promise you'll say if I'm ever in your way
I haven't had a good rant in quite a while, so here's hoping I'm not too out of practice. This one's on incest, which I've been intending to write for a while but haven't had time to sit down and type.
Disclaimer the First: I have no problem with the use of incest in fanwork. I have no moral objection to the idea; it doesn't 'squick' me; I don't think that people who write about incest are in some way 'wrong'. One of my favourite pairings involves a middle-aged man and a fourteen-year-old boy under his supervision *points to icon*, so I'm in no position to lecture other people on the morality of fandom!
Disclaimer the Second: Any sweeping generalisations I might make are not intended as attacks on particular fics/ficcers, they are simply general conclusions drawn from my own experiences.
Disclaimer the Third: I'm basing most of this on the phenomenon of Schubaltzcest in the Zoids fandom, because that's the incest pairing I'm most familiar with. I know other people aren't familiar with the series; sorry 'bout that.
I've always found it strange how some fandoms seem extremely accepting of incest, while in others it's considered an aberration. In the Harry Potter fandom, for example, Weasleycest (especially twincest) has quite a solid fanbase. And, of course, the Zoids fandom has Schubaltzcest. (I'm sure I could come up with more examples, given time and thought, but I'm lazy.)
Now, I'm the first to admit that the Schubaltz brothers make a very aesthetically pleasing pairing. Karl/Thomas is, in fact, teh hawtness. But, unfortunately, that's where it seems to stop for a lot of fanauthors. And that's what severely turns me off the idea.
Let me draw a comparison here with the use of rape in fanfiction. Rape is an incredibly powerful device in a story, if treated properly. But all too often rape is simply used as a means of generating instant angst, resulting in tears and screaming and whatnot, before the victim finds comfort and sexual emotional healing in the arms of another character. Too many fanauthors don't treat rape with the seriousness it deserves; they want the angst and the trauma, but they don't want to have to deal with the longterm emotional and psychological effects, that can linger for years afterwards. This sort of unrealistic rape fiction is something I truly dislike, not only because it shows such flippancy towards a serious issue, but because it makes for an uninteresting story.
In a similar vein, incest is often written purely because it looks pretty, or as a rebellion against fandom norms, and the realities of the issue are completely ignored.
In reality, incest is not a pretty thing. It generally stems from serious emotional problems - I challenge anyone to tell me that they think it's healthy to be sexually attracted to a member of your immediate family. In many cases, incest takes place between generations (i.e. mother/son, uncle/niece etc.), and, depending on the age of the younger individual, can be considered a serious abuse of power by the older person. Even when incest occurs between two people who don't have such a disparity of status in their relationship (e.g. brother/sister), it is still considered a psychologically unhealthy relationship.
So am I saying that people shouldn't write about incest? Am I taking the moral high ground here, and claiming that such unhealthy relationships are not a fit topic for fanauthors to tackle? The answer, in case you can't guess, is no, I'm not. I find the idea of condemning people who write about an issue because it's 'immoral' or 'wrong' quite hilarious; real literature doesn't worry about that, so why should we fanauthors, who are only doing it for fun? My problem is that people don't tackle the topic, not in a realistic way.
Returning to the example of Schubaltzcest, all too often the scenario runs along the lines of this: Thomas is in love with Fiona, but she rejects him in favour of Van. He gets depressed (and possibly drunk) and eventually finds comfort in the arms of his older brother. Obviously the scenario and details vary, but this is the sort of thing that tends to be written. Usually there's some minor angsting along the lines of "Oh, but this is my brother! How can I be attracted to him? It's so wrong...but it feels so right...", but this is resolved fairly swiftly and it's straight on to the butt-sex tender declarations of love. Excuse me if I'm not completely convinced here.
I love Thomas and Karl's relationship. I love the contrast between their personalities, I love Thomas' desire to prove himself to his brother, I love their on-screen interactions. I find it incredibly cute whenever Thomas forgets himself and exclaims "But Karl!" like a little brother instead of a subordinate soldier. I would absolutely love to see more fanauthors exploring their sibling relationship as it is in canon (I'll do it myself, given a half-decent shot of inspiration). And, if someone were to take their canon relationship and twist it into an unnatural fixation and attraction, leading to incest, I'd find it an interesting read, at least.
What I don't want is for someone to try and persuade me that this sort of relationship is perfectly normal and healthy. Because hey, guess what? It isn't. I don't want ten seconds of indecision that's brushed aside in favour of boysmut. I don't want friends and family who are completely accepting of this relationship. I want emotional turmoil; I want secrecy and fear of discovery; I want repercussions when they are found out. If you're going to write about incest, then for goodness' sake write about incest, not about a romance where you can only tell the two characters are related because it says so in canon. If you're just going to write a regular romance, then why not write about two characters who aren't related?
I've never written an incest fic, and I don't intend to. I'm not saying that I never would, but I consider the prospect quite a daunting one, and I'd have to learn a great deal more about the causes, consequences and general issues of incest before I'd attempt writing about it. Again, I'm not saying nobody should write about incest, and I'm not saying fanauthors should read ten textbooks on the subject before they put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be). All I'm saying is that people should put a bit of thought into what they're writing about, and not treat incestuous relationships as if they were nothing unusual.
After all, where's the fun in writing about controversial issues if you don't include the controversy?
Disclaimer the First: I have no problem with the use of incest in fanwork. I have no moral objection to the idea; it doesn't 'squick' me; I don't think that people who write about incest are in some way 'wrong'. One of my favourite pairings involves a middle-aged man and a fourteen-year-old boy under his supervision *points to icon*, so I'm in no position to lecture other people on the morality of fandom!
Disclaimer the Second: Any sweeping generalisations I might make are not intended as attacks on particular fics/ficcers, they are simply general conclusions drawn from my own experiences.
Disclaimer the Third: I'm basing most of this on the phenomenon of Schubaltzcest in the Zoids fandom, because that's the incest pairing I'm most familiar with. I know other people aren't familiar with the series; sorry 'bout that.
I've always found it strange how some fandoms seem extremely accepting of incest, while in others it's considered an aberration. In the Harry Potter fandom, for example, Weasleycest (especially twincest) has quite a solid fanbase. And, of course, the Zoids fandom has Schubaltzcest. (I'm sure I could come up with more examples, given time and thought, but I'm lazy.)
Now, I'm the first to admit that the Schubaltz brothers make a very aesthetically pleasing pairing. Karl/Thomas is, in fact, teh hawtness. But, unfortunately, that's where it seems to stop for a lot of fanauthors. And that's what severely turns me off the idea.
Let me draw a comparison here with the use of rape in fanfiction. Rape is an incredibly powerful device in a story, if treated properly. But all too often rape is simply used as a means of generating instant angst, resulting in tears and screaming and whatnot, before the victim finds comfort and sexual emotional healing in the arms of another character. Too many fanauthors don't treat rape with the seriousness it deserves; they want the angst and the trauma, but they don't want to have to deal with the longterm emotional and psychological effects, that can linger for years afterwards. This sort of unrealistic rape fiction is something I truly dislike, not only because it shows such flippancy towards a serious issue, but because it makes for an uninteresting story.
In a similar vein, incest is often written purely because it looks pretty, or as a rebellion against fandom norms, and the realities of the issue are completely ignored.
In reality, incest is not a pretty thing. It generally stems from serious emotional problems - I challenge anyone to tell me that they think it's healthy to be sexually attracted to a member of your immediate family. In many cases, incest takes place between generations (i.e. mother/son, uncle/niece etc.), and, depending on the age of the younger individual, can be considered a serious abuse of power by the older person. Even when incest occurs between two people who don't have such a disparity of status in their relationship (e.g. brother/sister), it is still considered a psychologically unhealthy relationship.
So am I saying that people shouldn't write about incest? Am I taking the moral high ground here, and claiming that such unhealthy relationships are not a fit topic for fanauthors to tackle? The answer, in case you can't guess, is no, I'm not. I find the idea of condemning people who write about an issue because it's 'immoral' or 'wrong' quite hilarious; real literature doesn't worry about that, so why should we fanauthors, who are only doing it for fun? My problem is that people don't tackle the topic, not in a realistic way.
Returning to the example of Schubaltzcest, all too often the scenario runs along the lines of this: Thomas is in love with Fiona, but she rejects him in favour of Van. He gets depressed (and possibly drunk) and eventually finds comfort in the arms of his older brother. Obviously the scenario and details vary, but this is the sort of thing that tends to be written. Usually there's some minor angsting along the lines of "Oh, but this is my brother! How can I be attracted to him? It's so wrong...but it feels so right...", but this is resolved fairly swiftly and it's straight on to the butt-sex tender declarations of love. Excuse me if I'm not completely convinced here.
I love Thomas and Karl's relationship. I love the contrast between their personalities, I love Thomas' desire to prove himself to his brother, I love their on-screen interactions. I find it incredibly cute whenever Thomas forgets himself and exclaims "But Karl!" like a little brother instead of a subordinate soldier. I would absolutely love to see more fanauthors exploring their sibling relationship as it is in canon (I'll do it myself, given a half-decent shot of inspiration). And, if someone were to take their canon relationship and twist it into an unnatural fixation and attraction, leading to incest, I'd find it an interesting read, at least.
What I don't want is for someone to try and persuade me that this sort of relationship is perfectly normal and healthy. Because hey, guess what? It isn't. I don't want ten seconds of indecision that's brushed aside in favour of boysmut. I don't want friends and family who are completely accepting of this relationship. I want emotional turmoil; I want secrecy and fear of discovery; I want repercussions when they are found out. If you're going to write about incest, then for goodness' sake write about incest, not about a romance where you can only tell the two characters are related because it says so in canon. If you're just going to write a regular romance, then why not write about two characters who aren't related?
I've never written an incest fic, and I don't intend to. I'm not saying that I never would, but I consider the prospect quite a daunting one, and I'd have to learn a great deal more about the causes, consequences and general issues of incest before I'd attempt writing about it. Again, I'm not saying nobody should write about incest, and I'm not saying fanauthors should read ten textbooks on the subject before they put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be). All I'm saying is that people should put a bit of thought into what they're writing about, and not treat incestuous relationships as if they were nothing unusual.
After all, where's the fun in writing about controversial issues if you don't include the controversy?