I'm a little bit of both.  When I'm comforting people generally, I feel good in the way that you describe, but I don't necessarily want to have sex with them.  Same goes for watching crying shows; it doesn't usually make me masturbate, it just makes me fantasize about being their comforter.  Even when I'm comforting my boyfriend, I don't automatically get turned on by the idea of him crying.  That being said, I am incredibly turned on by the idea of him crying during sex, and I think that if my comforting him ever led to sex, or if sex ever led to him crying (provided it wasn't because he didn't like the sex, of course), that would be my best day ever.  So I suppose, in short, it's sometimes sexual, but most often it exists without any sexual overtones at all.

Like inmyarmsagain said, I've never been through that, but it's probably my ultimate fantasy.  I've had a couple teary kisses, though.  Once, he had been feeling down and I pulled him into my arms and whispered something meaningful to him.  We hugged for several minutes, and then he kissed me and buried his face in my shoulder again before pulling away.  His eyes looked pink when he pulled away, but that was the only evidence he had been crying.  Another time, we had been having a deeply emotional conversation, and he had confided some things to me.  It was probably the only time he's ever definitely cried in front of me; he was tearing up and I could hear the thickness in his voice and see this expression of total vulnerability on his face.  In the end, I pulled him close to me and kissed him gently, but we were in a car and he was leaving so, if it could have ever progressed beyond that point, I'll never know.

There was also this strange experience I had once which was very intimate and sweet.  He had asked me to set an alarm for him, but when it went off, he told me to ignore it in a soft voice and instead put both arms around me and held onto me tightly for a really long time, never once opening his eyes.  He was in just his boxers, and I was in a t-shirt and underpants.  I reciprocated by holding him tightly, as well. After a really long time, he rolled on top of me and kissed me, then just sat up and stared shyly at me.  I scooted toward him and put my arms around him, and when I started running my fingers through is hair, he laid his cheek down on my shoulder.  We stayed like that for several minutes before he finally said he should probably get out of bed.  He never told me what had been weighing on him that morning, and I never asked, but there was this distinct atmosphere of intimacy and comfort that's hard to explain.

Here's a fic I wrote today for you guys.  The premise might not be 100% realistic, as it's based on a dream I had last night about a member of my favorite band, but I thought you guys would like it nonetheless.

She wandered through the darkening fairgrounds, trying to remember where she’d parked at the beginning of the music festival.  The pavilions that had once been filled with bands and merchandise were now empty, the folding tables left out and awaiting the beginning of the next day’s celebration.  She scanned the posters, which the occasional yellow-shirted maintenance workers were pulling down, but before she could figure out which one she had seen first upon entering the festival, her eyes caught on some movement in one of the pavilions.  One dark figure still stood amidst the tables, fiddling around with a few remaining boxes.  She remembered that the place he stood had once been the booth for her favorite band.  Curiosity getting the best of her, she moved closer. 

It didn’t take long for her to recognize the guitarist’s silhouette.  Her heart fluttered; he had been her favorite musician since she had fallen in love with the band in middle school, and now she stood only a few yards away from him.  Sure, he had been signing things earlier at the festival, but when you’re just another face elbowing through a crowd of raving fans, you don’t get a very personalized meet and greet experience.  She called out his name, hoping none of the fairground staff would hear her and tote her away.  They didn’t seem to notice, but he did.  He raised his head and turned to stare curiously at her. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to harass you or anything,” she said, moving forward until she stood across the table from him.  “I just didn’t feel like I really got the chance to properly thank you earlier for everything you’ve done.  You’re my absolute favorite musician, and you’re such an inspiration to me.  Your lyrics are just…ama

I definitely like comforting people online or over the phone.  Sometimes I go to blahtherapy.com to be a listener for someone, and my boyfriend's cried to me over the phone a few times, which made me feel honored.  At the same time, however, (particularly with the crying on the phone bit), it's a little torturous to know the person is upset and I can't be there with them to hold them.  I guess it just depends on the situation

Even when I was a kid, if I cried I'd wonder if the other kids watching me were enjoying it the way I do. I always keep this in mind.

This is why I'm afraid to tell the boyfriend about my fetish.  Even though there's a chance it could make him more comfortable opening up around me since he would know I'm so open to it, I'm afraid the idea of me enjoying his tears would freak him out and make him never open up to me like that again.  

As far as myself when I'm crying, it depends.  If my boyfriend's there and I'm not crying because we're fighting, I want him to hold me or otherwise physically comfort me, talk to me about it, etc.  Anyone else on the planet, I want them to leave me alone lol.