I DELETED & REPOSTED THIS TO FIX A SPACING ISSUE... SORRY!
With all due respect, we DON'T know Danny DIDN'T use a condom with Rachel. Especially since, like in many fics, it WASN'T specifically mentioned either way whether they used condoms, or anything else, or not.
Danny COULD have used a condom with Rachel & it COULD have failed/had some unseen imperfection in it, resulting in her pregnancy/alleged pregnancy (it may still turn out that Rachel was just saying she was pregnant to get Danny out of Hawaii so he wouldn't be able to help when the rest of Five-0 finally imploded & Steve & Kono were taken in to HPD for their alleged crimes, or that the baby is Stan's & not Danny's).
You CAN use birth control--even the methods that work 99.99% of the time--& still become pregnant; many people have. Even the types with the highest percentages of protection (or whatever you call it) sometimes fail, resulting in pregnancy.
As for the whole "condoms or no condoms in fics" discussion... When I've written fics, both in H50 fandom & my previous fandom of The West Wing, my OTP in each fandom has always been in an Established Relationship in the course of my fics, so I haven't specifically mentioned condoms, as such. It's up to the reader to decide if they're still using them or not--but I ALWAYS intend for the characters to be behaving safely when they're together in sexual situations. I know, "BAD Writer" (sorry).
The only time I feel it MIGHT be necessary for an OTP in an Established Relationship to use condoms, though (& I'm sorry if this opens ANOTHER can of worms), is IF there's a chance that 1 or both partners believes/knows that they might have been exposed to something sexually-transmissible (like HIV, say through blood at a crime scene... which happened to a character on CSI: NY, oddly enough when Peter Lenkov was Executive Producer for that show) &/or if the couple is waiting for test results to confirm whether or not 1 or both tests Positive for whatever they might have been exposed to. That's pretty much the way they've always been used in "Established Relationship" fics in whatever fandom I'm in--the couple believes/knows 1 or both partners has/have been exposed to an STD/HIV &/or is awaiting test results to confirm their exposure/non-exposure.
I agree, though, that in a "first time" fic, there should be either use of condoms--at least for penetrative sex--OR there's a sexual history/last HIV test results discussion/other discussion which negates the usage of condoms (or it's clear that it took place "offscreen", as it were, if no condoms are mentioned as being used). However, I haven't yet written a "first time" fic, myself.
I also agree that Steve & Danny don't seem like the type of men who would be sexually irresponsible, as far as taking "safe sex" precautions, if/when they felt they were necessary in that area. I mean, Danny's whole "thing", at least when Steve's being reckless in the field & getting him & the rest of the team shot, etc., is about staying alive for Grace. If he's so about staying alive for Grace, I can't see him being reckless sexually, even with Steve; at least not until & unless he knows his partner well enough to know there's NO risk involved or it's SO minimal as to be infinitesimal & WAY BEYOND HIGHLY UNLIKELY he'll be exposed to anything sexually. (I hope that makes sense)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-09-02 05:10 am (UTC)With all due respect, we DON'T know Danny DIDN'T use a condom with Rachel. Especially since, like in many fics, it WASN'T specifically mentioned either way whether they used condoms, or anything else, or not.
Danny COULD have used a condom with Rachel & it COULD have failed/had some unseen imperfection in it, resulting in her pregnancy/alleged pregnancy (it may still turn out that Rachel was just saying she was pregnant to get Danny out of Hawaii so he wouldn't be able to help when the rest of Five-0 finally imploded & Steve & Kono were taken in to HPD for their alleged crimes, or that the baby is Stan's & not Danny's).
You CAN use birth control--even the methods that work 99.99% of the time--& still become pregnant; many people have. Even the types with the highest percentages of protection (or whatever you call it) sometimes fail, resulting in pregnancy.
As for the whole "condoms or no condoms in fics" discussion... When I've written fics, both in H50 fandom & my previous fandom of The West Wing, my OTP in each fandom has always been in an Established Relationship in the course of my fics, so I haven't specifically mentioned condoms, as such. It's up to the reader to decide if they're still using them or not--but I ALWAYS intend for the characters to be behaving safely when they're together in sexual situations. I know, "BAD Writer" (sorry).
The only time I feel it MIGHT be necessary for an OTP in an Established Relationship to use condoms, though (& I'm sorry if this opens ANOTHER can of worms), is IF there's a chance that 1 or both partners believes/knows that they might have been exposed to something sexually-transmissible (like HIV, say through blood at a crime scene... which happened to a character on CSI: NY, oddly enough when Peter Lenkov was Executive Producer for that show) &/or if the couple is waiting for test results to confirm whether or not 1 or both tests Positive for whatever they might have been exposed to. That's pretty much the way they've always been used in "Established Relationship" fics in whatever fandom I'm in--the couple believes/knows 1 or both partners has/have been exposed to an STD/HIV &/or is awaiting test results to confirm their exposure/non-exposure.
I agree, though, that in a "first time" fic, there should be either use of condoms--at least for penetrative sex--OR there's a sexual history/last HIV test results discussion/other discussion which negates the usage of condoms (or it's clear that it took place "offscreen", as it were, if no condoms are mentioned as being used). However, I haven't yet written a "first time" fic, myself.
I also agree that Steve & Danny don't seem like the type of men who would be sexually irresponsible, as far as taking "safe sex" precautions, if/when they felt they were necessary in that area. I mean, Danny's whole "thing", at least when Steve's being reckless in the field & getting him & the rest of the team shot, etc., is about staying alive for Grace. If he's so about staying alive for Grace, I can't see him being reckless sexually, even with Steve; at least not until & unless he knows his partner well enough to know there's NO risk involved or it's SO minimal as to be infinitesimal & WAY BEYOND HIGHLY UNLIKELY he'll be exposed to anything sexually. (I hope that makes sense)