Oh I know that it's totally a societial (I don't think that's a real word but whatever... *snerks) feeling and that as far as nature is concerned you're ready when you're sexually mature and that in the past a fifteen year old might have been in the process of being married or in some cases married already and that there are still some cultures out there where this is still the case. And that the age difference in some of those marriages is a lot bigger in some cases than 20 years.
I guess it's not so much myself that I'm worried about it's the reader I'm trying to strike a balance for. I've seen some real debates in terms of Highschool!Au's and especially in fandoms like Harry Potter where the characters are under 18 (though I believe age of consent is actually 16 in the UK but I could be wrong) so I want to be careful not to squick them off but at the same time these are the feelings that Sean is feeling and his actions because of them are itrigal to the whole series so it's important to strike the right balance for every involved.
And no...Sean's not going to be acting on those thoughts anytime soon...no matter how much Orlando might want him to... *snerks*
I didn't think you did, seriously, or you wouldn't be writing this. I was more assuming you were concerned about audience reaction and wanted to explain what I think and why. :)
But there are folks around who go all angry/hysterical at the thought of anyone overage feeling the least bit of sexual attraction toward anyone underage, which IMO is just ridiculous. What's particularly stupid (and yes, there's a lot of this in HP fandom) is when the adult POV character has absolutely No Sexual Feelings Whatsoever toward the underage character, but while attending his/her eighteenth birthday party -- ching! -- suddenly realize that OMG this person is HOT!!! Umm, right. [sigh]
One has to wonder whether the adult's feelings would flick on and off like a lightswitch if they were in a car with the underage person, driving back and forth across the border of two countries which had different ages of consent. :P
OMG I hate that. The kid doesn't look any different at 17 5 minutes before midnight than they did at 18 5 minutes after midnight. *shakes head* Yeah there's some really good Potter fic out there but you have to dig through a lot of crap to find it...part of the reason I only delve into it once a year or so when the new book/movie comes out.
I guess it's not so much myself that I'm worried about it's the reader I'm trying to strike a balance for. I've seen some real debates in terms of Highschool!Au's and especially in fandoms like Harry Potter where the characters are under 18 (though I believe age of consent is actually 16 in the UK but I could be wrong) so I want to be careful not to squick them off but at the same time these are the feelings that Sean is feeling and his actions because of them are itrigal to the whole series so it's important to strike the right balance for every involved.
And no...Sean's not going to be acting on those thoughts anytime soon...no matter how much Orlando might want him to... *snerks*
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But there are folks around who go all angry/hysterical at the thought of anyone overage feeling the least bit of sexual attraction toward anyone underage, which IMO is just ridiculous. What's particularly stupid (and yes, there's a lot of this in HP fandom) is when the adult POV character has absolutely No Sexual Feelings Whatsoever toward the underage character, but while attending his/her eighteenth birthday party -- ching! -- suddenly realize that OMG this person is HOT!!! Umm, right. [sigh]
One has to wonder whether the adult's feelings would flick on and off like a lightswitch if they were in a car with the underage person, driving back and forth across the border of two countries which had different ages of consent. :P
Angie
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