Andalusia

Very interesting thread : fanfictions & incest interactions. I leads to questions : what does it revealed?

I wonder *why* people feel the need to write about incest. Is there any author here to explain?

And I wonder which shows (or movie, or RPS...) are most affected? You mentionned Lost, arrested developpemnt... Others?

I'm really curious about that...

Crossbow

That V.C Andrews' books are way more popular than they deserve to be.

shadowgrl

Although I toyed briefly with Max/Isabel on Roswell (two fics which could be considered incest though they were mostly POV's from Isabel about Max) I never truly got into it until HP.

And even then I dislike incest but like twincest. To me, the relationship between Fred and George is an evolution of their already existing twin bond. The way JKR portrays them they are literally never apart. They really do embody the one person in two bodies cliche. The flow into twincest simply moved from there for me. I do know the actors who portray the twins are aware of the fans who like twincest and they themselves are against it. There was even a pic of them holding a sign that said twincest is wrong or something like that. But I think that might have been sort of a warning to those who write actor RPS and not so much for HP twincest writers.

However I cannot stand other Weasley incest ships. Especially anything with Ginny in it. I have read some and have never felt the desire to read any more. Its not that they were badly written, it simply didn't appeal to me.

So I think perhaps a lot of people are like me and seperate out incest from twincest. As an interesting side note: there is another set of twins in HP, Padma and Parvati Patel. Oddly enough there are not many fics about them. I did read one where in the wizarding world twins were expected to have a relationship with the other. It was a curse to have twins because of that. The twins could not escape even if they didn't really want to be together. But that is the only one I have read.

Compared to all the F/G fics out there Padma/Parvati only has like five. So what is the difference there?

Crossbow: you mentioned your sister is a geneticist? That is very cool. I hate science but loved genetics. I thought of being a genetic counselor for years but couldn't figure out how to get into the field. Google searches pulled up nothing. Annoying.

Nikki K

Currently I'm thinking of writing Logan/Trina for Veronica Mars. However, I'm not thinking of it as a romantic thing. The thought was --- it'll be more of a character study concerning unhealthy coping mechanisms/habits etc. So you can see, I feel the need to write about those things more than about a potential "romance".

Silversun

I feel the need to write about Simon/River because there is burning subtext. Some people have chemistry and some people don't, and this pair of siblings have it in bucketloads. That's it; I don't really make a distinction between this couple and any other (potential) couple that have chemistry.

Catalinay

shadowgrl - Maybe the difference between Fred/George and Padma/Parvati is that there are more differences between the girls? They're in different houses, aren't they? So maybe it's that the idea that they really are the same person in two bodies isn't there with them as much as it is with the boys, leading to fewer twincest fics about them. Just a theory.

Cold-Blooded Piece of Toast

I also think it's because there's less femslash. For whatever reason, some people have an aversion to writing it. Slash is hot but femslash isn't. *shrugs* I abhore Fred/George twincest but adore Parvati/Padma. I've written one. I've also written another where it was an underlying theme (the actual in-the-flesh pairing was Padma/Lavender). I do think it's also because we know less of the girls. Padma is a mystery and Parvati seems rather insipid. The Weasley twins are more fleshed out characters and are very well liked. It's natural that thoughts on their relationship would lead to a possible sexual one. I just personally find a Padma/Parvati relationship much more attractive. Perhaps because I really love darker type of twincest fics and can't really "see" that as much with Fred/George. Not that I'm saying there are no dark Fred/George stories out there, I've read a few.

I write incest. I've written Padma/Parvati, Ron/Ginny and Draco/Lucius. I love all three pairings, especially when they're deliciously dysfunctional. I mean, most incest is dysfunctional but sometimes people can capture a certain mood that just makes you read a story over and over again. I find incest more interesting to write than the regular pairings. Not because it's more shocking but because I find it more compelling.

Why do I really write it? *shrugs* I've had experience with incest. I don't find it hot. I don't pant over it. I just find it something that touches me, that makes me think. I study dynamics in incest to see if there is a pattern. The power play can be amazing, the cruelty, the obsession, the need.

I wrote an incest piece where Draco took to wanking every opportunity he got, until he was raw and bleeding. That made me pause. I wanted to show the impact it made on him without resorting to long touchy feely discussions and long bits of introspective thinking.

Personally, I can't stand being near children. They remind me too much of that younger self. That stupid self. I can recapture that particular moment in time with a wide variety of reactions with a few clicks of the mouse. There is no pain, only fascination. It's like watching a play from very far away and laughing at the unfunny bits.

I didn't mean to get so personal in this post. I've not posted here in quite some time (should get back into the habit) and this is just one of the subjects close to my heart.

I'm sure there's plenty of incest readers who can read it with a less messed up way of thinking.

Gabrielle

shadowgrl

Actually I think you may be right Cold-Blooded. I adore slash but I do not like femslash that much. I wrote a few pieces and read some as well but it just doesn't appeal to me. The only real femslash ship I got into was Maria/Tess. Damn I just loved that episode of Roswell...Wipe Out rocked!

It seems to me most people, if they ship slash, ship m/m slash so the Fred/George twincest pairing would be an almost logical progression for any male slash fan of HP to make.

Also I think renaming it from incest to twincest sort of takes away some of the "bad" connotation. I know I get a kick out of saying twincest. Its much more amusing than incest.

Catalinay

I must be weird, because I've always kind of preferred femslash.

Cold-Blooded Piece of Toast

I think it's that way for a lot of slash writers. I personally adore femslash. I write it and get into it more than any of the others. I also love slash and het. I'm into everything. I was actually more into Tess/Liz/Michael, my first threesome pairing. *g*

I also think twincest sounds less, well, negative than incest. Incest is a word with a lot of powerful and negative emotions attached to it. Twincest is easier to swallow.
'
Well, I'm off to watch Star Wars 3. *is afraid of the lines*

Cress

I've been tempted to write some GOB/Michael slash (they're brothers from Arrested Development), but haven't quite worked up the nerve to do it yet. They've just got so much chemistry together, and GOB has been written as really clingy and craving Michael's approval. (One time he had sex with a woman, then cried and talked about Michael, "He's my brother and he's never even said 'good job.' I just want him to love me, you know?") He also dedicated a music CD to Michael and sang to him "Everything I Do, I Do It For You."

Plus, the Bluth family in general is "deliciously dysfunctional," which makes incest not seem as out there as it normally would be. Some comments that GOB has made on the show indicate that he's bi, or at least has had threesomes involving men. It's easy to imagine that one of these days he might go too far with Michael. Michael might be shocked and horrified, but I think I could also believe that somewhere deep down, Michael might secretly want to reciprocate.

Nikki K

Same for me.

HappySquared

Because it creates more complications, more problems and mysteries. Readers will be confused on whether to choose the ethical side or the heart side. Although, it is important for the reader to be open-minded as well if he's about to read something about incest, otherwise, he already will take side before knowing the story.

Crossbow

Here's a link for you.

* * *

I don't see any difference between twincest and incest. Maybe because I know so many twins. In my graduating class in high school, there were three sets of identical twins, three sets of fraternal twins, and three sets of triplets. (That's out of only 500 people.) And there are three sets of identical twins working on the same floor as me (all in different departments). AND the women on either side of me at work both have sets of identical twins. (And they are also both breast cancer survivors, which is another story, but it does increase the weirdness factor.)

So believe me when I say that twins are not remotely like one person in two bodies, and even if they were, that would make incest between them even freakier.

Cress

Definitely! Having sex with yourself? That reminds me of a Simpsons episode where there were multiple Homers and he started making out with himself!