Still more Dresden-badfic fears

[matrixrefugee]

The things that come to you when you're scrubbing the bathtub and trying to plot the next scene in the novel you're working on:

--Kincaid/Ivy: No. NO. *NO*! She might be a walking repository for all human knowledge, but she's also only six years old with the sensibilities of one, despite being mature beyond her years in the way she carries herself, notwithstanding squeeing a bit over Mister and writing in crayon. Kincaid might be a mercenary and also part-preternatural critter of some sort, but outside of working his assassin shtick, he's not going to do something that could unequivocably land him in prison. Plus, he's supposed to protect her from harm; that means, not doing anything to harm her.

--DuMorne (or Morningway in the TV-verse)/young!Harry, especially abuse: Now, I know Harry has hinted that DuMorne's methods were... painful, but I have a feeling it was aimed at toughening up his subject. I doubt it involved sexual abuse. Jim doesn't seem like the sort who'd *go* there, and even if he did, he'd make it out to be the horrible thing that it is. For that matter, the sexual monsters in the Dresden-verse have been just that: monsters, or at least non-human or not-completely-human beings (ie. White Court vampires) or people with mentalities so twisted that they've essentially traded in their humanity (ie. Victor Sells in "Storm Front"). Coming from the background that I do, I don't understand the glamor of underage pr0n, and I believe anyone who goes for that kink needs a lobotomy pronto.

I have to admit, the sexual content in the Dresden-verse is nicely balanced. Sex is presented as something natural and good that's meant to be shared between a loving, consenting pair of adults, but it's also something that has its own time and place. Anything beyond that is clearly and unequivocably a horror (ie. black magicians using orgies as a power source) or something at least hazardous (ie. the White Court vampires using sex as a means to tap into their prey's life-force). It's very refreshing to find a writer who lays down the line on this very touchy subject, without getting rigid about it, either. Plus... it was a welcome relief after I blew a gasket on my libido while trying to read those damn Merry Gentry bonk-a-thonsnovels of Laurel K. Hamilton's. i'll admit, I got so frazzled from those, I almost ran away from the early Dresden Files books when I saw a critic's endorsement on the covers, comparing them to LKH...