So, if you categorize fanfic by how central a role sex plays, you have:

1. PWP: The story exists just for teh sex. Doesn't mean that you can't have funny, meaningful, in-character PWP, and I adore it when the writers can do that.

2. The romance: in which having the characters getting it on is ultimately the goal, but there's more of a build-up to it.

3. Plotty fic with some sex/UST thrown in.

4. Gen, be it character vignette or plot without sex.

For 1. and 2., sex/romance aspect is of the paramount importance, so of course the emphasis lies there accordingly. I've read and enjoyed a lot of these, although if you read heavily in one pairing, one story starts looking like another after a while, unless the writer has a distinctive prose style or a knack at spot-on dialog, etc.

What bugs me is when I'm enjoying story type 3, and sex is just perfunctorily thrown in every couple of chapters to "spice things up" or because the readers expect it or whatever. I love me some long, intricate, well-characterized plotty stuff, and unless the sex is advancing the plot or playing a vital role in the characterization of the person engaging in it, it throws me entirely out of the story, no matter how hot it may be. Now, you can have your story be equal part romance and plot, where the plot moves the relationship and the relationship moves the plot, but it's tricky to do this well, I think. Shalott's first Sheppard/McKay fic did this very well. Sounds like her second story wasn't entirely successful in that front.

Hmmm. Not sure what the point of writing this all out was. Ah well. Oh! I want to thank whoever linked to the Fourth Vine a bit earlier, because whoever she is, she is hysterical. She posted on fanfic peeves last night, and I had a good chuckle over reading that.

What bugs me is when I'm enjoying story type 3, and sex is just perfunctorily thrown in every couple of chapters to "spice things up" or because the readers expect it or whatever.

Yes!

I'm also running into requests for sex for Nessuno where I don't think sex is justified. Oodles of UST, especially unrecognized UST on the part of the young man who's grown up learning to be a priest, but the confines of the plot don't lend to the happy hot groping that several readers are asking for. I guess I'm going to have to go Sex Nazi on them. "No sex for you!"

Oh! I want to thank whoever linked to the Fourth Vine a bit earlier, because whoever she is, she is hyterical. She posted on fanfic peeves last night, and I had a good chuckle over reading that.

From that, this is my favorite part:

Mine, mine, mine. Did I miss the memo on this one? Because on my planet, you don't claim people like territory, and fucking someone doesn't give you any rights beyond, you know, maybe a blood test. Or child support. But I've read so much FF that equates fucking and possession that any minute now I expect Daniel to fuck Jack while saying, "I'm a peaceful explorer" and then Jack to return the favor with, "I claim this ass in the name of the Tauri of Earth." Until someone forwards me a copy of the "penetration is a marriage ceremony among our people" amendment to the social contract, I'm going to shout my gospel from the rooftops: Marrying someone gives you rights. Moving in with someone gives you rights. And cosigning on major debt sure as fuck gives you rights. But just fucking someone doesn't mean you own his ass (except, of course, in prison), and if you'd like to think it does, take this moment to reflect on all the people who, by your definition, have the right to get territorial over you.

Heh. Because it's far too common in BTVS/Angel fic for the vamps to get all claim-tastic on humans just b/c they fucked them, and it drives me apeshit. (I think it's a particular weakness in Spike/Xander fic.)

My feeling on shalott's story is that one of fandom's best writers posted a 45,000 word story in the pairing I'm into. I'm shutting up and being grateful.

This is a manifestation of my BOFQ-ness, right?

My favorite part was the one in which she ranted about the poor-ass website designs. Dark font over pale background (ideally white)--is that so difficult? What drives me particularly batshit is the writers who post their fic to LJ, have their "comment" page (where the story gets read) designed in the same color scheme as their main LJ and Friend page, which happens to be one of those unreadable "pale-gray font in dark-gray background" (GRRR!) or "yellow font in orange background" schemes. I mean, it's their LJ and all, but have some consideration for the poor readers. Ow.

And here I was worried about being too vanilla because I opted for black text on white background with a black header bar in my LJ. There's a reason newspapers kept the monochromatic text/page relationship when they went to color printing, yo.

I note in passing that Opera lets you shift your browser to your default color/font scheme with a shift-G (and toggles back with another) which makes dubious web pages much more manageable....

Dark font over pale background (ideally white)--is that so difficult?

Yo, Buffy fandom, I'm looking at YOU. Red on black is not your friend.

It's not as bad as thin orange text over electric blue, which I have seen before. I hope it's an indication that the website owner sees only in black and white, like a cat.

Which might explain the quality of the writing, now that I think on it.

although if you read heavily in one pairing, one story starts looking like another after a while

Wordy ibn Word.

I think the way the story gets presented affects the amount of sex in it, too -- if it was written in full and only then "published", then the flow is different than if it's written in bits that get posted to lj as they're ready.