sarea | WWW: Let's Get It On ... Or Not

Jade and I originally hail from the X-Files fandom, where NC-17 fiction is all par for the course. Since dabbling in the Harry Potter fandom, we have noticed (to our immense surprise and dismay) that some feel strongly opposed to this type of story -- not just "smut" pieces, but sex in any form in stories. When it came to the X-Files, NC-17 material could frequently be found in all types of stories -- however, we recognize that this is likely because the characters were adults, and adults formed the show's intended audience. How do you feel about NC-17 fan fiction in the HPverse? Are you for it? Against it? Why?

I think it'll probably come as no surprise to anyone that I'm For Smut. <g> And when I use the term "smut," I use it as a general and even affectionate term for sex. I don't use it in a derogatory sense, though some people do. This is probably because I don't equate smut with pornography, which I sense that the people who are opposed to it, do. I'm not For Pornography, but I am For Erotica, and yes, there is a difference. And if a person can't tell the difference between the two, then I feel *very* sorry for them. <g>

I can understand why people might shy away from NC-17 Harry Potter fanfic -- especially initially. Heck, I shied away from NC-17 fanfic, period, for a long time. However, it's no secret that sex between consulting adults is a natural, beautiful thing. And sex between teenagers is utterly normal (if generally inadvisable). So reading a story that has the characters participate in what I see as pretty normal behavior doesn't seem strange to me. We all draw our lines. Most people I know who have written NC-17 material age the characters so we're not seeing two 12-year-olds going at it -- this would not be desirable or "normal." Many times, the characters are married or in a serious relationship. So I'm not sure why people are so anti-sex. There's nothing ugly or wrong about much of the NC-17 fiction I've seen -- it's all fairly tame and boring, actually ("They love each other and they're having sex?! No!!"). The problem that I see is that dissenters tend to lump *every type* of NC-17 fiction together.

Because most HP stories are romances, it doesn't strike me as odd that the protagonists would show their love in a logical, natural manner. It *would* be odd to see Harry and Hermione married and never have sex. It *would* be odd to have a hormonally driven Draco and Ginny in their teens never even consider taking that next step into sexual intimacy.

But that's not to say that sex is a requirement. It's to say that it's a natural form of human expression, and I don't understand why it's gotten the bad rap it's gotten in this fandom. Is it because Harry Potter is primarily marketed toward kids? Then I say that there are a vast number of adult Harry Potter fans and the stories that we write are for other adults like ourselves. Why should we be limited in the expression of our creativity?

Now, whether or not an author wishes to be explicit about any sex that their characters engage in is, of course, up to him/her. I do just as well with R-rated stories as I do NC-17, though in this fandom you are likely to receive a far broader readership with lower-rated material. However, as a writer, this begs the question of the *quality* of the readership I'm getting for a particular story. It's easy to want to please the masses, but I'd rather have a few intelligent, thoughtful readers than a horde of readers who don't understand subtlety nor story development. I just find it ironic that in the X-Files fandom, NC-17 was the rating that would garner more readership, while in the HP fandom it's the exact opposite. My world has quite turned on its head. <g> However, I have found that people who enjoy my NC-17 stories are invariably more well-spoken than those who do not. That may be a v. unfair generalization, but it's just something I've noticed. By no means do I think that there aren't exceptions.

Maybe this wouldn't bother me so much if an NC-17 rating in this fandom didn't automatically make people think that the story has no redeeming value. IMHO they couldn't be more wrong. It simply means that there is NC-17 material within the story -- and that may stem from a v. natural conclusion to a romantic pairing within the story. I think to NC-17 detractors, it wouldn't matter if only two pages out of, say, 200, consisted of sex and all the rest of it was plot, action, and adventure. I fear that the story would be written off as simply "porn" because it has an NC-17 rating ... doing it a grave injustice. So do writers deliberately stop themselves from "going there" because losing readers when they see that rating isn't worth it? In other fandoms I've known, this wouldn't happen -- in other fandoms, it's understood that NC-17 stories (particularly long ones) are the best, because it's almost certain to be well-rounded. It's been really jarring to have to change my thinking about this -- or rather, to have to consider *not* putting in NC-17 material that seems natural to me, because of the anti-smut sentiment that seems to abound.

So do I have a totally warped view of this? Am I wrong? Where are the epic stories that have NC-17 material? Why aren't they as popular here as they are elsewhere? And if you know of any, where can I find them? <g>

Random side note: Today for the first time, I ran across a Ginny/Goyle fic. My eyes! MY EYES!!