![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On having a bit of a catch-up on LJ after the enforced break, I find that someone on my flist has a good post about dangerous sex misinformation in fanfic. It applies to profic as well. (ETA: I didn't notice that the post was locked. My apologies to the poster for linking to a locked post [embarrassed], and the rest of you for mentioning something you can't see.)
Yes, it's fantasy, but it's still something a responsible author should think about. Of late I've been seeing a bit of the "but condoms just aren't sexy" excuse. To which I say, "try a bit harder". Yes, it's not always appropriate to the story. It may be set in a time period when no condom is realistic, or the characters may be the type not to use condoms even when it's a good idea. But if you think that it's just not sexy to mention condoms, remember that some of us are of an age and cultural background to find unprotected sex very unsexy indeed. Which can be part of the characterisation in itself, something I used in Lord and Master:
( explicit excerpt )
Yes, it's fantasy, but it's still something a responsible author should think about. Of late I've been seeing a bit of the "but condoms just aren't sexy" excuse. To which I say, "try a bit harder". Yes, it's not always appropriate to the story. It may be set in a time period when no condom is realistic, or the characters may be the type not to use condoms even when it's a good idea. But if you think that it's just not sexy to mention condoms, remember that some of us are of an age and cultural background to find unprotected sex very unsexy indeed. Which can be part of the characterisation in itself, something I used in Lord and Master:
( explicit excerpt )