Bitch, please.

[marguerite_26]

First, I am not speaking of any individual when I say this. This is something that has been bothering me for a while because I get told this a lot. Frankly, it is driving me insane.

Harry/Scorpius does not equal chan.

Cross Gen does not equal chan.

Why do people think this? Is ALL Snarry chan? I'm sure there are plenty of Snarry authors that would be unimpressed to hear that. We can accept that in every pairing there are some 'common squicks' that are more prevalent than others, like Harry/Lucius and non-con. But they do not have to go together.

What if people went around saying HP fandom is full of nothing but teens having sex in the Room of Requirement? Ok, granted, some people do say it. Doesn't that make you want to scream? I mean really, wouldn't it drive you nuts if someone reduced your fandom to a bunch of teenage fumblings? Like the entire fandom was restricted to Hogwarts days? The boys could never grow up and get careers?

I've written 8 Cross-gen fics including 6 Harry/Scorpius. NONE are chan. Chan is not implied by ANY pairing. Chan is about the ages of the characters.

Draco/Scorpius implies incest. It just DOES.

Harry/Scorpius DOES NOT IMPLY chan. Please stop assuming that. If you don't want to read the pairing, don't read it. I really don't care. Maybe Harry/Draco is all that you ever want to read. Maybe you don't like age disparity. Maybe the epilogue makes you want to spork you eye out. Totally understandable. But please don't dismiss the pairing because some fics in the ship are chan. There are chan Harry/Scorpius fics. There are also wonderful of fics with Scorpius over 17. If anyone wants non-chan harry/scorpius recs, you just let me know.

*jumps off soapbox*

Comments

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Got the FYI and saw your post as well. No worries.

As I said to marguerite in a separate exchange, I think people need to be on the ball here. I am not saying don't write it, because I think there are many interesting things to be said about power dynamics, sex with minors, etc. BUT, I also think that the mods and the writer need to understand, VERY clearly, that this is crossing a line. It may be a legitimate line to cross, but it should come with warnings. It's NOT the same as two underage kids having sex, or the same as two consenting adults having sex. Underlying any story with a minor and an adult having sex raises the question: Is this child abuse? I am NOT saying don't write it. But I am saying to the author, you need to think about this because it is THE first question you should ask yourself when you chose the age for these characters. That doesn't mean don't write it, but it means answer the question to yourself. And let others know :).

[romaine24.livejournal.com]

Can I quote this? I'm in the middle of writing up a cross-gen proposal for Azkatraz and I think this sums up the situation perfectly. I wouldn't use it all in the proposal but in the panel discussion itself. I especially like it is THE first question you should ask yourself when you choose the age for these characters. That doesn't mean don't write it, but it means answer the question to yourself. And let others know :)

*er, I meant threw not through in my 1st comment, sigh*

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Sure!

One of the most compelling things I've ever read was a Sirius/Lucius/Regulus fic that was chan AND incest as a plotpoint. It was beautifully written and I would rec this to anyone. However, it was clear that the author thought long and hard about this concept before putting fingers to keyboard. What I find disturbing about the chan debate is that some writers use the age discrepancy thing as a titillation factor. Which is dead wrong,wrong,wrong, IMO. Write about it, I have no problem with that. But the writer needs to be responsible about what they are writing. I liken it to fourteen year olds writing their rape fantasy and then don't understand when they get flamed. Yes, please write about rape, but don't do it as a way of getting off on the page and not acknowledge that probably 30% of your readers HAVE been raped and for them it wasn't a fantasy. Same thing goes for people writing chan. And, frankly, I think this hair-splitting over ages is pointless. Any piece where you have a minor and an adult, what you are writing about is power dynamics, and the potential abuse of power by an adult character. I think it only common courtesy to acknowledge that there are plenty of people out there who have been abused by fathers, uncles, priests, and siblings. And to them it was NOT fiction. So, yeah, warnings up the wazoo when you cross that line where fiction and fact could possibly be at war with each other.

[romaine24.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really enjoyed reading your opinion on this. I know others might have differing ones, but you definitely clarified what I was thinking.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Do you meanMost Loved (http://community.livejournal.com/todieavirgin/4065.html)? If so, I couldn't agree more.

btw - This intelligent discussion? ::brain orgasm::

Sorry, not much time on the weekends to respond properly. :D

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do. It is a stunning fic. This is one of those situations where I wouldn't have read it if I didn't know the author. Which is sad, but incest and chan are not something I normally read because, hey, these are delicate subjects and it takes someone with a deft authorial hand to use it responsibly. Also, I think it difficult to write Lucius. He tends to come across as one-dimensionally evil. Like Voldemort. She wrote him as three-dimensionally evil. She's one of my favorite authors, so I was fairly certain she'd have her act together. She did and it's one of the most well-written fics out there.