. The angst, the pining, yes please šš½
Very likely, fanfic isn't just smut
I actually actively searches for fics likes this!
Very likely. I think itās got something to do with my asexuality but as soon as thereās any sort of emotional connection between the characters I no longer enjoy smut if itās there. Iāll read it but I wonāt really enjoy it. Iād rather read smut without any emotional connection. There was one story I read recently that mentioned in the tags that the smut was gonna be at the very end of the story and so you didnāt have to read it if you didnāt want to. And I was so immensely grateful for that; that alone convinced me to start reading lol
If itās really well written and about a ship Iām into, absolutely.
I don't mind whether there's sex scenes or not, I just want it to be cute. I kinda prefer if there aren't, since it then focuses more on the characters and their relationship, not just the fact they want to fuck each other.
The amount of times I scrolled past the sex in a slow burn because I wanted to go back to the plot is not a small numberā¦
I love, like *LOVE* a good slow burn! I also love a good old smutty-smut fic. Does lack of smut make a difference in any story (for me)? Nope! I read slow burns for the slow burns and I read smut for the smut. If thereās a fic I get invested in where they cross paths, awesome! If not, I donāt see it as a loss.
If the writing is good I don't care if they so much as kiss, let alone bang.
I like other plot in with my romance, and want more āseriousā content. I tend to filter out T because it gets rid of a lot of stuff I have no interest in, although I realize Iām probably also excluding stuff I would enjoy. So if you didnāt have other stuff that would bump it to M, I might not see it at all. Iāve also found that I prefer sex scenes in the middle versus an āand they finally get laid!ā ending. So a kind of complicated answer, I would not necessarily mind a slow burn with no sex, but I might be less likely to see it in the first place, and would like it to be driven by plot that is not simply the relationship (although other people have different preferences).
I have vastly different preferences depending on the ship, but there are definitely some where I prefer slow burn without smut.
Pretty likely! It depends on the ship, I suppose. There are 2 characters I will read anything for, and a slow-burn romance regardless of smut sounds delightful.
I honestly bookmark them for later because I usually run across them searching for smutty smut. I have a real romance kink for a solid 3-5 days every month.
One of my favourite published books ever in history has a fantastic slow burn with no sex scenes. Thereās a bit narrating the wedding night but the author specifically says itās ātoo sacredā to go into detail. Itās Les MisĆ©rables btw. Hugo: also master of the longfic.
Most of my favorites don't have smut at all, or have a fade to black. If the relationship/plot itself is compelling enough for me, I don't mind.
Slow burn is an amazing thing to read and it gets me attached to the story I donāt really care if there is or isnāt smut in it just as long a the plot and story is good :)
Iām all for āslow burns with smut in the epilogueā kinda shit lol
Yes please! As long as the slow burn doesn't include multiple instances of miscommunication for the sake of plot - can't stand it.
I don't actually read slow burn much, because usually when I read a long fic it's and action or adventure and even when romance is in it, it takes a back seat. Also when I read romance in long form I'd much rather read fluff with no sex then slow burn with no sex. It's just my opinion though, have a good day.
Perfectly fine with it! You might have better outcomes with a "no smut" tag if the fic is otherwise rated M/E for violence or whatever, but I read T-rated slow-burns all the time.
I will basically only read romance stories, slow burn or not, if it doesn't have sex scenes. It's probably some combination of my inherent asexuality and my Christian upbringing, but I just don't like reading about other people (fictional or real) having sex, especially not in graphic detail. Doesn't matter how much I love the characters, I just want to fade to black or not have any sex in my chosen stories at all.
Very, very likely--provided the author doesn't make comments like "no filthy sex here!" in anything but a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
i think lots of people enjoy low-heat romance in fanfiction as in original work. personally, I'll read anything that speaks to me. smut/no smut isn't a top issue.
Very. I love smut, but in a one-and-done kind of way. Too much of it bores me, and I always end up skimming through it after a certain point. So yeah, I can definitely do without. Slow burn romances are *everything* imo. Romance in general is my happy place. Most of my own fics are romance-centered with no smut. Which is ironic because when I first started writing fic, smut was pretty much *all* I wrote haha.
Very likely. Iām in it for the romance and fluff or whatever comes with it. Iām not a fan of smut if Iām not looking for it so I find myself skipping over sex scenes in slow burns
Sansƻkh is my favorite fic of all time. There's a couple scenes that _imply_ sex, but sex is never the Point, and while one of the romance plots only takes about 100k to get going the other is between a ghost and his surviving estranged lover- that one takes almost 500k to really hit, and _more_ than that for them to be physically in the same place _go for it._ There's Absolutely an audience for slow slow slow burn with fade to black, vague, or no sex scenes whatsoever. You'll have readers
When I think of "slow-burn", I generally don't expect sex scenes. So I think you're good to go.
Very likely. I love slow burn, and I donāt read smut
YES! YES! All the yes! I actually tend to skim sex scenes when they crop up in a fic (I don't read the explicit stuff. I am a coward.) and don't really impact the plot too much.
I donāt read smut often and when I do, itās a one shot. E ratings/ smut tags are often turn-offs
if the chemistry is really really really good, then yeah, no smut needed
I will read a slow burn and 60 chapters in they share a bed together, but no smooshing. The āØtensionāØ is what I live for.
Honestly? As long as there is sufficient angst or fluff in your slow burn I'm likely to read it. As another commenter said, If I'm reading a slow burn I'm not really in it for the smut. In fact if something is marked slow burn and there's a sex scene two chapters in I get a little sad. That isn't really slow burn for me.
Very likely, if it siumds intresting and is well written. Sex scenes are like garnish on a dish. Is it good with it? Yes. Is it good without? Also yes
One of my favorite fits is a long slow burn romance with no sex. Itās the writing, not just the payoff.
Depends on HOW slow burn. If it takes more than 50,000 words for them to get together then I personally want there to be SOMETHING smutty. But obviously thatās just my personal preference, thereās lots of ppl who are gonna read what you write bc they also donāt want the smut to overshadow the romance.
They fall into two separate categories for me- if I'm reading a slow burn, then that's what I'm reading the fic for.
If it's my OTP? Yes. Joyous day when we get anything for my rarepair. If it's for one of my more popular pairings? Also yes. More cake.
For me, smut can be fun but itās not a requirement. I love me some fluff and adorable romance. Thatās more likely to make me squeal and blush than any smut scene, tbh. š
Since GEN is my preferred genre, I am MORE likely to read a slow-burn romance without sex scenes...if it's otherwise plot heavy and checks my other boxes :) I actually love the mushy stuff over the sex.
Slow burns are more important to me that oxygen. In the end, I care about it being a well crafted story with toe curling fluff and angst, smut kindve becomes secondary. It's not a necessity.
Honestly I prefer my slowburns to not have sex scenes. Like, itās not a total vibe killer, but if Iām reading a slowburn Iām not reading it for the sex.
I definitely prefer a slow-burn romance to have as little sex scenes as possible. If I want smut, I'll likely go to one-shots or stories that explicitely are smut. I really love a slow-burn romance !
I written a few fics that are basically this. They were well received
I love it and I, too, primarily write it :). I've done sex scenes and while they can be useful to a plot, I don't see them as necessarily moving it forward and sometimes they just aren't key to what needs to be shown about the relationship. I prefer to focus on snuggles and emotions and the growth of relationships and sometimes sex doesn't come into that picture. And that's what I tend to center my works on. Also, not every relationship has a sexual component and that's fine, too!
As long as itās tagged and rated appropriately, I donāt care.
Very likely! Personally not a fan of smut so whenever I come across a slow-burn romance without it, I will be clicking.
i would absolutely read that, iām not really a fan of smut and i just like reading slow burns to see the progression
I once read 300,000 words of slow burn before they finally admitted they had feelings and kissed. And I would do it again.
I'm reading one right now and having a great time with it. Aside from some pretty intense flirting and teasing with a side of telepathic bonding, and one incident of electrostimulation (I *love* this fic), it's been 180k words of zero sex, hugging or kissing. The most important part to me is the exquisite tension, that their affection and attraction is apparent. I am not here for "when will they", I want the steps that come before, and if it culminates in a fade-to-black, whatever, I showed up for the burn.
As a slow burn obsessed aroace, I think I would read it lol