I agree. An author can ignore it entirely, and in certain types of stories, I usually won't notice or care, because it's fine to be unrealistic in romance (and it's fine to be unrealistic in porn.) But if you *bring up* condom use and are specifically choosing to put the characters in a situation where they're aware of the risks and the reasons for using condoms, then the characters had better have a really, really good reason for not using them.
Like, in SGA, if John and Rodney are like "Condoms?" "Well, I haven't had sex in a year, and I've been tested five times since then, and I'm clean-- you?" "Yes, me too," -- then, okay, fine, whatever. I wouldn't mind that so much, even in a "first time" story.
But in a lot of stories it seems like the subtext is "Condoms?" "No, condoms aren't romantic." or "Should we use condoms?" "Why, don't you trust me?" and it's just like ARGH. Because seriously, in terms of "what's more romantic," when the choice is between (1) using condoms or (2) using emotional manipulation to convince your partner to practice risky sex acts, I definitely choose "using condoms!"
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I agree. An author can ignore it entirely, and in certain types of stories, I usually won't notice or care, because it's fine to be unrealistic in romance (and it's fine to be unrealistic in porn.) But if you *bring up* condom use and are specifically choosing to put the characters in a situation where they're aware of the risks and the reasons for using condoms, then the characters had better have a really, really good reason for not using them.
Like, in SGA, if John and Rodney are like "Condoms?" "Well, I haven't had sex in a year, and I've been tested five times since then, and I'm clean-- you?" "Yes, me too," -- then, okay, fine, whatever. I wouldn't mind that so much, even in a "first time" story.
But in a lot of stories it seems like the subtext is "Condoms?" "No, condoms aren't romantic." or "Should we use condoms?" "Why, don't you trust me?" and it's just like ARGH. Because seriously, in terms of "what's more romantic," when the choice is between (1) using condoms or (2) using emotional manipulation to convince your partner to practice risky sex acts, I definitely choose "using condoms!"