Referencing something inappropriate in a work

[dn8393]

I was hoping that I could get some clarification on something that I was thinking about before. I was hoping to create/imagine some characters and based some off of characters in more mature works. One of the characters is supposed to be a reference to a character called Despair, a character who in her own series is seen as a large naked woman who is almost always sad. Thing is, the character I actually made that’s based on her is actually a mean bunny (there’s a reason) and I was wondering if simply referencing sexual/mature is itself wrong if the actual thing itself isn’t sinful.
Oh, and one other thing: I wanted to read this book called Good Omens and in the story is angels and demons, but they don’t act fully evil or good. I dunno what I’m really asking with this. I actually read the book before and know that it doesn’t paint God as a bad guy or a jerk, so I guess I’m asking about if it’s inappropriate to read that stuff somehow when it deals with those kinds of characters or to accept that it’s just a story.

 

[RPRPsych]

I was hoping that I could get some clarification on something that I was thinking about before. I was hoping to create/imagine some characters and based some off of characters in more mature works. One of the characters is supposed to be a reference to a character called Despair, a character who in her own series is seen as a large naked woman who is almost always sad. Thing is, the character I actually made that’s based on her is actually a mean bunny (there’s a reason) and I was wondering if simply referencing sexual/mature is itself wrong if the actual thing itself isn’t sinful.

Nothing wrong with an occasional mature theme as long as:

1. You aren’t glorying in it or providing unnecessary detail. (Example: unnecessary gore in a battle scene, a prurient focus on nudity or sexual acts when a simple implication that A and B had “relations” is enough.)
2. The theme serves a clear purpose within the story - moral, allegorical, or just plot - and is not there “for the sake of it”, to be “edgy”, or to drum up sales.

Oh, and one other thing: I wanted to read this book called Good Omens and in the story is angels and demons, but they don’t act fully evil or good. I dunno what I’m really asking with this. I actually read the book before and know that it doesn’t paint God as a bad guy or a jerk, so I guess I’m asking about if it’s inappropriate to read that stuff somehow when it deals with those kinds of characters or to accept that it’s just a story.

If it’s a work of fiction and identifies itself as such, why not?

If it claims to be non-fiction, drop it.