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

[ponderosa121.livejournal.com]

I'm not much into parent/child, but I'm very much a sibcester. The main type of dynamic I like is very much the older sibling/younger sibling, where the younger grows up looking up/revering the older brother who protects them.

I do like chan, but I don't like much parent/child because it usually falls into the betraying the trust of the child, and noncon perpetrated by a "nice" character bothers me enough that I steer clear. Lucius/Draco is probably one of two parent/child pairings I like (the other being Denethor/Faramir) and in both cases the parent is already shown as being somewhat abusive/uncaring to their child. I think mother/child is a bit more taboo because there's more of a built in thing of being closer because of giving birth to and the perception that a mother must/will always protect their child.

One interesting thing that I've come across in other discussions on incest is that people who don't like brotherslash often have close relationships to their own siblings which mirror those that people like to slash. So while not everyone has siblings, most everyone has parents, and it could be that subconsciously comparing their own relationship with their mother/father makes the incest fic unappealing. I've also discovered that some people who like twincest, don't like other forms of incest because it's written much more like selfslash or two bodies, one person.

Interesting anyway. *waves brotherslash banner*