Well, if this hasn't broken February's record, I don't know what will. :)
There were a ton of thoughtful posts on this subject this morning and some
very good points were made. Forgive me, if I feel a need to add my two
cent's worth. I'm sure many of you are very worn of this topic.
Sally wrote:
> I think this has gone past a joke. Quite simply, being called worthless
> crap hurts.
Sally, if Wendy had indeed called you "worthless crap" I would have been the
first to come to your defense. But I honestly never saw Wendy attacking the
poster. Now admittedly I may not remembering everything, and I'd appreciate
it if such attacks exist if someone would repost the *quotes*. Twisting her
words into personal attacks don't count.
I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again because I think it is
important. The Internet makes it very easy for us to do quoting. Quoting
avoids misunderstandings. So rather than twist what people say, use the
quotes.
> Carol and Shane's approval thereof have struck a very painful
> nerve.
I would speak up again. Wendy has a right to post to this list. I didn't
say I agreed with everything she said. I didn't say I agreed with her
posting style. What I did see was a large group of people attacking one
person. Yet Wendy stood up for position without taking any of those attacks
personally. I admire that. I don't know that I could have withstood such a
barrage. I felt it was time that someone spoke up on her behalf. I tend to
do that when I see an underdog.
> I've been assuming for two years that people took my 'Fearless Leader',
'My
> Darling', etc, the burbles sending up the sillier aspects of the show and
> splattering capitals and generally having a bit of fun with the characters
> and the show as just that - fun, and had the sensitivity to discriminate
> between that and my serious comments.
You use those terms even when you are participating in serious discussions.
So if someone questions their appropriateness to the series in a serious
manner, that may be why.
Any extreme posting style--as in Wendy's bluntness or your syrupy burbles--is
going to be like fingernails across a blackboard to some readers. That
happens. It's human nature. It doesn't mean anyone should have to change
their posting style, but they should be aware of the fact that it's going to
irritate a portion of the readers. If anyone on this list wants universal
approval, they're on the wrong list.
Wendy wrote:
> But this S/M stuff has been
> going on here for months and I'm tired of it. I don't
> mind that some people like slash, but if I see a slash
> zine I'm not forced to buy it. But every time I open
> my mailbox there's at least one post on the list about
> Suffering Beautifully, and I wish people would keep
> that sort of thing on the other list, where it
> belongs.
But you are not forced to read those posts. Just as you told Marian and
Sally in regard to Tarrant stories "to stop reading bad fanfic," you can
delete posts that are upsetting. None of us are going to like every topic on
the B7 lists.
As for what belongs on the "other list," for the sake of peace those of us
who enjoy certain topics do try to keep them on the other list. I don't see
people initiating threads of an adult nature on this list. Sometimes lyst
threads do drift in that direction, and often those threads are then quietly
transferred to the other list. But to expect that posts to the lyst are
never going to touch on slash is unreasonable. And I wouldn't have thought
that "Beautiful Suffering" per se was a forbidden lyst topic. But then I
don't regard "Beautiful Suffering" to be sexual. Which is what Betty said,
and you answered:
Wendy wrote:
> But this S/M stuff has been
> going on here for months and I'm tired of it. I don't
> mind that some people like slash, but if I see a slash
> zine I'm not forced to buy it. But every time I open
> my mailbox there's at least one post on the list about
> Suffering Beautifully, and I wish people would keep
> that sort of thing on the other list, where it
> belongs.
But you are not forced to read those posts. Just as you told Marian and
Sally in regard to Tarrant stories "to stop reading bad fanfic," you can
delete posts that are upsetting.
As for what belongs on the "other list," for the sake of peace those of us
who enjoy certain topics do try to keep them on the other list. I don't see
people initiating threads of an adult nature on this list. Sometimes lyst
threads do drift in that direction, and often those threads are then quietly
transferred to the other list. But to expect that posts to the lyst are
never going to touch on slash is unreasonable. And I wouldn't have thought
that "Beautiful Suffering" per se was a forbidden lyst topic. But then I
don't regard "Beautiful Suffering" to be sexual. Which is what Betty said,
and you answered:
> My understanding of the concept of "Suffering
> Beautifully" was that a character is physically or
> emotionally hurt, and that this pain makes him more
> attractive in the eyes of the reader and/or writer.
> Which seems to me have a sadistic twist to it, even if
> there's not actual S/M sex.
But should sadism be a forbidden topic on the list? And if it is, what other
topics that might offend a fan here or a fan there should be forbidden?
That's a serious question. I don't like to offend list members, but too much
censorship might water the list down to mush.
Back to h/c, and unfortunately I only have a few more minutes so I can't get
into this as thoroughly as the subject deserves.
It's not the pain makes h/c stories interesting. It's as Betty said, the
character's reaction to the pain that makes it interesting. But I will
confess that some characters suffer beautifully. I've only seen a couple of
Voyager eps, one of which was "The Chute," and I thought Paris and Kim looked
a lot cuter scruffy and beaten than they did cleaned up. It's not that I
like suffering, and I don't think I'm a sadist. They just looked cuter, the
hair hanging in their faces, etc. It was a visual thing.
I will admit that I've also enjoyed some S/M B7 stories. And was shocked to
find I enjoyed them. But I don't enjoy S/M in real life. No more than I
enjoy war and killing in real life.
Sorry, I really am out of time. So I'm sending this off unproofed and hoping
I made sense and didn't offend anyone.
Carol Mc