Fandom Discussion: Incest -- Keeping It in the Family

[themostepotente]

Is incest really best?

What spurred this discussion on incest was a reply from my last inquiry about disturbing fics. dphearson mentioned anything James/Harry being certifiably squickable.

So I asked what she had to say about Lucius/Draco. I was not surprised to find out she wasn't quite as bothered by this. And you know what? She's not alone in thinking this way. Many people have issues with light sider incest.

So this just begs the question;

Where do we draw the line in the sand concerning incest in fanfiction?

What makes one pairing more justifiable than the others? When it all comes down to it - it's still incest.

There's Malfoycest, Pottercest, Weasleycest, and Blackcest.

Any why does it seem confined to the males? Lucius abuses Draco but Narcissa abusing Draco is almost inconceivable.

Since purebloods marry within their circle, incest seems inevitable.

Sirius is related to Narcissa Malfoy and Arthur Weasley.

And since Sirius is Harry's godfather, isn't he considered family?

Does incest have to be blood related to be considered taboo?

So many questions regarding this topic. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

--P

Comments

[artimusdin.livejournal.com]

For me incest mainly has to do blood-relation and/or if they were raised in the position of father/son/relatives-of-some-sort. Sibling incest I have less trouble with, but parent/child incest just.. no. Can't read it.

However, if Harry decided he wants to shag Sirius, I would have little or no qualms with this because 1) there's no blood relation and 2) honestly, I don't really see any sort of father/son relationship between the two of them. They just don't know each other that well. Does Harry look up to him and trust him? Yes. Is he a father-figure? Not really. He doesn't have the chance to be one. Sirius would have some serious angst and thinking to go through first before a relationship could start, but I can see it. If anything, Remus could possibly be considered a father figure, but should he and Harry hook up, it wouldn't squick me because, again, he's not around for Harry to start to truly see him as a father-figure. *shrugs*

Pottercest? Don't like it. Especially if it's necrophilia. But even if James/Lily were alive, I still wouldn't like it.

So far as Malfoycest goes, I don't like it either. I just can't see it happening. Lucius/Narcissa crucio-ing his son? Sure. Raping him? No. However, considering the pureblooded society as a whole, I can see Draco marrying a cousin to preserve the "quality" of their blood and the only mild problem I would have with that if it were a first cousin he was hooking up with.

Despite all that, I find myself strangely attracted to twincest when it's twins/someone. I just... like twins, especially when they're sandwiching someone. *shivers*

[majinbakahentai.livejournal.com]

There's a bit of irony about first cousins, on a genetic level, unless there's some specific gentic problem (like hemophilia) there is less likelyhood of problems cropping up in a first cousin marriage than there is in a second cousin one because some gentic problems skip generations.