- Jul 10, 2018
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Laws are generally written for a reason - especially given that getting a law passed is a time consuming process that has an enormous cost of some kind - even if only the opportunity cost of what other important things could have been done with those resources.
In the case of incest there are two main things that the laws are trying to be a common-sense solution to. The first is the very real, very serious risks of inbreeding. In some countries their laws regarding incest stop there, only forbidding blood relatives from any relationship or encounter that might lead to pregnancy. However, the second aspect is that of influence, of a person who has had access to a minor being able to 'groom' that child, effectively brainwashing them, and thus, effectively, statutory rape. UK incest laws cover this aspect too, and if you have ever been the step-parent, guardian, or otherwise had parental levels of influence/control over a person, then you are forbidden from ever having a relationship with that person in their lifetime.
So, to UK laws and all similar legal systems, both of the scenarios presented in the OP and the poll (A and B) are absolutely and unequivocally incest, and both are illegal.
I mention the illegal part for very good reason - when determining what makes for a good story, most of the time the characters being believable, not complete morons, is a part of that. These days, most Western countries have a sex offenders register, and having an incestuous relationship gets you on that, right alongside the kiddie-fiddlers, granny-rapists, and goat-felchers. When being on that for life is what you can look forward to if you survive being imprisoned in the sex offender wings, well, the sentence for incest is worse in real terms than for multiple murders.
A story would need to properly explain why someone would be willing to risk all of that for their forbidden love, or else be set in some quite different society, before the story will be able to be anything but a farcical comedy. Not that there is anything at all wrong with farce or satire - comedy can make for great games. But if you'd wanted a story based on drama, well, without belief in the reality of the characters there can be no drama at all.
In the case of incest there are two main things that the laws are trying to be a common-sense solution to. The first is the very real, very serious risks of inbreeding. In some countries their laws regarding incest stop there, only forbidding blood relatives from any relationship or encounter that might lead to pregnancy. However, the second aspect is that of influence, of a person who has had access to a minor being able to 'groom' that child, effectively brainwashing them, and thus, effectively, statutory rape. UK incest laws cover this aspect too, and if you have ever been the step-parent, guardian, or otherwise had parental levels of influence/control over a person, then you are forbidden from ever having a relationship with that person in their lifetime.
So, to UK laws and all similar legal systems, both of the scenarios presented in the OP and the poll (A and B) are absolutely and unequivocally incest, and both are illegal.
I mention the illegal part for very good reason - when determining what makes for a good story, most of the time the characters being believable, not complete morons, is a part of that. These days, most Western countries have a sex offenders register, and having an incestuous relationship gets you on that, right alongside the kiddie-fiddlers, granny-rapists, and goat-felchers. When being on that for life is what you can look forward to if you survive being imprisoned in the sex offender wings, well, the sentence for incest is worse in real terms than for multiple murders.
A story would need to properly explain why someone would be willing to risk all of that for their forbidden love, or else be set in some quite different society, before the story will be able to be anything but a farcical comedy. Not that there is anything at all wrong with farce or satire - comedy can make for great games. But if you'd wanted a story based on drama, well, without belief in the reality of the characters there can be no drama at all.