Current mood:	energetic
Current music:	The theme from "Shaft" in my head now...

n00b!
Awww, it's My First Post. Note: This is all cut and pasted because the group's archives are closed to non-members.

A friend of mine, Melinda, posts a crackfic to the Voq Je Bang Yahoo group, for B'Elanna Torres/Seven of Nine slash.

And I do mean a *crackfic*:

"What exactly are we talking about, Doctor? What kind of pathogen is
this? And what is it going to do to my crew?"

"It's K'carc, Captain. Or at least, it's similar in composition to
K'carc."

"K'carc? I don't think I'm familiar..."

"K'carc, Captain, is a Lesbonian crystalloid often smoked to enhance
creative abilities. Generally, it's harmless; however, in high
doses, it can cause a sense of euphoria and a total loss of
inhibition."

Such as...

"Who's the Klingon engineer with a nice, tight rear?"

Vorik, shaking his groove thang by the warp core, bellowed
back. "B'elanna!"

In the background, a chorus of engineers could be heard
singing, "B'elanna...B'elanna Torres!"

Lt. Tina, recently recovered from a prolonged bout of
unconsciousness, chimed in, "Man! That B'elanna's one bad mother...."

"Shut yo mouth!" Ensign Liz Carter admonished.

"But I was just talkin' 'bout B'elanna." Lt. Tina pouted.

Suddenly, Vorik began to sing. "She's a complex engineer and noone
understands her but the warp core!"

"The warp core!" The chorus added.

Now, this was done only with requested permission:

Also, so that I don't offend anyone...I'm thinking of writing a story
based partly on Tina's idea and partly on an old episode of TNG. You
know when the pathogen made everyone "drunk." I think we should have
a k'carc pathogen. NOTE: B'elanna and Seven will not engage in any
intimate behavior while under the influence. It will simply loosen
their lips a bit. Then, LATER when they've been cured, they can
discuss what they said and decide to act on it. So, is that a go?
Or should I drop the idea?

Why? Because of an earlier wank started when Tina suggests the idea:

CHALLENGE ALERT EVERYONE!!!!! Write
a story that starts out serious, but ends up with B'Elanna putting pot, or
crack in one of Seven's supplements. This of course can lead up to how they got
together. I think it would be hilarious if B'Elanna did it to get back at
Seven right before they have a senior officers meeting, that way, Seven will be
all cracked out doing crazy things in the meeting!!

Note that consent was not a factor in this. Well. On the VJB list, crack is NOT FUNNY:

Many months ago we had a very long, drawn out debate
on rape fic, and while I will not rehash the issue
here I will state the end result that rape fics of all
kind were banned from VJB.

Since the law considers impared judgement a part of
consent I will interpret the rule for fics in the same
way

...and close this drug fic challenge.

In closing I wil say that this is nto just becuase
someone else complained. I too found the challenge
bordering on offensive as have simply decided to head
this off at the pass.

Good thing she did, because

Crack is a "Hard" drug on the worst
streets in the city. It has never been considered a drug that
someone would offer at a party or social event. So I don't
understand the reference to Crack in a story as a "good thing".

Riiight. Well, Tina apologizes profusely and everyone forgives her. Awww.

But that was then. The problem isn't consent, it's giving fictional characters fictional drugs via a pathogen. That's just wrong and evil and bad and...

I do not find this funny.

I did not put in my time and effort to deal with what quickly turned
into an emotional topic just to see the rule that came from that
discussion deliberately ignored.

I have not worked as a moderator on this list to let it be torn down
for the enjoyment of a minority of people.

That said I may be too quick on the trigger, but one of the topics
that came up in that disccusion was that people many times are not
willing to post criticism on the people who flagrantly post topics
they know are objectionable.

The moderator's cronies nod in agreement. They are SHOCKED and APPALLED by the idea of imaginary drugs and *GASP*! BAD LANGUAGE:

I, for my part, did not appreciate the
many type of iterations on a certain profanity in the
story, but...when I got to those areas, I consciously
made the decision not to read further. That makes me
a responsible person to my personal ethics.

In response to redshirts named Ensign O. Fucneau and the like. Oh, no! Drugs, profanity, and *dun dun dun*...SKIRTING THE LIST RULES! OFF WITH HER HEAD!

I was a bit alienated that ppl
would actually try to find a way around the rules and even gloat about
it.

Luckily, many list members have a sense of humour, but this wank is still in progress. Update forthcoming if it gets worse!

(Post a new comment)

	musette 2003-12-13 07:06 am UTC (link)
	Mwahaha, crack fic and Shaft! I'm in love dude. (Reply to this)

	meril 2003-12-13 07:19 am UTC (link)
	Ow. Laughing hard. Funn-ee. The fic, that is. The mod, on the other hand, needs to acquire a sense of humor. I heard the Ferengi are selling those cheap these days. (Reply to this)

	darkrose 2003-12-13 07:41 am UTC (link)
	For some reason, the idea of the mod of group slashing B'elanna and 7 of 9 getting on her high horse about anyone's morality strikes me as some funny shit. (Reply to this)

	amand_r 2003-12-13 07:54 am UTC (link)
	That makes me a responsible person to my personal ethics. Buwahahahahaaaamy god STOP IT'S KILLING ME. (Reply to this)

	dawnswalker 2003-12-13 08:24 am UTC (link)
	How is it possible to be a B'lanna/Seven shipper, yet have absolutely no sense of humour? And when since was K'crac a profane word? Or a real thing, for that matter. (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2003-12-13 07:24 pm UTC (link)
	Not to make a pun or anything, but that wank is on crack. I joined the mailing list so I could see it. And I'll stick around on the list because it's for a ship I've contemplated but never actually shipped but that I find interesting. But that wank... Ow. -Alexa (random_chick on LJ) (Reply to this)

VJB and the Crack Fic Fiasco
(Anonymous)
2004-04-12 09:32 pm UTC (link)

Hi there. I am the owner of the VJB list and I wanted to share with you my final take on Mel's story and the letter I sent out to my sometimes overzealous because I think it put to rest the discussion. After this incident, I re-wrote the rules and I hope they end the debate over "objectionable content".

--------------------------------
Posted 12/13/03 at VJB Entitled "Debate over Pathogen is DONE"

First, the author has repeatedly referred to herself in various
postings (most of which I re-read this morning) as "my crack-smoking
self". In one post she clarifies that she doesn't actually smoke
crack or do any drugs but that she uses the phrase 'on crack' and its
variations to describe her unusual sense of humor. How many times
have we done the same? In fact, my dearest love, Rany, unaware of
this debate, was trying to explain Chapterhouse Dune to me last night
and described the Honored Matres as "Bene Gesserits on crack".

Because of the popularity of that particular usage of the phrase 'on
crack', I never interpreted the author's intent as actually putting
the crew or Seven on crack, but rather as a humorous description of
actions they would never take.

Second, her usage of the play on words "K'carc" to describe the
pathogen was simply a play on words. The substance/pathogen
described has no similarities to crack cocaine as we know it today
but rather mimicked the effects of about 4 or 5 too many wine coolers
or hard ciders. I interpreted the author's intent to be the same as
in canon, where there are NO detrimental or addictive substances
known to the Federation and even alcohol has been reduced to
synthehol, its kinder, gentler twin. Perhaps her attempt to
whitewash the pathogen this way was unclear or incomplete, but I
still interpreted it this way.

Thirdly, this piece was clearly a farce.

and FINALLY, this list WILL NOT degenerate into a constant political
battle over what is or isn't objectionable content. Let's consider
this: my most recent completed story, Queen of Hearts, had as its
main plot the potential forced euthenasia of a post-birth infant as
an accepted warfare tactic in a war over PROFIT. If you break that
down without all the pretty words, the story was about killing a baby
for money. How is that less objectionable than the crew under the
influence of whatever substance?

Other stories also have plots or plot devices that--when you look at
them outside the context of the story--would seem objectionable. She
Who Hesitates has a subplot regarding forced abortion and a subplot
of prison guards taking gold to allow violent felons to rape innocent
Federation officers. In Awakenings, the alpha shift bridge crew
awakens to find that they've been under the mysterious control of a
nebula and have been forced to enact their dreams, one of which was a
sexual dream. There have been usages of racism, of enslavement, of
mental and physical torture, of attempted murder, of the deflowering
of adult virgins--all of which, OUT OF CONTEXT, seem objectionable--
and yet these are the same stories which our members cry out for more
of every week!

Yes, there are members on this list who have had a variety of
horrible personal experiences with a variety of horrible, awful
things. Yes, I want to be as sure as possible that those who would
be offended by certain topics are not exposed to them. THAT IS WHY
WE HAVE DISCLAIMERS AND RULES.

We, as authors, cannot hope to second-guess every topic or every
potential offense to others. If we did, we'd end up with funny
little fluff pieces with nothing more objectionable than a peck on
the cheek.

We, as authors, CAN disclaim the content of our stories and we can
avoid content ruled inappropriate by the owner and moderators of this
list.

That said, the debate over the story PATHOGEN is over as of now. If
you have anything to add on the subject, please send it to the
moderators privately.

Melinda, please do not take this one incident as an attempt to stop
you from writing for VJB. While not everyone may share your unique
sense of humor *g*, your stories--as long as they adhere to the rules-
-are welcome here.

Erin M. Hoagland
Owner, VJB

(Reply to this)