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

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

Incest isn't a squick for me, but then, it's not a kink either. As a result, I have trouble reading incest PWPs and finding them interesting or exciting.

Speaking only for myself here, there needs to be something a bit more to the story than just the kink--maybe some psychological creepiness or wizarding culture weirdness for instance--in order to get me hooked in. As a result, I'd probably find a generic Narcissa/Draco story more interesting than a George/Fred story, since the latter pairing seems (and I fully admit, I haven't sampled them all! :-) to foster more pure kinkfic than the former. I have read numerous Draco/Lucius stories that were intriguing, and nifty Harry/Sirius ones, and Arthur/One-Of-His-Kids stories, and so forth, but generally, there was always something else about them that kept me reading, it wasn't the kinky transgressiveness of the incest. How near or far the familial relationship is doesn't play a role in whether I like or dislike the story.

There is also the problem that I need to be (at least somewhat) interested in the characters involved in the story, and since I find it difficult to work up much enthusiasm for George or Fred (or Percy or Ginny or Charlie or Parvati, etc. for instance) so I'd have to overcome *that* hurdle first. :-)