I don't get it. Nor do I understand Wincest - the Winchester brothers hooking up in Supernatural fan fiction. The way I look at it, though, is that someone else enjoys it. Someone out there will not enjoy what I like and find it sick or twisted.
Instead of trying to figure it out - I never will, obviously - I've just taken the policy that I'll leave it alone. Like I said, there are people who don't get my interest in anti-heroes or extreme horror or robots in fiction, but I like it. I know what I like and what I don't.
The beauty in diversity is that if you're looking for stories that you like without step families, they are out there. If someone else is looking for step family romance, they are out there.
And by the way: I understand. Looking for Supernatural fan fiction, it feels like it's drowning in Wincest. I've had it occur in other genres I've been looking for. The things that left me left frustrated were remembering a couple things.
1. I might want to read a particular story that I'm not a target audience for, and I have two options. Overlook my usual pet peeves because something intrigues me about the story. Leave it alone if it doesn't seem like it has anything else to offer me, anything that sets it apart or intrigues me.
2. I can't control certain things. Like what authors want to write, or what's selling for them.
3. You may not be in the majority, at least right now. You can't control this either. Fads come and go in writing, in teen fiction, in romance, etc. The step family may just be a fad, and it may blow over soon.
4. And this was the most important for me just being able to let this kind of thing go. Even if it isn't, if enough people want it, authors will write step family romance. I'm not a fan of calling for a curbing of something, if only because it would suck if it happened to me. And again, I totally understand your frustration, but the thing that helped me was imagining if someone else wanted to stop something I was interested in. Or in other words, if you had the power to stop step family romance, you'd be denying a whole bunch of people something they like.
What if someone wanted to stop all publication of the types of romance you were interested in? It would suck if it happened, right? I know I'd be frustrated and angry. This helped me be more at peace with a flooding of something I wasn't interested in. Clearly others were, and I wouldn't want to deny them knowing how I'd feel about it.
None of this addresses why people are into step family romances. I don't know. I don't understand it, either. But I've found acceptance of things I don't understand brings /me/ more peace than anything else. Because sometimes something will frustrate you - and venting in that case is fine - but everyone has their own lines and their own likes.
I feel like you might just be in a tidal wave of a romance fad. I hope you're able to ride it out and find some good non-step family romances in the meantime!
Omg the Wincest. Ha! You pretty much have the same outlook as Dean does about it. Its none of my business and I'm not going to make you change it stance.
I guess I just don't get how its become a thing.
Its not for me and granted someone else is going to love it which is why its just a big craze right now and I certainly don't want to take away someone elses need for the stepcest and far be it for me to ruin someone's favorite past time. I'm certainly not trying to take it away from them.
I'm not even going to go into the Fan Fic thing because I don't need those girls going pack on me. I've seen what happens when you piss them off.
I guess I need to leave what it is alone and ignore what I can.
As Dean says its none of my business, but damn its annoying. haha
Venting is perfectly fine. It bugs me when someone says 'WTF is wrong with you for liking that,' if only because it could be turned around and said about anyone. Whatever you like, someone in the world is going to have a moralistic problem with it.
And I reread your post. You have a problem with the content, don't understand it, but didn't, in my opinion, put down the readers. I have no problem with that.
My experience/suggestions were merely that: how I coped with this same phenomena. It used to get me mad, but it only hurt me. Other people liked it, and it was going to go on. Far more beneficial for me to make peace with it, and let it go.
I still occasionally vent like this, but I try not to let it get the best of me. For me.
No not at all. I don't condemn or judge any one for liking or reading them. Its my personal grievance i guess. I don't understand it and that's okay. They do and that's okay too. I'm allowed to express myself same as they do. I think I was trying to get their opinion on what their draw to it is because I honestly don't know. I wasn't bashing them for liking it or that its there or available or that its so popular. I was wondering why it was because i don't see its draw but I'm not asking for it to be taken down or removed or boycotting anything.
And btw, I get the fanfic thing. My friend wrote a certain ship, and someone wanted their ship instead. They said they'd spit in her face if she was in front of them they were so disgusted.
And I agree: I don't get it. And it's 100% frustrating when you want something, and the market is being flooded by something else. Absolutely.
I'll simply side-eye the step-brother/sister have it's niche but the step-father/mother with it's power implications bothers me. I foresee some Lolita arguments/discussions happening that I know would piss me off. I stay away from those corners of GRs but yeah, the boom in popularity with this sub-genre is crazy right now.
Not feeling it myself, I'd guess that it was a taboo thing. You want what you can't have. There's also something that people feel is erotic and dirty about reading something like that?
Your best bet at understanding it would be if someone who was actually into that subgenre actually answered this question.
Hard to tell if you're not into it yourself, though.
Well, it's going to be different for everyone but what Grimlock said about it being taboo is probably the biggest draw. How some perceive it as titillating, naughty, salacious, forbidden, etc. will draw some in, while others will be horrified and turned off by the real damage (mental and physical) such relationships can have on the person with less power and some might even find it therapeutic to read about such a relationship . I think where you see people get defensive is the incredible hurt and pain such relationships can cause and how society still ignores or puts the blame on the survivors/victims. So, to bring all that personal bias and outer reaching societal issues to the table, in around a 300pg fictional romance genre book, you're going to have a firecracker conversation that angers and upsets a lot of people, not to mention how uncomfortable the topic can make people.
Instead of trying to figure it out - I never will, obviously - I've just taken the policy that I'll leave it alone. Like I said, there are people who don't get my interest in anti-heroes or extreme horror or robots in fiction, but I like it. I know what I like and what I don't.
The beauty in diversity is that if you're looking for stories that you like without step families, they are out there. If someone else is looking for step family romance, they are out there.
And by the way: I understand. Looking for Supernatural fan fiction, it feels like it's drowning in Wincest. I've had it occur in other genres I've been looking for. The things that left me left frustrated were remembering a couple things.
1. I might want to read a particular story that I'm not a target audience for, and I have two options. Overlook my usual pet peeves because something intrigues me about the story. Leave it alone if it doesn't seem like it has anything else to offer me, anything that sets it apart or intrigues me.
2. I can't control certain things. Like what authors want to write, or what's selling for them.
3. You may not be in the majority, at least right now. You can't control this either. Fads come and go in writing, in teen fiction, in romance, etc. The step family may just be a fad, and it may blow over soon.
4. And this was the most important for me just being able to let this kind of thing go. Even if it isn't, if enough people want it, authors will write step family romance. I'm not a fan of calling for a curbing of something, if only because it would suck if it happened to me. And again, I totally understand your frustration, but the thing that helped me was imagining if someone else wanted to stop something I was interested in. Or in other words, if you had the power to stop step family romance, you'd be denying a whole bunch of people something they like.
What if someone wanted to stop all publication of the types of romance you were interested in? It would suck if it happened, right? I know I'd be frustrated and angry. This helped me be more at peace with a flooding of something I wasn't interested in. Clearly others were, and I wouldn't want to deny them knowing how I'd feel about it.
None of this addresses why people are into step family romances. I don't know. I don't understand it, either. But I've found acceptance of things I don't understand brings /me/ more peace than anything else. Because sometimes something will frustrate you - and venting in that case is fine - but everyone has their own lines and their own likes.
I feel like you might just be in a tidal wave of a romance fad. I hope you're able to ride it out and find some good non-step family romances in the meantime!
I guess I just don't get how its become a thing.
Its not for me and granted someone else is going to love it which is why its just a big craze right now and I certainly don't want to take away someone elses need for the stepcest and far be it for me to ruin someone's favorite past time. I'm certainly not trying to take it away from them.
I'm not even going to go into the Fan Fic thing because I don't need those girls going pack on me. I've seen what happens when you piss them off.
I guess I need to leave what it is alone and ignore what I can.
As Dean says its none of my business, but damn its annoying. haha
And I reread your post. You have a problem with the content, don't understand it, but didn't, in my opinion, put down the readers. I have no problem with that.
My experience/suggestions were merely that: how I coped with this same phenomena. It used to get me mad, but it only hurt me. Other people liked it, and it was going to go on. Far more beneficial for me to make peace with it, and let it go.
I still occasionally vent like this, but I try not to let it get the best of me. For me.
And btw, I get the fanfic thing. My friend wrote a certain ship, and someone wanted their ship instead. They said they'd spit in her face if she was in front of them they were so disgusted.
And I agree: I don't get it. And it's 100% frustrating when you want something, and the market is being flooded by something else. Absolutely.
Your best bet at understanding it would be if someone who was actually into that subgenre actually answered this question.
Hard to tell if you're not into it yourself, though.