Is it just me that find it just nasty the amount of Harold/Ward fan fiction? Like people are not only shipping incest but also an abuse victim and his abuser and thats the gorssest thing I've ever had to read with my own two eyes.
I actually didn’t know there was that much Harold/Ward fanfiction out there. But in regards to incest, sexual assault, and other explicit themes - I may not personally like it, or want to read it, but I feel as a writer it is paramount to defend people’s ability to explore fiction however they want.
There is this opinion on Tumblr that if you write something problematic, you are not a good person. Rape, incest, pedophilia, underage sex, etc. etc. And I’m here to tell you that’s not the case. In fact, published authors write really horrible, terrible things all the time. But it’s fanfiction writers who are harassed and bullied for it. Why is that?
Take George R. R. Martin, for example. Sibling incest, rape, a grown man having sex with a 15 year old girl. There are lots of legitimate criticisms for how he portrays sexual assault (especially in the TV show), but no one is claiming that Martin is a rapist because he writes these things. Or that he gets off on incest because it’s in his books. Or that he’s actually a pedophile. Because that’s ridiculous. We all know that’s ridiculous.
Stephen King. Wonderful, amazing human being. Writes a lot of creepy shit, including 10-12 year old kids having an orgy in order to gain unnatural abilities (I’m not kidding, look up the book It). Is Stephen King a sexual pervert? Of course not. And no one claims him to be, either.
So why is it that famous authors can write these types of themes without fear of being shunned by fandoms, when fanfiction authors are harassed, bullied, and shamed constantly? I’ll tell you why.
1) Because Martin and King are famous authors and 2) they’re men. Whereas fanfiction authors are 1) amateur, unknown writers who write for free and 2) are largely comprised of girls and women.
Some authors write taboo themes because they genuinely enjoy it. Some write it to explore their own trauma or experience. It’s not for me or you to say, because we are not the morality police, anon.
You also said something else interesting. It was the grossest thing you had read with your own two eyes. So you browsed these stories. Of your own violition. Knowing you hate reading incest. And yet you did it anyway. Who is to blame for you being exposed to this content? The author, who clearly labeled their work as Ward/Harold? Or you, for clicking that button?
I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you are absolutely responsible for policing your own fanfiction experience. You can hate any type of story you want, that’s within your right. But it’s also the right of authors to feel safe in exploring fiction however they wish. Otherwise, you get into really dangerous authoritarian territory, such as thought policing and censoring art.
Trust me. You would much rather live in a society where fanfiction authors can ship incest, than in a society where literature is censored and writers are punished/shunned for not keeping within the boundaries of what is and is not acceptable to write.
