Faye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
said_scarlett) wrote2007-07-08 06:53 pm
said_scarlett) wrote2007-07-08 06:53 pm
On Writing Touchy Themes and Incest - Fey's Views!
Hokay, so!
I'm always amazed at the people who assume if you like something in fiction/write something/whatever, you must be into it in real life. I saw a lot of nasty, nasty shit in the Harry Potter fandom over it. People freaking out because people who were writing cross-gen or non-con or kids in sexual relationship were, gasp, mothers! And clearly anyone who writes about kids having sex, kids in incestuous relationships, kids doing drugs, drinking, whatever totally endorse it in real life.
*facepalms*
It's ridiculous. I've written a lot about underage characters doing stupid things. Does this mean I think it's a good idea in real life? Hell no! But if I'm writing a stupid fourteen to seventeen year old, then I'm writing what they think and feel. And some of them totally think sex, drugs and rock and roll are awesome.
Now, recently, I've begun writing something I've never written before. A male/female incest pairing. It's for a fandom that's so damn tiny that I have no fear of anyone being all 'ZOMG YOU SICK FREAK!' over it - I'm friends with the whole fandom. The whole fandom is comprised of me and four other people on my Flist. But it has got me thinking. Because when I was writing in HP, I did write a lot of questionable stuff and I did post it publicly on communities, and occasionally I did get a comment or email along the lines of 'OMG YOU SICK FREAK!'.
Anyway! I've found, through talking with people who write far more incest than I ever have, that the backlash against m/f incest is much stronger than it is against m/m or f/f incest. Which, on one level I completely understand. Even I tend to be a little sketchy over it. And tend to disclaim my own male/female sibling ship with 'well, it's pretty much canon' which is lame, I know. Because it's canon that one half is in love with the other, but she doesn't know he's her brother and they never do anything.
Obviously, one of the big issues with m/f incest is that offspring from a union like that has a high chance of being severely f-ed up. That's something that's pretty much ingrained in us. Incest babies are bad, mmkay? Okay, yes, in real life. In fiction? Well, it's fiction. There are no incest babies unless the author wants. Fiction is not real life. This is repeated over and over again. But even a good number of those of us who spout it when it comes to rape, torture, cross-gen, whatever tend to get twitchy around male/female incest.
I don't see anything wrong with this - since I'm the same way - but I just find it interesting. We all have things that even in fiction, we don't like and aren't into. That doesn't mean we begrudge those that are. It doesn't mean we think people who write it are sick freaks. It just means we don't like it. And that's okay!
I've never understood the idea that if I don't like something, it's somehow a personal insult to those who do like it. If I don't like pepperoni pizza, is it somehow an insult to all those who do like it? Hells no. I just don't like pepperoni pizza. If I don't like Orlando Bloom, is it a personal insult to all those who do? No. And yet when it comes to fandom, saying 'I don't like X' in some circles is apparently the same as saying 'EVERYONE WHO LIKES X IS A DUMB WHORE!!!!'. I don't get it. I never have. I never will.
Anyway, this is long and rambling. And I'm going to go write some fic now. Maybe I'll even write some incest.
I'm always amazed at the people who assume if you like something in fiction/write something/whatever, you must be into it in real life. I saw a lot of nasty, nasty shit in the Harry Potter fandom over it. People freaking out because people who were writing cross-gen or non-con or kids in sexual relationship were, gasp, mothers! And clearly anyone who writes about kids having sex, kids in incestuous relationships, kids doing drugs, drinking, whatever totally endorse it in real life.
*facepalms*
It's ridiculous. I've written a lot about underage characters doing stupid things. Does this mean I think it's a good idea in real life? Hell no! But if I'm writing a stupid fourteen to seventeen year old, then I'm writing what they think and feel. And some of them totally think sex, drugs and rock and roll are awesome.
Now, recently, I've begun writing something I've never written before. A male/female incest pairing. It's for a fandom that's so damn tiny that I have no fear of anyone being all 'ZOMG YOU SICK FREAK!' over it - I'm friends with the whole fandom. The whole fandom is comprised of me and four other people on my Flist. But it has got me thinking. Because when I was writing in HP, I did write a lot of questionable stuff and I did post it publicly on communities, and occasionally I did get a comment or email along the lines of 'OMG YOU SICK FREAK!'.
Anyway! I've found, through talking with people who write far more incest than I ever have, that the backlash against m/f incest is much stronger than it is against m/m or f/f incest. Which, on one level I completely understand. Even I tend to be a little sketchy over it. And tend to disclaim my own male/female sibling ship with 'well, it's pretty much canon' which is lame, I know. Because it's canon that one half is in love with the other, but she doesn't know he's her brother and they never do anything.
Obviously, one of the big issues with m/f incest is that offspring from a union like that has a high chance of being severely f-ed up. That's something that's pretty much ingrained in us. Incest babies are bad, mmkay? Okay, yes, in real life. In fiction? Well, it's fiction. There are no incest babies unless the author wants. Fiction is not real life. This is repeated over and over again. But even a good number of those of us who spout it when it comes to rape, torture, cross-gen, whatever tend to get twitchy around male/female incest.
I don't see anything wrong with this - since I'm the same way - but I just find it interesting. We all have things that even in fiction, we don't like and aren't into. That doesn't mean we begrudge those that are. It doesn't mean we think people who write it are sick freaks. It just means we don't like it. And that's okay!
I've never understood the idea that if I don't like something, it's somehow a personal insult to those who do like it. If I don't like pepperoni pizza, is it somehow an insult to all those who do like it? Hells no. I just don't like pepperoni pizza. If I don't like Orlando Bloom, is it a personal insult to all those who do? No. And yet when it comes to fandom, saying 'I don't like X' in some circles is apparently the same as saying 'EVERYONE WHO LIKES X IS A DUMB WHORE!!!!'. I don't get it. I never have. I never will.
Anyway, this is long and rambling. And I'm going to go write some fic now. Maybe I'll even write some incest.